The Politics and Policies of Three U.S President from the Post World War II - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages Through peaceful cooperation as a result of a countries foreign policies, a country is able to protect its national interest, economic prosperity and more importantly national security. The United States has for long experienced a split personality when it comes to matters regarding foreign policy. Other policies exemplify a pragmatic nation which requires that the nation respond to facts as they relate to the situation at hand and hence application of a rational decision making process to the problem (Brinkley 2011). On the other hand, we have an idealistic side which has for long gotten the United States into trouble. This is attributed to the loss of sight on the fact that the resources at our disposal are limited. Additionally, the resources which are in most cases are measured both in terms of financial, economic and military in addition to political will which must at all times match the objectives of the country so as to ensure success. Since the end of the Second World War, the country had been demobilizing and was also characterized with the public reverting to its traditional isolationist character (Brinkley 2011). This made containment only limited to where the military strength was greatest which was in Western Europe. The entrance of China into the Korean War on the 26th day of November 1950 resulted into a retreat by U.S. troops being below the thirty eighth parallel and consequently resulting into a stalemated war. It is in line with this that Eisenhower with a promise of ensuring the war in Korea is rapidly and successful conclusion was elected into office as president. Come the end of 1952, Eisenhower had already concluded that it was not prudent for the united states to needed to engage in a conventional war on the Asian mainland, a decision which we can trace to the fact that the cabinet was made up of businessmen who as a matter of fact were extreme fiscal conservatives who placed more emphasis on having a balanced budget (Brinkley 2011). Additionally, the present who had been a general understood the need to the resources of America and their foreign policy commitments. Amongst remarkable attributes that can be associated with him include the realistic approach to foreign issues and the ability to recognize the limits of the capabilities of the resources. Additionally, he ushered in a pragmatic foreign policy through redefinition and limitation of the goals of containment. He is best remembered for negotiating for a ceasefire agreement between the North and the south at thirty-eighth parallel on July 1953. He additionally redirected support for French efforts in Indochina and subsequently promising economic aid to the Diem government. We can also note that he relied more on other countries resources mainly acquired through alliances like the Baghdad Pact and the Southeast Asian Treaty Organization as tools for countering threats posed by communists (Brinkley 2011). It can however be noted that Eisenhower failed to offer the needed support to Hungarian Uprising with the main excuse being that he believed that the United States lacked the requisite military resources to challenge the Soviet Union especially when it is in its sphere of influence. Additionally, due to his administrations fiscal conservatism the size of the armed forces was significantly reduced and subsequent development of the strategic doctrine of the massive retaliation (Brinkley 2011). ...Download file to see next pagesRead More