The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 93, July 1989 - April, 1990 Page: 244

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

from which prominent items are missing, particularly James Sandos's
1980 study of the Pershing Expedition. Finally, the book is prepon-
derantly military in nature. Additional social, economic, and cultural
activities during this period could have received more attention. The
authors make a decent case for scrutinizing postcards, but their use of
these items makes this book pale in comparison to The Wznd that Swept
Mexzco.
These caveats aside, Border Fury will interest scholars as well as
border buffs because of the intrinsic appeal that continues to surround
the U.S.-Mexican boundary.
University of Texas at Arlington DOUGLAS W. RICHMOND
Eisenhower and Latin America: The Foreign Policy of Anticommunism. By
Stephen G. Rabe. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press,
1988. Pp. ix+237. Acknowledgments, introduction, notes, bibli-
ography, index. $29.95, cloth; $9.95, paper.)
Few books on Latin America detail the tribulations of an American
administration better-that of Dwight D. Eisenhower-vis-A-vis the
serpentine politics of that area of the world. Stephen Rabe imposed
upon himself the difficult task of proving that the charismatic Ike was
not "an ineffectual leader who left the conduct of foreign policy to his
militantly anti-communist Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles..."
(p. 1).
Nine chapters cover this story, which draws heavily on private
papers, unpublished government documents, oral histories, aide-
memoirs, autobiographies, correspondence among the president's men
and with the president, and from such secondary sources as Walt W.
Rostow, now of the University of Texas at Austin. It begins with the
legacy of the Roosevelt and Truman administrations, ending with the
death of Rafael Trujillo of the Dominican Republic and the ascension
of Fidel Castro.
As usual, the Latin Americans proved difficult to handle because of
their insatiable appetite for the American dollar, which they believe is
the only antidote for the solving of their endemic social and economic
problems (pp. 102-115). There were triumphs and failures, mirroring
the ineptitude of career diplomats, such as the efforts to undermine
Juan Peron in Argentina (pp. 37-41) and the moves to ease Rafael Tru-
jillo out of power (pp. 153-159). The overthrow of proto-communist
Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala, however, was handled with finesse
(pp. 52-62).
Castro was portrayed to the president by the CIA as "decisive and
vigorous, and he had a military force that was faithful to him..."

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