The Death of Diplomatic Possibility: How the Death of FDR Exacerbated and Solidified the Cold War



  The Death of Diplomatic Possibility:

  How the Death of FDR Exacerbated and Solidified the Cold War

 

  Eric Kenyon

  Sierra College

  May 6, 2015

  In Western culture, there is a well-established belief that the Cold War between East and West, Red and Blue, Soviet and American, was a noble, democratic endeavor that was fought by the free to liberate the world from Communist oppression. The war developed into one of the most drawn out, hostile relationships between two nations that the world has ever seen—much like a 46 year long boxing prelim where the two fighters stood nose to nose, aching to strike each other at any moment. Hostility between the Americans and the Russians would range from minutiae such as the debate over kitchen appliances and the raising of pigs to the near cataclysmic Cuban Missile Crisis and the questions behind nuclear proliferation. Yet this war should have never reached the degree of tension and dissidence that existed. After the United States-Soviet Union rivalry was put on hiatus to defeat the Axis powers in World War II, the President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was the man pulling the strings in postwar politics. Not only did he demonstrate the viability of a Soviet-American partnership, he had an unparalleled influence on the American people and believed he was the one who could get through to “Uncle Jo,” or Joseph Stalin. Roosevelt, being the pragmatic and charming politician he was, felt he had a privately successful relationship with Stalin. Slowly and assuredly, Roosevelt was planning to open up postwar talks with him and cut deals under the table regarding vital desires and interests—in order to prevent the undercurrent of mistrust and misunderstanding that regrettably became reality later on. When he died unexpectedly in April of 1945, Roosevelt’s presence was lacking in the political world and all of the progress gained in postwar agreements quickly deteriorated. With the diplomatically inexperienced Harry S. Truman taking over, the postwar world would be without the guidance and coordination that Roosevelt would have offered. As a result of his near paternal influence on the United States, his personal and diplomatic relations with Stalin, and the imprudence of Truman in diplomacy, the hostility and rigidity of the Cold War was accelerated upon Roosevelt’s death.

  In a time of crisis, the people of a nation will desire stability, familiarity, and composure from the head of government. By 1945, Franklin Roosevelt’s presidential reign was the epitome of stability, and his recently inaugurated fourth term yielded him a fatherly influence on the American people. He had been with them through the darkest of days of the Great Depression, and he fought to the best of his abilities to relieve their suffering with the New Deal. When the country was simultaneously attacked and threatened by the Axis Powers in the early years World War II, Roosevelt’s calming words galvanized the country into the most powerful fighting force in the world in just a few years. With a somber yet confident voice, he pleaded to the people that even though

  the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan…the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory…With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph—so help us God.1

  Roosevelt’s composed eloquence could conciliate the nation as he did numerous times with his intimate Fireside Chats, and he developed a personal relationship with the American people. His appeal to the public was perhaps strongest with the youth, as many had known of only him as president in their conscious years. Despite his rather fruitless efforts to alleviate the trials and tribulations of depression, “he was largely re-elected in 1940 because Americans believed he could guide the nation through a period of treacherous international relations.”2 Roosevelt’s trust was rooted deeply in the American people, and the growing suspicion between the United States and the Soviet Union provided the public with yet another worry in the final months of World War II. His unforeseen death came as a shock to the entire Western world, while his absence created an atmosphere of uncertainty and a series of impetuous actions by the successive United States administration. The man to attempt to replace Roosevelt’s gargantuan presence was the short-tempered and ill-prepared Harry S. Truman. Without the leadership of the seasoned Roosevelt, Truman lacked the ability to direct his government and the American people in a more cooperative and more sensible approach toward the Soviet Union. Roosevelt’s influence was not limited to his own country, however, as he established a level of understanding with Joseph Stalin that neither his allies nor his successors possessed—or were aware of.

  To a remarkable extent, the most amenable and productive relationship of all American and Soviet diplomats was likely between Roosevelt and Stalin. Herculean military figures like generals George S. Patton and Douglas MacArthur both deeply abhorred the Soviets, and many more American government officials distrusted them—especially within the Republican Party in the following decade. Roosevelt had his own concerns about his waning ally, but he understood the situation of his Soviet counterpart and he worked generously to meet Stalin’s demands. Though he may not have relished it, Roosevelt labored to develop a friendly relationship with the Soviet autocrat. In conversation at the 1943 Tehran Conference, Roosevelt mocked Winston Churchill to Stalin in a light-hearted fashion to build a friendship, and thereafter they ‘“talked like men and brothers.’”3 Roosevelt understood that the Soviets carried a majority of the burden of the German onslaught, and he identified that Stalin desired protection and security from a third western attack in the future. The Soviet General Secretary wanted “a belt of ‘friendly’ states” to provide the Soviet Union with a geopolitical buffer zone of fringe territories.4 At Yalta in 1945, the practical Roosevelt dispelled the deep-rooted American-Russian discord to concede the liberty of countries like Poland and warm water ports on the Pacific coast of China for Soviet assistance against Japan in return.5 Despite all of Roosevelt’s efforts to compensate his Soviet ally, his relationship with Stalin may have been too strong—in the sense that the two leaders kept their talks and agreements private. Roosevelt believed that he was the sole representative of the democratic West who could champion a deal with Stalin, and he failed to delegate much of his diplomatic triumphs to his eventual successors.

  Harry Truman’s inauguration into the presidency was very much a baptism by fire. His strength in politics was in domestic issues as a senator from Missouri and a New Deal Democrat, yet he was presented with the task of ending World War II. In Roosevelt’s reelection of 1944, Truman was largely selected as Vice President to garner the support of conservative leaning swing voters and did not have an amiable relationship with the president.6 As a result, Roosevelt excluded Truman from much of the postwar diplomacy among other topics, and Truman was severely uneducated of what the soon-to-be victors had planned. By his fourth term, Roosevelt’s power and influence was nearing that of a monarch, and he conducted his foreign policy unilaterally. However, his imperial reign was nearing an unexpected end, and his reticence would jeopardize the ability of Truman to successfully carry out Roosevelt’s agreements. Along with his secret agreements with Stalin, Roosevelt hesitated to lay down any concrete plans of the future for his own government, as he once stated to Secretary of State Cordell Hull “I dislike making detailed plans for a country which we do not yet occupy,” referring to the inevitable future of Germany.7 Roosevelt’s furtive communication was not limited to just his own gover
nment, as he occasionally kept his distance from Winston Churchill “to avoid any impression by Stalin that the United States and the UK were ‘ganging up’ against the Soviets, [he] avoided private meetings with Churchill at Tehran.”8 Inadvertently, the ailing American President created an atmosphere of discomfort and disunion among the Allied leaders, for failing to recognize his rapidly declining health. Truman was left to start from scratch, and found himself without the support and experienced companionship of Churchill after he was replaced by Clement Atlee in 1945. The sudden disconnect among Allied leaders allowed for unfortunate inexperience and hostile misjudgment to accelerate the Cold War and produce the extreme diplomatic instability of the 20th Century.

  To Truman’s credit, he successfully carried out Roosevelt’s wartime mission and led the Allied coalition to Victory in Europe in May of 1945, and he finished the war against Japan in September of the same year. However, Truman’s inability to continue his predecessor’s