Walter Lippmann and the American Century — 39 Waiting for an Innovator

1. 1. Lippmann believed Eisenhower's reputation was falsely inflated and that he lacked generosity and loyalty, as shown in his treatment of General Marshall.
2. 2. Lippmann criticized Dulles's brinkmanship and propaganda, calling a diplomat who peddles propaganda 'like a doctor who sells patent medicine.'
3. 3. Lippmann pointed out that SEATO contained only one Southeast Asian nation, Thailand, and that Dulles mistakenly thought Gurkas were Pakistani Muslims.
4. 4. Lippmann argued that Asian communism was not a threat to the US and that nationalism would always triumph over communism in Asia.
5. 5. Lippmann opposed expanding NATO to Russia's frontier and rearming Germany, warning that the European Defense Community would never pass the French parliament.
6. 6. Lippmann refused to condemn the Anglo-French-Israeli invasion of Suez in 1956, calling Nasser a 'typical aggressor-dictator' and arguing the allies should not fail.
7. 7. Lippmann wrote that Suez demonstrated there were no longer any great powers in Europe, as Britain and France could not affirm their vital interests.
8. 8. During the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, Lippmann counseled that the West should hope for stabilization at Titoism and not intervene, as risks were incalculable.
9. 9. Lippmann endorsed Stevenson in 1956 as a spokesman for a 'new generation,' arguing that a vote for Stevenson was respectable.
10. 10. Lippmann argued that German reunification was not feasible and that partition was preferable, contradicting his earlier stance and Kennan's disengagement plan.
11. 11. Lippmann's 1958 interview with Khrushchev led to a Pulitzer Prize; he reported that the Soviets feared the US would attack to halt their revolutionary rise.
12. 12. Lippmann praised De Gaulle as a genius with 'second sight' into history, the greatest leader of his time.