NATO alliance blasted by Wallace: 1949
Former vice president and presidential candidate Henry Wallace urges the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington, D.C. May 5, 1949 to deep-six the North Atlantic Pace and instead convene a “Big Four” conference similar to those held during World War II to settle disputes over Germany.
The treaty that gave birth to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) had only been ratified the month before and extended the economic warfare against the Soviet Union embodied by the Marshal Plan into a military pact.
Wallace charged that State Department Secretary Dean Acheson with an “anti-communist fear complex” and a bias that was resulting in increased military spending and unnecessary compromises of national security.
The treaty represented the final step in formalizing a “Cold War” against the Soviet Union and under its cover permitted the U.S. to station large numbers of troops on the borders of communist-led countries and place nuclear weapons on their doorstep.
The clause triggering military action was never invoked until 2001 after Osama Bin Laden’s attacks on the United States.
Wallace embodied the progressive opposition to the onset of the Cold War, arguing instead for maintaining the World War II alliance and noting that Soviet Union had not engaged in overt activities outside its sphere of influence established in conferences between the Big Three leaders U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, Soviet leader Josef Stalin and Great Britain Prime Minister Winston Churchill. French representatives were added later.
Wallace had also opposed the Marshall Plan as a declaration of war on the Soviet Union when it was announced in 1947, instead calling for a “lend lease” plan for Europe similar to the World War II program that aided the Soviet Union..
Wallace announced his independent campaign for president in December 1947 and formally became the candidate of the Progressive Party at their convention in July 1948.
Wallace served as the head of the agriculture department from 1933-41 where he earned a reputation as an advocate on behalf of African Americans and of federal intervention on behalf of the poor.
President Franklin Roosevelt nominated him for vice-president at the 1940 Democratic Convention and southern and conservative Democrats rebelled. The rebellion was quashed after Roosevelt threatened to quit the race if the delegates did not accept Wallace.
During his term as vice president during World War II from 1941-45, he remained a fervent “New Deal” Democrat and advocated a cooperative relationship with the Soviet Union after the war. This position further inflamed the conservative wing of the party.
During the 1944 Democratic Convention, the conservatives were able to nominate Harry Truman for vice president under Roosevelt. Roosevelt kept Wallace on as Secretary of Commerce, but the longest serving President died three months after he took office in 1945 and Truman took over the office.
Wallace served as the head of Commerce until September 1946 when he was fired by Truman over disputes about relations with the Soviet Union.
Wallace decided to run for President in the 1948 elections on the Progressive Party ticket and campaigned with Idaho Sen. Glen Taylor as his vice presidential candidate. When he announced, observers believed he could win at least several states, possibly throwing the election into the U.S. House of Representatives.
He ran on a platform favoring labor, civil rights, universal health care and peaceful relations with the Soviet Union. He notably refused to appear in segregated halls and appeared side-by-side with African American candidates of the party.
Truman’s advisor Clark Clifford ran a campaign of “dirty tricks” designed to undercut Wallace’s support—mainly by painting him as bumbling tool of the communists. The effort succeeded and whether Clifford personally organized them or not, Wallace was greeted by pickets, eggs and tomatoes at many campaign appearances, particularly in the south.
When the election came, Wallace received about 1.2 million votes, finishing fourth behind segregationist Strom Thurmond and didn’t win a single state. Truman defeated Thomas Dewey largely by marginalizing the Wallace vote.
In 1950, Wallace broke with earlier positions and came out in favor of U.S. intervention in Korea. He later amended his earlier positions on the Soviet Union saying he had been duped and became an anti-communist.
For an article on a local Washington, D.C. incident of suppression of the Progressive Party campaign, see washingtonspark.wordpress.com/2013/03/06/dc-police-raid-1...
For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHsmJGZJjm
Photo by Vines. The image is a Harris and Ewing photograph housed in the D.C. Library Washington Star Collection.
NATO alliance blasted by Wallace: 1949
Former vice president and presidential candidate Henry Wallace urges the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington, D.C. May 5, 1949 to deep-six the North Atlantic Pace and instead convene a “Big Four” conference similar to those held during World War II to settle disputes over Germany.
The treaty that gave birth to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) had only been ratified the month before and extended the economic warfare against the Soviet Union embodied by the Marshal Plan into a military pact.
Wallace charged that State Department Secretary Dean Acheson with an “anti-communist fear complex” and a bias that was resulting in increased military spending and unnecessary compromises of national security.
The treaty represented the final step in formalizing a “Cold War” against the Soviet Union and under its cover permitted the U.S. to station large numbers of troops on the borders of communist-led countries and place nuclear weapons on their doorstep.
The clause triggering military action was never invoked until 2001 after Osama Bin Laden’s attacks on the United States.
Wallace embodied the progressive opposition to the onset of the Cold War, arguing instead for maintaining the World War II alliance and noting that Soviet Union had not engaged in overt activities outside its sphere of influence established in conferences between the Big Three leaders U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, Soviet leader Josef Stalin and Great Britain Prime Minister Winston Churchill. French representatives were added later.
Wallace had also opposed the Marshall Plan as a declaration of war on the Soviet Union when it was announced in 1947, instead calling for a “lend lease” plan for Europe similar to the World War II program that aided the Soviet Union..
Wallace announced his independent campaign for president in December 1947 and formally became the candidate of the Progressive Party at their convention in July 1948.
Wallace served as the head of the agriculture department from 1933-41 where he earned a reputation as an advocate on behalf of African Americans and of federal intervention on behalf of the poor.
President Franklin Roosevelt nominated him for vice-president at the 1940 Democratic Convention and southern and conservative Democrats rebelled. The rebellion was quashed after Roosevelt threatened to quit the race if the delegates did not accept Wallace.
During his term as vice president during World War II from 1941-45, he remained a fervent “New Deal” Democrat and advocated a cooperative relationship with the Soviet Union after the war. This position further inflamed the conservative wing of the party.
During the 1944 Democratic Convention, the conservatives were able to nominate Harry Truman for vice president under Roosevelt. Roosevelt kept Wallace on as Secretary of Commerce, but the longest serving President died three months after he took office in 1945 and Truman took over the office.
Wallace served as the head of Commerce until September 1946 when he was fired by Truman over disputes about relations with the Soviet Union.
Wallace decided to run for President in the 1948 elections on the Progressive Party ticket and campaigned with Idaho Sen. Glen Taylor as his vice presidential candidate. When he announced, observers believed he could win at least several states, possibly throwing the election into the U.S. House of Representatives.
He ran on a platform favoring labor, civil rights, universal health care and peaceful relations with the Soviet Union. He notably refused to appear in segregated halls and appeared side-by-side with African American candidates of the party.
Truman’s advisor Clark Clifford ran a campaign of “dirty tricks” designed to undercut Wallace’s support—mainly by painting him as bumbling tool of the communists. The effort succeeded and whether Clifford personally organized them or not, Wallace was greeted by pickets, eggs and tomatoes at many campaign appearances, particularly in the south.
When the election came, Wallace received about 1.2 million votes, finishing fourth behind segregationist Strom Thurmond and didn’t win a single state. Truman defeated Thomas Dewey largely by marginalizing the Wallace vote.
In 1950, Wallace broke with earlier positions and came out in favor of U.S. intervention in Korea. He later amended his earlier positions on the Soviet Union saying he had been duped and became an anti-communist.
For an article on a local Washington, D.C. incident of suppression of the Progressive Party campaign, see washingtonspark.wordpress.com/2013/03/06/dc-police-raid-1...
For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHsmJGZJjm
Photo by Vines. The image is a Harris and Ewing photograph housed in the D.C. Library Washington Star Collection.