Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1953-02-06
State Department Policy Then and Now
By Honore M. cotudoI

w took the oath of Office as Secre-
tary Of State, his mind may have
reverted to the personalities of some Of
the more than fifty Secretaries of State
who preceded him, and to the problems
that confronted them. He may have
thought of Dean Acheson and Gen.
Marshall and the cold war, of Cordell
Hull and the formulation of the U. N.
Charter, and Of his own uncle, Robert
Lansing, and the Paris Peace Confer
ence. Then, of Elihu Root and John
Hay, and of his own grandfather and
namesake, John w. Foster, who, with
Blaine, negotiated reciprocity tariff
agreements under the Mckinley Tariff
Act.
If he went over the roll of names,
his mind dwelt for moment on Seward
and Alaska-"Seward's Folly" it was
called; then on Webster, Calhoun and
Clay, that triad of great names that
spans the period from the War Of 1912
to the Civil War. Then, hurriedly, he
passed in review the golden era" of
American statesmen, as he cast fleet
ing glance at John Quincy Adams,
James Monroe, James Madison, John
Marshall, and, finally, Thomas Jeffer-
son.
In his rapid review, Mr.. Dulles could
have counted six Presidents, three Vice
Presidents, two Chief Justices,
Speaker of the House, f1ve-star gen.
eral and two winners of the Nobel Peace
Prize, as well as Robert Smith, Jere-
miah Black, 2 John Forsyth and other
"unknoWnS."
But, Of all these names, some world
famous, some almost forgotten, his
mind may have returned more than
once to the illustrious author of the
Declaration of independence. our first
Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson.
the eloquent expositor of principles that
have guided generations of statesmen
in this and other countries.
It was only after Jefferson had landed
at Norfolk, late in 1889, on "home leave"
from his post as Minister to France,
that he learned from the newspapers
that President Washington had decided
upon him to take over the newly created
Office of Secretary Of State. He imme-
diately wrote Washington of his reluc-
lance to accept and of his desire to re-
turn to his post in France. Several
A4AOAAUAAo WCAV Ny NO4O4C WoO 4A14dA4y
induced Ito sacrifice my own inclina-
tons" and accept the appointment.
Jefferson assumed the Office of Sec
rotary of State at the seat of the new
Federal Government in New York on
March %, 1870. A few days later, he
eloquently set forth the principle of
enlightened self-interest as the basis of
American foreign policy. In a letter,
dated April 2. 1870, he wrote to the re-
nowned hero of our War of Independ-
ence, his close friend. the Marquis de
Lafayette. in France, as follows!
e.. have been here, then, 10 days
harneSSed in new gear. Wherever am,
or ever shall be, shall be sincere in my
friendship to you and to your nation.
think with others. that nations are to
be governed with regard to their own
interests. but I am convinced that it is
to their interest, in the long run, to be
grateful, faithful to their engagements,
even in the worst of circumstances, and
honorable and generous always. If I
had not known that the head of our
Government was in these sentiments,
and that his national and private ethics
were the same, would never have been
where am -
This moral basis of American foreign
policy was again emphasized by Jeffer-
son. few years later, in his second in
augural address, when as President he
stated on March 4, 1905:
g.. In the transaction of your for
eign affairs, we have endeavored to cul-
tivate the friendship of all nations, and
especially of those with which we have .
the most important relations. We have
done them justice on all occasions, IA
vored where favor was lawful and cher
ished mutual interests and intercourse
on fair and equal terms. We are firmly
convinced, and we act on that convic-
ton, that with nations as with individ-
uals, our interests soundly calculated,
will ever be found inseparable from our
moral duties "
Himself the living embodiment of the
bipartisan handling of foreign policy in
the outgoing administration, Mr.. Dulles
may have recalled these words from
Jefferson's first inaugural address, de-
livered on March 4, 1901, after a bitter
presidential election campaign that had
turned out the Federalists, who had
been in control of the National Govern
ment since 1889:
e.. During the contest of opinion.
through which we have passed, the ami
nation of discussion and of exertions
has sometimes worn an aspect which
might impose on strangers unused to
think freely and to speak and to write
what they think; but this being now
decided by the voice of the Nation. an
nounced according to the rules of the
Constitution. all will, of course arrange
themselves under the will of the law,
and unite in common efforts for the
common good. Let us, then, fellow
citizens, unite with one heart and one
mind. :. But every difference of opin-
ion is not difference of principle. We
have called by different names brethren
of the same principle. We are all Re
publicans-we are all Federalists {. :"
When Mr.. Dulles stated, in his Den
yer speech of December IL, 1852, that
1.-THE basic solution of today's problems
rests with free individuals and their
private institutions" he brought to
mind a passage from President Jeffer-