Korean War #45: The Culminating Factors

Our endless flurry of Korean War content continues as we pave the way towards the Versailles Anniversary Project! Stay tuned!

Episode 45: The Culminating Factors brings several threads of our story together, as we count down towards the establishment of peace amidst the political climb of Dwight D. Eisenhower, who would be elected President of the US and wave goodbye to the Truman administration. The story of how Eisenhower got there, and why he decided that “I will go to Korea” is a fascinating one which we examine here. At the same time, we look at what the departing Truman administration meant for American foreign policy. Was Truman sad to leave, or did he believe that he had done his duty for American security, and left a lasting legacy on that office?

In addition to examining these aspects of the story, we look as well at the coercive diplomacy used by Eisenhower. Was Eisenhower’s diplomatic approach, as the historical consensus suggests, sprinkled with several sticks and threats, in a bid to force the communists out of the war? A great deal of evidence exists to suggest that the Eisenhower administration did engage in a great deal of coercive, even nuclear, diplomacy, from 1953. However, while this does fit quite nicely with the idea that NSC68 made America more powerful and thus better positioned to actually lob threats at its rivals, we will see in future episodes that the reality is not so straightforward.

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