Evening star., 1950-04-08
Reviving Biportisonship

In naming John Foster Dulles to be top, full
time adviser to Secretary Of State Dean Acheson,
President Truman has taken wise and much
needed step toward reviving bipartisanship in
the formulation and execution of our foreign
policy. His action is altogether commendable,
and the same holds true for Mr.. Dulles states
manlike decision to accept the appointment.
In effect what the two men have done is
to set a fine example of politics stopping at the
waters edge-an example that is the more i'm
pressive because of the bitterness engendered
between them last fall when Mr.. Dulles, in his
unsuccessful bid to win the New York senatorial
race unleashed an all-out assault on the do
mestic phases of the Fair Deal" With that
in mind, the President is said to have named
him to his new post with some reluctance, and
only at the insiStence of Mr.. Acheson and the
ailing Senator Vandenberg. Be that as it may,
however the fact remains that Mr.. Truman,
even though perhaps bit grudgingly, has risen
sufficiently above partisan considerations to give
this outstanding Republican a high and unique
place as consultant to the State Department.
Similarly, Mr.. Dulles, despite those who have
detected a kind of rebuff in the Presidents
failure to appoint him with the title of Am
bassador- -at-Large, has shown himself to be
above narrow politics. Speaking as Ameri
can, and not as a member of any particular
party, he has made clear that his sole desire is
to help rally the country from the frustrating
confusion that stems from past mistakes and
to do whatever he can to promote unity in deal
ing with the hard and pressing international
realities that confront us now. With patriotism
his guide, he thus has joined Mr.. Truman in a
cooperative gesture that should serve to remind
all of us-Democrats and Republicans alike
that the world crisis is too deep, the cold war
too deadly and the Soviet drive for domination
too total and implacabe to permit this Nation
to give free rein to partisan passions and tawdry
election-year politicking in the fateful field of
foreign policy.
Certainly if the grave threat of Soviet ex-
pansionism and aggression is to be dealt with
effectively, the United States, in concert with
like minded nations, must have genuine unity
in working out program of action Mr.. Dulles.
who in all probability would now be Secretary
of State had Governor Dewey been elected Presi-
dent in 194S, is eminently qualified to make an
important contribution to that end. One of the
countrys ablest international experts, who with
Senator Vandenberg played a key role in making
our foreign policy bipartisan until its deteriora
tion in recent months, he is a man whose dis
tinguished postwar record as an adviser to
Secretaries Stettinius, Byrnes and Marshall and
as an American delegate to the United Nations
is too familiar to need reviewing. Few Republi-
cans or Democrats are as well equipped to join
in pulling the country together to do what needs
to be done if the free world is to win the cold war;
OF course, Mr.. Dulles appointment is not
likely to bring about an overnight revival of
real bipartisanship. Yet, coupled with former
Republican Senator Cooper's participation in
next months London meeting of the Big Three
Foreign Ministers, it can do much to heal the
current rift. If similar cooperative steps are
taken in the weeks Immediately ahead if the
State Department develops closer relations with
COP congressional leaders, and if the President
refrains from cutting loose with his give en-
hel' political speeches, then there will be good
reason to hope for restoration of national unity
at the waters edge. Needless to say, without
that, we will be making things much easier for
the Kremlin.