Department of State and Related Foreign Affairs Agencies.
By David Langbart The development of the Cold War after World War II and America’s ascension to a position as the leading World power with its attendant dangers and complications led to somewhat of a removal of partisan politics from foreign policy issues. Underlying this move, referred to as bi-partisanship, was the idea that the … Continue reading Bipartisanship in Foreign Policy, 1953
By David Langbart In recent years, the subject of leaks of classified information from U.S. Government agencies has received a great deal of attention. This is not a new problem; I have seen references to such leaks as early as World War I. In the early 1960s, however, the Department of State suffered a spate … Continue reading Leaks in the Department of State, 1963
By David Langbart As the Department of State noted in a major 1950 publication “There is no longer any real distinction between ‘domestic’ and ‘foreign’ affairs.” (Our Foreign Policy, Department of State Publication 3972, released September 1950). In the post-World War II Twentieth Century, perhaps no issue better illustrates that statement than the movement for … Continue reading Foreign Policy and Domestic Discrimination
This post is also featured on our Rediscovering Black History blog. By David Langbart. At the outbreak of World War I, William H. Hunt was serving as the U.S. Consul in St. Etienne, France. In addition to his official duties, Hunt was also a true American pioneer. In 1914, he was one of the very … Continue reading William H. Hunt, American Pioneer
By David Langbart. In January 15, 1958, Willard S. Irle, a member of the New York Stock Exchange sent President Dwight Eisenhower a letter with ideas about the preservation of world peace. Irle suggested a “three-pronged program” consisting of the establishment of (1) a universal language, (2) a universal monetary system, and (3) a universal … Continue reading John Foster Dulles Mocks Himself
By David Langbart. In recent years, we have seen a spate of memoirs by high government officials, many of them controversial. Among those publications are books by former Secretaries of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Colin Powell, George Shultz, Henry Kissinger, and Dean Rusk. Perhaps the model for all of them is Cordell Hull, at least … Continue reading Memoirs of a Secretary of State: Cordell Hull
By David Langbart. Scholars are increasingly writing about the physical destruction visited upon friendly European countries during World War II’s campaign to free Western Europe from Nazi domination. Recent books such as Keith Lowe’s SAVAGE CONTINENT, Antony Beevor’s D-DAY, Max Hastings’s ARMAGEDDON, and Rick Atkinson’s THE GUNS AT LAST LIGHT (all quite excellent and worth … Continue reading Rebuilding After World War II: The Experience of Saint-Lo, France
By David Langbart. Working in a large bureaucracy, such as the U.S. Government, one’s accomplishments are often overlooked by the most senior leadership. On occasion, however, the big boss notices and recognizes the work being done. In some cases, the biggest boss in the bureaucracy – the President – notices. One such instance occurred in … Continue reading The President Says Thank You, 1963: U.S. Policy Regarding The Congo
By David Langbart One never knows what will be found in the files. While undertaking holdings maintenance on some records, the document described here appeared. In September 1945, just after the formal end of World War II, the British embassy in Washington sent a diplomatic note to the Department of State requesting some information. In … Continue reading Married Women in the U.S. Government, c. 1945
Today's post is written by David Langbart, Archivist at the National Archives in College Park. The April 27, 2014, broadcast of the CBS news show “60 Minutes” included a segment entitled “Saving the children.” It recounted the efforts of Nicholas Winton, a British citizen, to save almost 700 Czechoslovakian children, mostly Jewish, from the Nazi … Continue reading Nicholas Winton and Refugee Children: A Follow-up to “60 Minutes”
