[In this final segment of his long July 22 entry, my father shows both his idealism and his naiveté by making a case for Congress to leave the details of foreign policy to the “technicians and experts.” He knew that such a proposal would be considered “revolutionary and destructive to democratic principles” by many, but it’s hard to argue with the logic of his position. Nowadays, my father’s perspective — indeed, his overall intellect and world view — would be branded as “elitist” by many in the conservative political camp.
Were he still alive, my father would have little but disdain for the current denizens of Congress, who make their 1940’s counterparts seem like intellectual giants and world-class statesmen. It’s probably just as well that he also missed out on observing today’s “Sam Jones,” as represented by the Tea Party zealots. These deficit-obsessed and mean-spirited partisans bring a whole new meaning to the “erratic and uninformed public opinion” that so concerned my father in 1945.]
July 22, 1945 (Ft. Jackson, S.C.), con’t.
… Well, Sam, what do you want? A steak dinner today, and a rifle for your son tomorrow? Sam will object that this is a loaded question. Just give him the steak today, and he’ll worry about tomorrow when it comes. We’ve always taken care of ourselves in the past.
Sure, that’s the good old American way. Happy-go-lucky. Binge tonight and hangover tomorrow. But it’s an irrational way, it’s a dangerous way to conduct foreign policy in one of the most powerful nations in the world. In the long run it can be a suicidal way for American government.
The only solution I can see to this problem will be called revolutionary and destructive of democratic principles by many Americans. And there, probably, it will die in a deluge of awe-inspiring words which are meaningless to the people who use them most glibly. But at least I can speak my mind, and let my suggestions stand public examination, whatever the final verdict on them may be.
In the first place, the conduct of foreign affairs, like the regulation of interstate commerce, is a job which demands the full time attention of a picked group of technicians and experts. These men should be appointed by the President on the basis of their ability to do the job, and not because they possess the means to support themselves in an underpaid and mistakenly glamorous profession. The pay should be sufficient to attract men of no private means whatsoever.
Next, Congress should vote to abolish its obsolete treaty power. As long as the Senate clings to its prerogative of the two-thirds vote for approval, it will be bypassed on every possible occasion by such devices as the executive order, whereby President Roosevelt handed over the destroyers to Britain with[out] waiting for Senate approval. Our treaties should be drawn in terms of general objectives only, and be ratified by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress in joint session. Sam Jones has no way of knowing how many shiploads of wheat the people of Greece need this winter, and consequently he shouldn’t vote yes or no on such specific measures through his elected representatives. Enough for him to say whether or not the American people should assume responsibility for keeping the Greek people from starving to death. On such a clear-cut issue as this he may be expected to know where his own interests lie.
It should be up to the technicians and experts to determine such questions as the adequate relief quotas for destitute countries. And then they, through the State department, should have the power to see that those quotas are met on time. Congressional committees should have the right to investigate such State Department activities, but they should not have the power to refuse the appropriations which make such activities possible. The State Department, like the War and Navy Departments during this war, should be granted a lump-sum appropriation, without being required to itemize its proposed expenditures. War and Navy are coming in for accusations of unforgivable extravagances these days, but their primary task was to wage a successful war, and they are accomplishing that task admirably. The State Department’s task might be called to wage a successful peace. If it made a continuous record of accomplishing this task, we should not have to worry any more about the extravagances of war. But it will never get to first base as long as its officials can be hamstrung by an erratic and uninformed public opinion.
If we leave things in their present muddled state, we can certainly expect to do no better than muddle along. The Russian government, whatever its deficiencies, has a foreign office which can act with speed and decision, can apparently make spot commitments in administrative situations with the assurance that they will be carried out. In the gigantic task of restoring Europe to law and order, we’re making a very poor showing, for the reason that our officials can’t make spot commitments, and have little confidence that even their most urgent requests will be met after running through the time-consuming mill of red tape. Thus if we’re surprised to see even the Western European democracies turning to the left, to Russia, we shouldn’t be. Either we shall soon learn to assume the responsibility for the wise exercise of our power, or we shall retire again to the sidelines and wait to be forced into another war which we could have prevented.
Paul Davis Journals Blog 