BUSH = TRUMAN?

Cheney, at Westminster College:

Like his friend [Winston Churchill], President Truman recognized that imperial communism demanded a comprehensive, long-term response on many fronts. And he made absolutely clear to the world that American policy would confront the danger squarely. In a short time, our government created the architecture of national security that we know today: the Department of Defense, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Council. To defend ourselves and other free peoples, the United States, joined by Britain, helped to found NATO, and the President announced the Truman Doctrine to help free nations resist communist subversion. To build and strengthen our new democracies, our government led in the reconstruction of Japan, and devoted billions to European assistance through the Marshall Plan. And when aggression occurred on the Korean Peninsula, it was President Truman's decision and America's sacrifice that saved South Korea.

All those early commitments were absolutely essential to victory in the Cold War, and they helped to produce unprecedented success for the cause of freedom. And to look back on the pivotal decisions of the 1940s and '50s is to be reminded that certain moments come along in history when the gravest of threats reveal themselves. And in those moments our response must be swift, it must be confident, and it must be right.

Does that make Kerry -- if not Eisenhower -- at least Ike-like? Has Cheney been reading Marstonalia?

There was, of course, not a lot of "confidence" with respect to the Korean War in 1952. In fact, as I note in the post linked above, it was part of Eisenhower's electoral strategy to call attention to that point, if [often] in a subtle and ambiguous fashion. And it was also part of the Republican strategy in 1956 to portray the Democrats as the party of war and Republicans as the party of peace. Here's a quote from Forward with Eisenhower -- Nixon, a 1956 Republican comic book (from Kernell and Jacobson, The Logic of American Politics, 2nd edition, 426):

Here she is -- Ann Turner. . .Jim's wife. Ann spoke up next at that family get-together. . . [drawing of photograph of a woman]

"I remember what it was like when Truman and his crew were running the coutry!" [woman speaking, and woman staring at a picture of man in uniform]

"When Ike flew to Korea in '52, as he promised, I didn't dare let myself believe that he could accomplish anything. . ."[next to drawing of Eisenhower greeting smiling troops]

"But a few months later, our wedding bells rang -- right after Jim came home from Korea. . .that was Ike's wedding present to us!" [beneath drawing of wedding picture]

Hmmm.