If you play bridge, you should know that this is the number one rule. There was never a better man at cards in the White House than President Eisenhower. As soon as he took office, the first thing he did is to look at the hand he was dealt. After many years of ideology, Eisenhower brought common sense to the table. In his first annual address, Dwight D. Eisenhower, the former Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, outlined what he called a "new, positive foreign policy". In 1952, Americans were tired of fighting a war in Korea, and Eisenhower promised to bring an end to the war. He promised to bring it to an simple, firm resolution. Eisenhower was not a politician, and he promised to forgo the diversions of politics and concentrate on bringing an end to the Korean war. In one of his most famous campaign speeches, President Eisenhower promised a new Administration, and a new foreign policy.
"For this task a wholly new Administration is necessary. The reason for this is simple. The old Administration cannot be expected to repair what it failed to prevent.Now in his first annual address to congress, Eisenhower was outlining this new foreign policy.
Where will a new Administration begin?
It will begin with its President taking a simple, firm resolution. The resolution will be: To forego the diversions of politics and to concentrate on the job of ending the Korean war-until that job is honorably done. That job requires a personal trip to Korea. I shall make that trip. Only in that way could I learn how best to serve the American people in the cause of peace.
I shall go to Korea."
"(1) Our foreign policy must be clear, consistent, and confident. This means that it must be the product of genuine, continuous cooperation between the executive and the legislative branches of this Government. It must be developed and directed in the spirit of true bipartisanship.
(2) The policy we embrace must be a coherent global policy. The freedom we cherish and defend in Europe and in the Americas is no different from the freedom that is imperiled in Asia.
(3) Our policy, dedicated to making the free world secure, will envision all peaceful methods and devices--except breaking faith with our friends. We shall never acquiesce in the enslavement of any people in order to purchase fancied gain for ourselves. I shall ask the Congress at a later date to join in an appropriate resolution making clear that this Government recognizes no kind of commitment contained in secret understandings of the past with foreign governments which permit this kind of enslavement.
(4) The policy we pursue will recognize the truth that no single country, even one so powerful as ours, can alone defend the liberty of all nations threatened by Communist aggression from without or subversion within. Mutual security means effective mutual cooperation. For the United States, this means that, as a matter of common sense and national interest, we shall give help to other nations in the measure that they strive earnestly to do their full share of the common task. No wealth of aid could compensate for poverty of spirit. The heart of every free nation must be honestly dedicated to the preserving of its own independence and security.
(5) Our policy will be designed to foster the advent of practical unity in Western Europe. The nations of that region have contributed notably to the effort of sustaining the security of the free world. From the jungles of Indochina and Malaya to the northern shores of Europe, they have vastly improved their defensive strength. Where called upon to do so, they have made costly and bitter sacrifices to hold the line of freedom"
Then on November 29, 1952 Eisenhower made good on his most dramatic campaign promise. President Eisenhower went to Korea. He went to Korea to see if hi could find a way to end the Korean war. But it would be take another 8 months before the war would be over. On July 27, 1953 the People's Republic of China, North Korea, and South Korea agreed to an armistice and brought the Korean war to an end. The war cost the lives of millions of Koreans and Chinese, as well as over 50,000 Americans.
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=9829
http://tucnak.fsv.cuni.cz/~calda/Documents/1950s/Ike_Korea_52.html
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/eisenhower-goes-to-korea
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/armistice-ends-the-korean-war
http://harvardmagazine.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/scale_600x450/img/article/1012/ND12_14_Image_01_900.jpg
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