The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 103, July 1999 - April, 2000 Page: 149
554 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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1999 Lyndon Johnson, Foreign Policy, and the Election of 1960
meetings with Eisenhower and passing on foreign aid and every major
foreign policy bill in the last twenty years isn't good experience," he
said, annoyed. As he noted several times in 1960, he had served on com-
mittees concerned with national defense throughout his entire congres-
sional career. These bodies ranged from the House Naval Affairs
Committee, to the joint congressional investigation of Gen. Douglas
MacArthur's removal from command. Johnson also did more than sit in
on some hearings. On several occasions he used his influence in
Washington to get results. In 1939 and 1940, he helped a large number
of German and Polish Jews get out of Europe and into the United States.
Although he disliked reading, his staff kept him up to date on current
scholarly views about national defense policy, which he often cited in
Senate debates. While Americans might have focused on his domestic
record, foreigners saw otherwise. In an account of the presidential cam-
paign in Texas, the Times of London noted that he had a strong interest
in world events.
An examination of his public statements will also show that he had a
far more sophisticated understanding of the American role in world
events than is generally believed. He was a strong anti-Communist, and
had no reservations about American post-war foreign policy. Like many
other cold war warriors he was an ardent advocate of keeping the armed
services well funded and developed. Indeed, he considered it a necessity.
"Communism has not been able to overpower the world because of our
resolve in the areas of military strength," he told a Houston crowd in
1959-"
He recognized, however, that the military was an instrument that ser-
viced a larger political purpose, and that the cold war was a manifesta-
tion of ideological and political differences between the United States
and the Soviet Union. As such, any American victory in this conflict
would be political in nature. "Communism must not be able to over-
come the world with handshakes and smiles and campaign promises
because of our lack of resolve in the areas of political affairs." The
United States needed a strong military "behind which we can and
indeed must, take positive steps toward a peaceful future," he told a vet-
erans' organization in 1960. "Weapons will bring us a truce-a truce
which is preferable to the destruction of our way of life, but we will meet
our responsibilities only if we use that truce to build toward a world in
SHouston Post, Apr. 23, 196o; a copy of the Times article is in ibid., Oct. 16, 1960; Louis S.
Gomolak, "Prologue: LBJ's Foreign Affairs Background, 1908-1948" (Ph.D. diss., University of
Texas, 1989), 35-51; Congressional Record, 86th Cong., 2d. sess., A1250, 3o27, 4560-4561; Philip
Geyelin, Lyndon B.Johnson and the World (New York: Praeger, 1966), 16 (quotation).
'Houston Post, Oct. 23, 1959.149
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 103, July 1999 - April, 2000, periodical, 2000; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101220/m1/185/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.