Ohio History Journal

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Book Reviews

Book Reviews

 

 

 

The Threat of Peace: James F. Byrnes and the Council of Foreign Ministers,

1945-1946. By Patricia Dawson Ward. (Kent: Kent State University

Press, 1979. x + 227p.; notes, bibliography, index. $12.50.)

 

The story goes that once when Lyndon Johnson was extolling the virtues

of John F. Kennedy's Harvard-educated government appointees to Sam

Rayburn, the venerable Speaker of the House replied, "You may be right,

but I wish some of them had at least run for sheriff." The story might be

apocryphal, but the inference about experts in government is clear. Particu-

larly after the frustrations of Vietnam it was common to read and hear

about how much better foreign policy might have been had the best and the

brightest not been formulating policies and administering procedures.

Focusing upon an earlier period of foreign policy flux, Patricia Dawson

Ward's The Threat of Peace; James F. Byrnes and the Council of Foreign

Ministers, 1945-1946 demonstrates clearly that the American folklore

about the importance of true-grit political experience can be just folklore as

far as foreign policy considerations are concerned.

Using her sources skillfully, Dr. Ward presents us with a sound analysis

of Secretary of State James Byrnes attempts to wrestle with the complex-

ities of constructing a sound and lasting peace after the end of World War II.

Ward carefully refrains from boggling the reader with masses of material,

and for spurning this all too seductive temptation she deserves congratula-

tions. She is realistic and critical in her assessment of Byrnes' tenure as

secretary of state, but she rightfully does not fall prey to conspiracy theories

of foreign policy formulation and does point out Byrnes' strengths and how

they served him and led to some useful peace treaties.

The heart of the work is an analysis of a series of meetings of the allied

foreign ministers. Here Ward shows how Byrnes, by relying on attributes

that made him a successful American politician instead of utilizing intelli-

gent planning and analysis, many times pursued policies and procedures

which helped bring about the Cold War. Indeed, it was his very success as a

politician which caused James Byrnes so mcuh trouble as secretary of state.

It was hard for this ex-governor, congressman, senator, supreme court jus-

tice-and in FDR's phrase, assistant president-not to be arrogant about

his abilities. As Ward explains it, this arrogance did not allow Byrnes to see

just how insular he was, and in the end he aggravated not only the Soviet

Union but also Great Britain, France, China, and ultimately Harry Tru-

man.

As Ward succinctly points out, Byrnes was not involved with President

Truman in attempts at atomic or economic blackmail of either the Soviet

Union or Western Europe. His failings were honest rather than omissions

stemming from a top-level conspiracy to use the threat of nuclear war to

bend Soviet and allied viewpoints to meet those of America. Alas, the more

exciting and dramatic revisionism of Gar Alperovitz withers away when

compared with the analysis contained in The Threat of Peace.