Eisenhower and the rhetoric of postwar Korea

Abstract

Truman's idealistic call for total victory was found wanting in nuance and flexibility as it coped with the complex reality of the Korean War. His successor, Dwight D. Eisenhower, redefined the meaning of the War from a failure event to a model of foreign policy success, one grounded in both realist and idealistic principles. By expanding the circumference around the Korean experience, Eisenhower was able to justify limited conflicts like Korea, as realistic/idealistic means of winning the larger Cold War. From the ashes of Korea emerged an altered vision that helped to carry the United States into the Cold War for the next three and a half decades.