Documents Related to 1946 Speech
"He [Wallace] was severely critical of the 'get tough with Russia' school of thought. 'We are reckoning with a force which cannot be handled successfully by a 'get tough with Russia' policy. The tougher we get, the tougher the Russians will get."
- New York Times, 1946 |
Above is a set of letters and news articles discussing Wallace's explosive speech called, “The Way to Peace,” at Madison Square Garden in New York in 1946. In this speech, Wallace expressed his discontent with the Truman administration’s hostile policy towards the Soviet Union and the “get-tough” approach, arguing that it reduced the chance of peace. [1] He explained that the “price of peace- for us and for every nation in the world- is the price of giving up prejudice, hatred, fear, and ignorance.” [2] He disavowed the making and using of atomic weapons when he said, “he who trusts in the atom bomb will sooner or later perish by the atom bomb- or something worse.” He called for cooperation with the Soviet Union, even though many of their domestic decisions deserved condemnation. When he criticized Republican Governor Thomas Dewey’s foreign policy idea of allying with Britain militarily, Wallace followed up by asserting that he is “neither anti-British nor pro British- neither anti-Russian nor pro-Russian.” [3] He called for the need to overcome the “imperialistic urge in the Western world” and to open up American trade with the Soviet Union in order to avert war. [4] He said that the United States must invest in the industrialization of underdeveloped nations. Seemingly to establish credibility, he also insisted that Roosevelt agreed with him about all of these ideas and that they had discussed it extensively before he passed away. [5]
Public Reaction to Speech
"It was generally agreed that Mr. Wallace's speech- especially since it was made with President Truman's approval- had cut the ground from under the foreign policy that Mr. Byrnes had labored for a year to develop and define." [6] - Harold Callender, 1946 |
"Diplomats in every country were asking whether the United States was switching from support of Britain to a new and friendlier line toward Russia. A spokesman for the Foreign Office in London voiced 'pained surprise.'" [7] - New York Times, 1946 |
Wallace's "Way to Peace" speech angered almost everyone. It signaled a departure from Truman’s policy and Wallace was criticized for opposing his Commander-in-Chief. Wallace’s, at times, harsh description of the Soviet Union’s suppression of civil liberties led his communist supporters to take issue with him. Diplomats upon hearing the speech became confused about what the current U.S foreign policy was- Wallace’s or Secretary of State Byrnes’s. As a result, Truman had to issue a statement to the public ensuring that his foreign policy was not changing, and when he told Wallace he approved the speech, he meant that he had approved his right to deliver it, not implement it policy-wise. [8] He soon ordered Wallace to stop discussing foreign policy. [9]
Wallace's Subsequent Resignation 1946
"Henry A. Wallace Resigns," YouTube video, 0:58, posted by "British Movietone," July 21, 2015.
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Soon after delivering the "Way to Peace" speech, Truman ordered Wallace's resignation. President Truman was getting more and more frustrated by having to hear Wallace continually oppose him and his policies regardless of the context. The 1946 speech was the final straw for Truman, who was tired of being undermined at every turn. Truman even wrote about Wallace's "all-out attack" on his foreign policy in his memoir. [10]
Footnotes
[1] Quoted in Richard Walton, Henry Wallace (New York: The Viking Press, 1976), 103.
[2] Quoted in Richard Walton, Henry Wallace (New York: The Viking Press, 1976), 100.
[3] Quoted in Richard Walton, Henry Wallace (New York: The Viking Press, 1976), 102.
[4] Quoted in Richard Walton, Henry Wallace (New York: The Viking Press, 1976), 105.
[5] Quoted in Richard Walton, Henry Wallace (New York: The Viking Press, 1976), 106.
[6] Harold Callender, "Byrnes Deeply Disturbed by Wallace's Policy Talk; Truman Under Fire for it," September 14, 1946, New York Times Archives.
[7] "Wallace Storm: Over Foreign Policy," September 15, 1946, New York Times Archives.
[8] Walton, 108-110
[9] Richard S. Kirkendall, “Wallace, Henry Agard.” American National Biography, Oxford University Press, February, 2000.
[10] Quoted in Richard Walton, Harry Truman (New York: The Viking Press, 1976), 110.
[1] Quoted in Richard Walton, Henry Wallace (New York: The Viking Press, 1976), 103.
[2] Quoted in Richard Walton, Henry Wallace (New York: The Viking Press, 1976), 100.
[3] Quoted in Richard Walton, Henry Wallace (New York: The Viking Press, 1976), 102.
[4] Quoted in Richard Walton, Henry Wallace (New York: The Viking Press, 1976), 105.
[5] Quoted in Richard Walton, Henry Wallace (New York: The Viking Press, 1976), 106.
[6] Harold Callender, "Byrnes Deeply Disturbed by Wallace's Policy Talk; Truman Under Fire for it," September 14, 1946, New York Times Archives.
[7] "Wallace Storm: Over Foreign Policy," September 15, 1946, New York Times Archives.
[8] Walton, 108-110
[9] Richard S. Kirkendall, “Wallace, Henry Agard.” American National Biography, Oxford University Press, February, 2000.
[10] Quoted in Richard Walton, Harry Truman (New York: The Viking Press, 1976), 110.