The Twilight of the New Deal (United States News and World Report, 1946)"The crusading spirit that Franklin D. Roosevelt was able to summon up in the minds of Government employees at the outset of his first administration, and again in the years that followed, now is vanishing. The spirit and imagination of Mr. Roosevelt brought into public service would not have been there."
"It was this quality that captured the enthusiasm of engineers like J.A. Krug; of lawyers like Oscar S. Cox, Ben Cohen and Thomas Corcoran; of economists like Robert Nathan, Launchlin Curie, Leon Henderson and Isadore Lubin". American POWs in North Korea (United States News, 1953)Here is a collection of interviews with the men who, just a week earlier, had all been POWs in North Korea. Each of them recall their own unique account as to how they had been captured, their forced march to the camp, the poor medical care, sanitation and the high death toll from exposure to the cold. The intense practice of Communist brainwashing is described in detail. The Road to Pearl Harbor (United States News, 1945)"It now becomes apparent that the U.S. Government, long before Pearl Harbor, knew Tokyo's war plans almost as thoroughly as did the Japanese. To all practical purposes, Washington had ears attuned to the most intimate, secret sessions of Japan's cabinet."
A year and a half before the Pearl Harbor attack, Naval Intelligence sold a Japanese agent some bogus plans of the naval installation - more about this can be read here.
Anticipating Germany's Collapse (United States News, 1944)Taking into consideration the state of Germany's military forces on land, air and sea, as well as the fragile state of the German populace after three years of steady bombardment, this 1944 NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE article concluded that Germany's end was nigh - really, really nigh:
"Thus on the face of it, Germany's situation is desperate. She is encircled by powerful nations that are allied against her. Her chance of creating dissension to split those allies is gone. She is being beaten on every front and in every phase of the fighting. Her last chance to win has disappeared."
Germany would fight on for another sixteen months.
Allied Overoptimism (United States News, 1944)The surprise that was Hitler's December Offensive made many people think that the Allies were losing their edge and relying more on air power than infantry; Allies rather than our own divisions. The Battle of the Bulge shook all Americans out of their complacency.
More on the Battle of the Bulge can be read here... ''The Strange War the U.S. Is Not Winning'' (United States News, 1963)"It's a dirty, vicious war that Americans are [waging] in the swamps of South Vietnam. Men forget about the politics of Saigon when they stand gun to gun with the Communist guerrillas..." File Sharing (United States News & World Report, 1948)"This is the story of how Russia got military secrets from the United States during W.W. II. It is a story that has little to do with the spy ring that congressional committees are trying to prove existed during the war period (The Gouzenko Affair: read about it here) . But it does throw light on the methods and purposes of the so-called 'spy ring'". "Military information was going to Russia as a matter of routine, by official channels, on an organized basis, all during the period when United States Communists and their friends were supposed to be spying out bits of information to send... As an ally of the U.S. in the war against Germany, Russia had free access to far more information than the so-called 'spy ring' claims..." The New Normal (United States News, 1942)This was an important article for its time. It seems hard to believe, but it took the Federal Government the full six months after Pearl Harbor to figure out how the home front would be governed and what would be rationed. This article heralds that new day and clarified how the war would affect their salaries, savings, education, shopping, clothing, taxes, leisure time, transportation and their general manner of living:
In 1944, a class of sixth graders wrote General Eisenhower and asked him how they can help in the war effort; click here to read his response...
Click here food rationing at U.S. POW camps.
Results of the Economic Boom On The Home Front (United States News, 1943)After suffering eleven years of the squalor brought on by the Great Depression, many Americans were in shock to find their pockets fully lined with cash and their days spent in gainful employment when W.W. II came along (in 1943, the U.S. unemployment rate stood at 1.9%). The bars and restaurants that were situated around defense plants found that for the first time in years they were fully booked with paying customers. This article points out that this new economic boom on the home front was not without complications: absenteeism. As more factory workers discovered the joy of compensated labor, the more frequent they would skip work - which was seen as a nuisance for an industrial nation at war.
"Many workers, not just youngsters, are making more money than they ever made before in their lives." The Congressional Hearings Regarding the Pearl Harbor Attack (United States News, 1945)"The Navy's own story of the events that led up to Pearl Harbor now can be drawn from top-secret documents placed before the Pearl Harbor Committee. These documents show that misunderstanding, inadequate co-ordination and other factors helped the Japanese surprise attack, even though the Navy was almost certain a Pacific war was coming." King's March in Washington (United States News, 1963)Although the attached article is indeed about the famous civil rights march on Washington that took place in August of 1963, the journalist made his primary concern the political gains and losses that remained after all was said and done.
The First Two Weeks of the Battle of the Bulge (United States News, 1944)The American magazines that appeared on newsstands during late November and early December of 1944 are often found to have articles anticipating life in the post-war world or tips on how to welcome your returning husband home from the battle fronts. This line of thinking was put on hold in late December when the Germans launched their brutal counter offensive through the Ardennes Forrest in what has been nicknamed "the Battle of the Bulge".
Can There be Peace with Stalin? (United States News, 1948)The Berlin Blockade was already six weeks old when this article appeared proclaiming that peace with the Soviet Union was still possible:
"Russia and the U.S. are in the midst of another showdown on peace. Odds favor a settlement, not war."
"Peace terms are shifting closer to compromise. Russia is more interested in seeking peace, less interested in stalling... Each side is out to get the best possible terms. But prospects for easing the tension of cold war are good."
Click here to read about the Berlin Blockade. What To Do About Diem? (United States News, 1963)Here is an article by a respected American journalist who was dispatched to South Vietnam in order that he might see for himself what the problems were as to why the Republic of Vietnam seemed so incapable of maintaining military dominance in the field. Everywhere he went he got the same answer:
"A highly respected professor at Saigon University [remarked]:
'If you have to make a choice between supporting the Ngo family
and withdrawing from South Vietnam, you might as well pull out.
You cannot win with the family.'" The Lack of German Naval Power (United States News, 1946) "Not only did Germany limit the size of her fleet, but she failed to push technical developments. For example, she was behind the Allies in developing radar, and her torpedoes were mechanically deficient. She was ahead of the Allies in perfecting magnetic mines, but these proved to be a short-lived advantage... The priority for naval construction was so low that when the war began in September, 1939, the naval strength allowed in the treaty of 1935 had not been reached."
"Thus, in the opinion of Admiral Doenitz, Germany, for the second time within 25 years, lost her bid for world supremacy because of her weakness at sea."
Click here to read about an American destroyer on D-Day.
Harry Hopkins - FDR's Right Hand (United States News, 1944)This article makes it quite clear that Harry Hopkins (1890 – 1946) wore many hats in the administration of FDR.
During the first five years of the New Deal he had the unique title "Special Assistant to the President", he not only wrote speeches for FDR - Hopkins also oversaw the goings-on at the Civil Works Administration (CWA), the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Between the years 1938 through 1940, he served as Secretary of Commerce and when the war came he supervised the Lend-Lease program, the Chairman of the Munitions Assignment Board and traveled frequently as the President's representative to Moscow and London.
When the U.S.S.R. collapsed, it was discovered that one of his additional duties was being a Soviet agent.
Click here to read about another member of the "New Deal Brain-Trust"...
Read an anti-Gandhi article from 1921...
Japan Has Been Beaten. Now What? (United States News, 1945)"The big question for the United States is how long American troops are to occupy Japan. The Potsdam Declaration says that the occupying forces of the Allies shall be withdrawn from Japan as soon as the objectives outlined are accomplished and 'there has been established in accordance with the Japanese people a peacefully inclined and responsible government.'"
"U.S. officials appear to be thinking in terms of an occupation of only 5 or 10 years. Japanese officials, however, in looking ahead to a resurgence of Japanese power, appear to be thinking in terms of 50 to 100 years."
Read about the German POWs who were schooled in virtues of democracy.
Hunger in Axis Lands (United States News, 1942)American diplomats caught in Germany, Austria, Italy and other occupied lands at the time of FDR's declaration of war were subject to five months of incarceration before they were repatriated. The attached article tells of the hardships and hunger experienced by the citizens of those nations as the war entered its third year. Also seen was the tremendous distrust that was developing between the Italians and the Germans. FDR and the House Republicans (United States News, 1944)The House of Representatives that was convening in early '44 was composed of thirty additional Democrats - but this seemed not to matter to the President and his allies on the Hill; after eight years of practice, the opposition party had learned how to play the game. The Returning Army (United States News, 1944)"The young man going into the Army has a course in orientation to fit him for fighting. He has to be shown what kind of people his enemies are. He has to be told why it is necessary to fight. In the same manner, the Army is finding that the men returning from war have to be fitted for civilian life. They bring back resentment against men and women who have known little privation and less hardship." Spotlight on the Secret Service (United States News, 1963)"The chief responsibility of the U.S. Secret Service is to guard the life of the President... In Dallas, on November 22, a sniper hidden in an office building shot and killed President John F. Kennedy... It was the first time since the Secret Service took over its protective mission 62 years ago that a President had been harmed."
The Front-Line Mechanics (United States News, 1942)"Side by side with with the fighting men who ride to battle goes an army of men who fight with tools and machinery, instead of guns and tanks... That army of fighter-mechanics has grown in importance with the increase in the Army's dependence on motorized equipment. They operate beyond the glow of headlines - but without the aid of mechanics the Army's wheels would never turn." Our French Inheritance (United States News, 1954)"The U.S. is going to shoulder the job of saving what is left of Indo-China from the Communists...Congress is unlikely to approve additional funds. South Vietnam isn't a good-enough risk to be worth much bigger American investment. Everything may go down the drain in 19 months." With The War Came New Opportunities (United States News, 1942)"The government, endeavoring to meet the problem by raising the economic stature of the Negro, create committees, change regulations. The Army admits Negro candidates for officer training to the same schools as whites. It is training Negro pilots for the Air Corps. Negro officers will command Negro troops. The Navy opens new types of service for the Negro in the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard, inshore establishments, Navy yards and construction crews." The Difficulties of This War (United States News, 1963)A highly quotable article from 1963 that articulates precisely how deeply organized the Communist guerrillas were in the Vietnam War.
"The Reds fight a fluid war that may last for years. They do not make the mistake of saying the war will be won in three, five or ten years." The Chicano Struggle (United States News, 1966) The Un-Secret Secrets (United States News, 1945)To get a sense as to how thoroughly the Japanese diplomatic codes had been compromised, we recommend that you read the attached article. It is composed entirely of the chit-chat that took place between the government functionaries in Tokyo, their diplomats in Washington, their spies in Hawaii and their representatives in Berlin.
The article winds up explaining that the one vital communication that contained the information regarding the day of Japan's attack was not translated until December 8.
German and Italian P.o.W.s in America (United States News, 1945)By the end of 1944 the P.o.W. population within the U.S. stood somewhere in the neighborhood of 340,000 and was growing at a rate between 25,000 to 30,000 each month. The vast majority of them (300,000) were from the German Army and 51,000 were Italians:
"There are reports that these prisoners often are pampered, that they are getting cigarettes when American civilians cannot get them, that they are being served in their camps by American soldiers, that they are often not working at a time when war workers are scarce. The general complaint is that the 46,000 American prisoners in Germany are not faring as well as 3000,000 Germans in this country."
Read about the escaped German POWs who the FBI never found...
His Tragic End (United States News, 1963)Here is pithy little article that encapsulates the tragedy that was November 22, 1963 and how numerous people reacted upon hearing of the death of President Kennedy. Reforms in Post-Fascist Japan (United States News, 1946)Speaking of naive: when I was privileged to visit Japan in 2011 I actually believed that there would be a few native-born women who would recognize that I was an American and step forward to express some measure of gratitude for my country's part in granting Japanese women the right to vote. I'm still waiting - however, it is important for all of us to remember that in the immediate aftermath of the war, our occupying forces introduced American values to the Japanese and they have thrived as a result:
"General MacArthur has ordered the Japanese Government to provide for freedom of speech, of press, of assembly, and of worship. 'Thought control' by the secret police is to be a thing of the past." U.S. Army Casualties: 1941 - 1944 (United States News, 1944)Here are the U.S. Army casualty figures from December, 1941 through November, 1944. The provided graph points out the following major events that ushered in the larger numbers:
• The Philippine collapse
• The American landings in North Africa
• The Battle of Kasserine Pass
• The Sicily Landings
• Anzio
• D-Day
Shortly after this article appeared on the newsstands the Germans launched their winter counter-offensive in the Ardennes. The editors of this magazine anticipated the American losses for 1945 to be the highest yet.
Click here to read General Marshall's end-of-war remarks about American casualty figures.
A G.I. Rememberance of the ETO dead...
''No More Wars In Asia'' (United States News, 1954)"Ridgway wants no repetition of the Korean experience. If the U.S. is to fight in Asia again, he wants an army equal to the task and free to win. And, until his Army is capable of undertaking the job, he opposes even limited action by air or sea forces. The General disagrees with those who hold that a war can be won by air or sea power alone." The American Sector (United States News, 1945)Written seven months after VE-Day, this article reported on life in the American zone of occupation:
"Today, with every facet of his life policed by foreign conquerors, the German civilian faces the worst winter his country has known in centuries. And it is likely to be but the first of several such winters. He is hungry now, and he will be cold. Shelter is inadequate. His property is looted by his neighbor. Lawlessness and juvenile delinquency disturb him. Public health teeters in precarious balance which might tip the disaster."
Does Smoking Really Cause Cancer? (United States News, 1953)Some time ago we posted an article from 1921 about legislation that the U.S. Congress was considering concerning the prohibition of cigarettes (Click here to read about that) we thought that the cat was out of the bag at that time as to the fact concerning the connection of smoking and cancer. But we were wrong. The 1953 article attached herein concerns four doctors who appeared before Congress in an appeal for federal funding for cancer research. They made it clear that research was indicating that there was a clear link between smoking and cancer, but more exploration was needed.
In 1921 there was talk in Congress of outlawing cigarettes - you can read about it here
Click here to read about one of the greatest innovations by 20th Century chemists: plastic.
1963: A Pivotal Year (United States News, 1963)The 1963 struggle in Vietnam was important for a number of reasons: as the year began the world saw the first major defeat for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam at the hands of the Viet Cong guerrillas at Ap Bac. Five months later Buddhist clergymen revealed their deep distaste for the war effort which quickly resulted in the Diem administration putting numerous Buddhist pagodas to the torch. Ngo Dinh Diem himself would be put to the torch in November when he and his brother would be overthrown in an American-backed coup. Historians have long maintained that by meddling in the internal political affairs of South Vietnam, JFK had unwittingly doomed any chance for their self-reliance; following the November coup, that country became more and more reliant upon the United States - and when the U.S. abandoned the cause of a free and independent South Vietnam, their fate was sealed.
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