John F. Kennedy s 1962 Declaration of Interdependence and the clash of traditions in American foreign policy Traditions in American foreign policy 1796: George Washington Farewell Address 1823: Monroe Doctrine isolationist doctrine particularly directed at Europe 1918: Fourteen Points Address by Woodrow Wilson indicates new era of internationalism in US foreign policy 1947: Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan signal previously unseen level of US interest and engagement in European affairs 1949: North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) established The Kennedy Presidency July 4, 1962: JFK uses Independence Day as an opportunity to talk about the need for further cooperation across the Atlantic. 1962: Joseph Kraft s book, The Grand Design, is released, outlining the basic structure of a proposed Grand Design for the North Atlantic community. 1962: Congress passes Trade Expansion Act provides the basis for the Kennedy Round (1967) 1963: JFK assassinated the imaginative Atlantic community died with Kennedy (Costigliola p. 55) Quotes George Washington Farewell Address, 1796: The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is, in extending our commercial relations to have with them as little political connection. JFK, Declaration of Interdependence, 1962: The United States will be ready for a Declaration of Interdependence, that we will be prepared to discuss with a united Europe the ways and means of forming a concrete Atlantic partnership, a mutually beneficial partnership between the new union now emerging
Suggested reading Brinkley, Douglas and Richard T. Griffiths, eds. John F. Kennedy and Europe. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1999. Costigliola, Frank. The Pursuit of Atlantic Community: Nuclear Arms, Dollars, and Berlin. In Kennedy s Quest for Victory: American Foreign Policy, 1961-1963. Ed. Thomas G. Patterson. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989, pp. 24-56. Giauque, Jeffrey G., Offers of Partnership or Bids for Hegemony? The Atlantic Community, 1961-1963. The International History Review, Vol. 22 No. 1 (2000), pp. 86-111. Kennedy, John F. Address at Independence Hall, July 4, 1962. John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters, The American Presidency Project [online]. Santa Barbara, CA. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=8756. Kennedy, John F. Annual Message to Congress on the State of the Union, January 14, 1963. John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters, The American Presidency Project [online]. Santa Barbara, CA. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=9138. Kraft, Joseph. The Grand Design: From Common Market to Atlantic Partnership. New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1962. Martin, Laurence W. Europe and the Future of the Grand Alliance. In Foreign Policy in the Sixties: The Issues and Instruments. Eds. Roger Hilsman and Robert C. Good. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1965. Schlesinger, Arthur M. Jr. A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House. Mariner Books, 2002. Zeiler, Thomas W. Dean Rusk: Defending the American Mission Abroad. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 1999.
Handout 15/16 September John Tiplady Atlantic Partnership/Atlantic Community in John F. Kennedy s Inaugural Speech of 1961 Key Dates 1939 In the work Union Now! Clarence Streit forwards the concept of an Atlantic Federal Union, promoting democratic unity. June 5 1947 April 4 1949 June 18 1954 European Recovery Program (Marshall Plan) is established, providing monetary aid to rebuild European economies and help prevent the spread of Soviet Communism. Signing of the North Atlantic Treaty. Targeted at maintaining the security of the North Atlantic Area. The Atlantic Treaty Association (ATA) was established, striving to advance the interests of security and democracy in North America and Europe. March 25 1957 Signing of the Treaty of Rome, establishing the European Economic Community (EEC.) January 1 1961 Atlantic Institute for International Affairs founded, promoting economic, political and cultural relations among NATO allies. January 20 1961 Fall 1961 Sep. 1961 In his inaugural speech, John F. Kennedy calls for a host of cooperative ventures among the old allies. Foundation of the Atlantic Council. In response to fears that the Western alliance was fragmenting, the Council encouraged communication and cooperation between North America and Europe. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development founded (OECD) Why Atlantic Partnership? Geir Lundestad - To fight Soviet Communism the resources of the United States and Western Europe had to be fitted into an Atlantic framework.
Jeffrey Giauque - Shared democratic values, interest in economic development, and need for a strong political and military front against the Soviet bloc held the Atlantic states together and encouraged the development of new means of co-operation. What concerned Kennedy in 1960/1961? Geir Lundestad - Increasing fears about the EEC keeping American goods out of Europe and apprehension over Europe becoming a Third Force which would exclude the United States. Melvin Small - Problems had developed within the alliance during the late fifties involving the return to power of Charles de Gaulle in France, the possible participation of Great Britain in the Common Market, the balance of payments, the command and control of nuclear weapons within NATO, and a general feeling of malaise revolving around the feeling that those committed to American-European cooperation who were present at the creation of early Cold War institutions like NATO were fast disappearing from the political scene. How did Kennedy seek to address the malaise and reinforce Atlantic partnership and cooperation? John F. Kennedy s Inaugural Address - To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided, there is little we can do--for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder. Jeffrey Giauque Through closer consultation with European allies the administration aimed to reach its goal of US leadership in the political, economic, conventional defense, and nuclear defense arenas by creating an Atlantic Community based on NATO, sweeping tariff reductions, and the Multi-Lateral Force. Suggestions for Further Reading John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address of President John F. Kennedy. January 20 1961. http://www.jfklibrary.org/research/ready-reference/jfk-quotations/inaugural-address.aspx [Audio Version] John F. Kennedy, Swearing-in ceremony and Inaugural address, 20 January 1961. http://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/archives/jfkwha-001.aspx Costigliola, Frank, The Pursuit of Atlantic Community: Nuclear Arms, Dollars and Berlin, in Thomas Paterson (Ed.), Kennedy s Quest for Victory (1989): 24-57. Geir, Lundestad, The United States and Western Europe since 1945. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Giauque, Jeffrey G., Offers of Partnership or Bids for Hegemony? The Atlantic Community, 1961-1963. The International History Review 22.1 (2000): 86-111. Sloan, Stanley, NATO, the European Union, and the Atlantic Community: the Transatlantic Bargain Reconsidered. Oxford: Rowman and Littlefield: 2003. Small, Melvin, The Atlantic Council: The Early Years. 1 June 1998. http://www.nato.int/acad/fellow/96-98/small.pdf
Alice Lilly (University of Nottingham) Lyndon Johnson and Charles de Gaulle: Clash of Personalities or Structural Divergence? LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON, August 27 1908- January 22 1973. Served as a Democratic Congressman and later a Senator from Texas, and then was Senate Majority Leader between 1955 and 1961. Vice President under President John F. Kennedy, and became the 36 th President of the United States upon Kennedy s assassination in November 1963. Re-elected in the 1964 presidential election, but chose not to run again in 1968, with Nixon succeeding him as President in January 1969. He is particularly associated with escalating the war in Vietnam, but also for his domestic achievements in civil rights and welfare policy- the Great Society programs. CHARLES DE GAULLE, November 22 1890- November 9 1970. Served in the French Army during WWI, and was wounded and later captured. During peacetime he remained in the Army, advocating new theories of tactical warfare. Upon the decision of Petain to seek an armistice in 1940, he moved to England. Formed Free French movement, and, in 1943, the French Committee of National Liberation. In 1944 this became the Provisional Government of France. November 1945 elected head of French government; resigned January 1946. Served as President from 1958 until April 1969. Known for his strong views on Europe and the place of France in the world, and for his particular style of politics, which often antagonised others. KEY DATES 1947 US announced Marshall Plan 1949 Foundation of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) 1952 European Coal and Steel Community formed 1954 Failure of the European Defence Community 1957 Treaty of Rome establishes the European Economic Community (EEC) 1958 French forces begin to be withdrawn from NATO 1963 French rejection of British membership in the EEC 1964 French recognition of (Communist) China 1965 Empty chair crisis, as France walked out of Council of Ministers. (Resolved by 1966 Luxembourg Compromise) 1966 French withdrawal of all remaining forces from NATO military command 1966 De Gaulle visit to Moscow 1967 Six-Day War 1967 Harmel Report 1965-1968 Intermittent financial crises in the international system, relating especially to gold and its link to the dollar AREAS OF DISAGREEMENT Structure and integration of Europe- How far should Europe integrate and in what ways? How should Germany be reunified? How should Europe be defined? What was France s role in Europe? The US s relationship with Europe- How far should the US involve itself in Europe? How much responsibility for defence should the US and Europe each take? Management of détente and relations between East and West Europe- Troop reductions or bridge-building? Should non-proliferation agreements be pursued? Did NATO have a role to play in détente? Military and defence strategy- Flexible response or massive retaliation? Multilateral forces or multilateral planning? Who should have nuclear capabilities and control of forces? The role, function, and organization of NATO- What consultation between members should there be, and on what issues? How much attention should NATO pay to political issues, as well as military? Trade and financial matters- how should trade within Europe and between Europe and the US work? How should the problems with the Bretton Woods system (the relationship between gold and the dollar) be resolved?
Alice Lilly (University of Nottingham) QUOTES [de Gaulle] had a vision not of a United Europe but of a confederation in which the Europeanness of all participants would be recognized. With this common interest, they would stand as a unit against the rest of the world. - Charles Bohlen, US Ambassador to France under de Gaulle, writing in 1973. I made it a rule for myself and for the US government simply to ignore President de Gaulle s attacks on our policies and the doubts he had raised about the value of our pledges. Nothing he could say would, in my judgement, divert the French people from their friendship with the American people, a friendship firmly rooted in history. - Lyndon Johnson, in his 1973 memoirs We are not joined together by experience or convenience in pursuit of temporary goals. European unity and Atlantic partnership are based on deeply shared values and dangers, and interests, and the wise pursuit of the interest of each will strengthen the connection among all our nations. The United States has no policy for the people of Europe, but we do have a policy toward the people of Europe We must all seek to assist in increasing the unity of Europe We must all work to multiply in number and intimacy the ties between North America and Europe. For we shape an Atlantic civilization with an Atlantic destiny. - Johnson speech at Georgetown University, 1964 Yes, it is Europe, from the Atlantic to the Urals, it is Europe, it is the whole of Europe, that will decide the destiny of the world. - Charles de Gaulle, in a 1959 speech The American interest is not always the French interest. This will be more and more true in the future, which will give Europe a greater and greater weight, and which will therefore contribute to diminishing the relative weight of the US. - De Gaulle, 1963 BIBLIOGRAPHY (in addition to the session reading list) Primary sources Bohlen, C., Witness to History, 1929-1969, WW Norton and Company, New York, 1973. Brands, H. (ed.), The Foreign Policies of Lyndon Johnson: Beyond Vietnam, Texas A&M, College Station, 1999. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, US Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1998. Johnson, L., The Vantage Point: Perspectives of the Presidency, 1963-1969, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, 1971. Oral Histories of the Lyndon Johnson Administration, LBJ Presidential Library, Austin, Texas (available online at http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/biopage.asp) Public Papers of President Lyndon Johnson, 1963-1969, accessible online at http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php#axzz1vai0sufd. Secondary sources Bozo, F., Détente Versus Alliance: France, the United States and the Politics of the Harmel Report, 1964-1968, Contemporary European History, 1998, No. 3., pp. 343-360. Dallek, R., Lyndon B. Johnson: Portrait of a President, Penguin Books, London, 1995. Fenby, J., The General: Charles de Gaulle and the France he Saved, Simon and Schuster, London, 2010.