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Truman and the Recognition of Israel I know other symposia have been held on various other topics and issues relating
to the Truman presidency. I would submit to you this morning, however, that
Truman’s recognition of Israel stands alone in terms of sheer drama given
the critical mass of people and events in the mid to late 1940s. As a moment
in history, it literally has it all for students and lay people alike: the force
of personality, the potential of global conflict, the emotion of post WW 2 revelations
concerning the Holocaust, international intrigue, political machinations, secret
meetings with private promises, and of course, personal vindication and national
realization. To be sure, Truman’s recognition of Israel – issued a mere 11 minutes
after David Ben-Gurion’s historic declaration of independence made in
Tel Aviv 57 years ago today – has had enormous implications for our nation
and our foreign policy. Being the student of history that he was, I still maintain
President Truman believed that somehow – someday – peace between
Arab and Jew could be realized. He often reminded visitors and supporters from
both sides that they were cousins – all descendants from Father Abraham
– and that they should try and live together peaceably. He believed –
many contend naively – that economics would bring the two sides together
and that a Tennessee Valley Authority-type project in the Middle East would
force the two sides into a co-dependent arrangement, resulting in a long-term
peace.
Snow College Speeches
By Michael T. Benson
Delivered at Truman Conference in Key Biscayne, FL
Ladies and Gentlemen, I am both honored and humbled to participate in this program
with such a distinguished list of guests and thank those responsible for the
invitation to be here, especially Professor Robert Watson. I thought things
got off to a rousing start last night with the comments of Professor Berger
and the stirring remarks of Rabbi Gordis. If I may, I would like to add one
footnote to the Rabbi’s account of the Truman-Weizmann exchange as it
was related to me by an eyewitness to the event, Abba Eban, over 10 years ago.
. . (anecdote was extemporaneous)…
I certainly don’t mean to sound overly dramatic or maudlin, but studying
the life and career of Harry S. Truman changed my life forever. The journey
can be traced to a spring morning in 1992 when I entered the doors of the Truman
Library for the first time. I hasten to add, Dr. Devine, that my initial research
visit was made possible by a generous grant. I made some wonderful friends at
the Truman, including my all-time favorite, Liz Safly, who is here this morning.
What an amazing facility with such a dedicated staff committed to helping researchers
and writers tell the various stories associated with Truman’s career and
presidency. I owe all these people an enormous debt of gratitude for their many
courtesies and help throughout the past 15 years.
I can state unequivocally that Harry Truman is my hero. And for those of my
generation, it might be tough to find many of my associates who list a politician
as one of his or her heroes. As Truman was inclined to say, a statesman is nothing
more than a politician who has been dead for several years. But for those of
us who grew up in an America and its presidency transformed by Watergate and
subsequent scandals, we hearken back to an era when politicians were –
well, different. There is an element to Truman that is highly rare in today’s
politics. Perhaps it is best summarized by a statement made by Eric Severaid
of CBS News. He said:
“I am not sure Truman was right about the atomic bomb, or even Korea.
But remembering him reminds people what a man in that office ought to be like.
It’s character, just character. He stands like a rock in memory now.”
Indeed, Harry Truman does stand like a rock in our nation’s collective
memory as we consider many of the decisions which – when made at the time
– were incredibly difficult and famously unpopular.
Many revisionists have rushed to note our 33rd president’s faults and
the inherent shortcomings in his policies. Their efforts notwithstanding, year
after year the courageousness of Truman’s decisions propels him into the
ranks of great or near great presidents as determined by America’s renowned
political scientists and historians. Not bad for a man who left Washington with
a 23 percent approval rating – 4 points lower than when Richard Nixon
made his famed wave from the south lawn of the White House as he boarded MarineOne
for the last time.
As was noted, I serve as president of a small rural college in central Utah.
We even have a Jewish studies program helped along by my good friend, Rabbi
Shmuley Boteach. When the Rabbi first visited our campus nearly 4 years ago,
he maintained that such a program was a perfect fit in a town called Ephraim,
which is located right next to Mount Nebo, north of a city named Moab, and
on the way to Zion National Park!
Ever since launching into my administrative career 10 years ago at the University
of Utah, I have taught a class in international relations, American history,
government, or the U.S. Presidency each and every semester. And I intend to
do so for the rest of my academic career. Each course begins with this same
admonition regardless of the year or the course material or the level of students.
President Truman often stated: “There is nothing new in the world except
the history you do not know.”
I have been privileged to try and tell a side of Truman’s recognition
of the State of Israel which for years was – I believe – misrepresented
and misunderstood. Contrary to what many held and propagated for decades after
his historic recognition, I contend that Truman courageously took the action
he did not motivated by Jewish money or the desire to win Jewish votes in
the 1948 election. This was antithetical to Truman; it was simply not in his
make-up. Rather, his decision was based on, in his words, “righting
an historic wrong” and fulfilling a promise made by every administration
since Woodrow Wilson in America’s support of the Balfour declaration:
namely backing the establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine.
And this was founded on a fundamental commitment to doing what was right for
the right reason and at the right time. How else to explain why Truman was
willing to go up against a pantheon of political power with names all of us
will instantly recognize: Marshall, Lovett, Rusk, Acheson, Bohlen, Harriman,
Kennan, and Forrestal to name just a few. To a man, each of these people opposed
Truman’s recognition of Israel based on geopolitical and strategic grounds.
And, in point of fact, it was not passive opposition. In the case of the man
whom he admired most, General George C. Marshall even threatened to break
with the President over his stance and to oppose him publicly just two days
prior to the British withdrawal in May 1948.
When asked what most impressed him about Truman after spending 10 years of
his life researching and writing about the President, David McCullough responded
that 3 decisions made during his presidency revealed the inner core and character
of the president:
As an overlay to the entire episode is what the famed writer, Barbara Tuchman,
called the “spongier ground” of history. Intangibles that many historians
might dismiss but are, nonetheless, highly relevant to a complete understanding
of why Truman did what he did: things such as the friendship between President
Truman and Eddie Jacobsen, such as the pledge made privately by the president
to the famed chemist, Chaim Weizmann, such as the efforts of Clark Clifford
in persuading Robert Lovett to persuade his boss, George Marshall, to NOT break
publicly with the president. This is high drama indeed!
For two individuals very close to the issue that unfolded in the early months
of 1948, David Niles and UN Secretary Trgye Lie, the indispensable role of Harry
Truman is absolutely incontrovertible. Niles was the only Jewish White House
staffer in both the Roosevelt and Truman administrations and expressed doubt
that Israel would have come into existence had FDR lived. I believe that to
be the case. Given his predecessor’s inclination of making multiple promises
to various groups (Robert Lovett described FDR this way: “He wanted to
play every instrument in the band and that’s how you get a split lip),
it is impossible to surmise what may or may not have happened had Roosevelt
survived. One thing is quite certain, however, one would be hard pressed to
find a president willing to stand up to the entire State Department and foreign
policy-making apparatus over an issue such as Palestine as Truman did. And Tryge
Lie of the United Nations once made this bold assertion: “I think we can
safely say that if there had been no Harry S. Truman, there would be no Israel
today.”
This of course, has never happened. What has happened finally, however,
is recognition by many that a two-state situation is the only viable and workable
solution in the region. Truman and the United States embraced this fact in 1947
in their support of the U.N. Partition Plan, even though the borders of the
plan were highly controversial and probably unworkable. The principle, nonetheless,
remains the same: Truman supported a free and democratic Israel and advocated
a similar state-like entity for the Palestinians as well.
As we toured the Little White House last evening, I was reminded of the fact
that President Truman and his card-playing friends attempted to teach Winston
Churchill how to play poker. Some have recorded that the President even allowed
Prime Minister Churchill to win every now and then – despite the fact
that he was a very poor player – in order to make him feel better. I believe
Truman’s place in history as it relates to his role in recognizing the
State of Israel is best summarized by this Sir Winston quotation:
“To every man there comes . . . that special moment when he is figuratively
tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a special thing unique to
him and fitted to his talent. What a tragedy, if that moment finds him unprepared
or unqualified for the work which would be his finest hour.”
God be thanked that history and fate found Harry Truman both prepared and qualified
for one of his finest hours in May of 1948.
If I may, I would like to conclude with this last illustration. One would be
hard-pressed to find two more different backgrounds than those belonging to
Harry Truman and Dean Acheson. Acheson, with his patrician upbringing and impeccable
academic training that included Groton, Yale, and Harvard – and two terms
as a clerk to the United States Supreme Court – was everything Truman
was not. Truman, conversely, was the only president of the last century, to
never have graduated from college and had a string of failed business and career
ventures before his career in politics led him to Pennsylvania Avenue. Yet,
Acheson recognized in Truman those intangible traits that have separated him
from so many other chief executives. The dedicatory page in Acheson’s
pulitzer prize-winning memoir, Present at the Creation, reads: To Harry Truman
– the Captain with the Mighty Heart.”
Well-versed as he was in the classics and Shakespeare, Acheson would often quote
this section from Henry V and apply it to the Captain with the Mighty Heart.
Those who are familiar with this play will remember the eve of the famed battle
of Agincourt when the British were outnumbered nearly 5 to 1 by the French.
As King Harry makes his way through his troops as they contemplate the enormous
odds they will face on the battlefield the next day, Shakespeare’s narrator
records the scene:
Pining and pale before
Plucks comfort from his looks
His liberal eye doth give to every one
A little touch a Harry in the night.
May God bless America and the memory of Harry S. Truman. Thank you very much.
Snow College
Snow College, founded in 1888, serves approximately 3,000 students at
its Ephraim campus. The college provides general education and applied
technology programs leading to Associate of Arts, Associate of Science,
Associate of Applied Science and Associate of Pre-Engineering degrees,
and certificates of completion in a number of occupational areas. Once
owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Snow College
became a state college in 1932.
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