Can you comment on his claim that Vandenberg and Dewey supported Truman and his foreign policy changes following WW II? Was there bipartisan support? And how was the media treatment of Truman over this issue? I like the comparison he makes, but wondering about the generalization of these two statements.
Vandenburg and Dewey and other internationalist Republicans (like, we came to find out eventually, Eisenhower) did work with Truman. So in the sense that there were members from both parties supporting such efforts did make them bipartisan, but not uniformly. There was still the more isolationist side of the Republican party, led by Robert Taft, who often opposed Truman on foreign affairs (but not, interestingly, on support for Israel).
If I read the early versions of the Stephen's dissertation correctly, then the prominent newspaper pundits were ardent anti-communists, and supported any president when they took a hard line. But beyond that you might have to ask Stephen, again.
2 comments:
Steve,
Can you comment on his claim that Vandenberg and Dewey supported Truman and his foreign policy changes following WW II? Was there bipartisan support? And how was the media treatment of Truman over this issue? I like the comparison he makes, but wondering about the generalization of these two statements.
Greg,
Vandenburg and Dewey and other internationalist Republicans (like, we came to find out eventually, Eisenhower) did work with Truman. So in the sense that there were members from both parties supporting such efforts did make them bipartisan, but not uniformly. There was still the more isolationist side of the Republican party, led by Robert Taft, who often opposed Truman on foreign affairs (but not, interestingly, on support for Israel).
If I read the early versions of the Stephen's dissertation correctly, then the prominent newspaper pundits were ardent anti-communists, and supported any president when they took a hard line. But beyond that you might have to ask Stephen, again.
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