Morris Berman Quotes
In order to function, the United States needs an enemy.
Morris Berman, Cultural historian and social critic, C-SPAN, Book TV, February 25, 2012
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Compare this to Bernard Baruch's quotation about a cold war the year before.
McNamara stated that the Cuban Missile Crisis was more politically required than defense required. The Russians had nuclear missiles at the time that could reach the United States and didn’t really need missiles in Cuba to threaten America. Public opinion and the Republican Political doctrine persuaded President Kennedy that independent of safety and military factors, nuclear missiles in Cuba was a major political problem. See his comment to the President and the Other Officials dealing with the crises—{631968}.
Boggs was working on some compromise positions that could be taken by the party at the 1968 Democratic National Convention to provide the anti war wing of the party with something. The President found out and met with Congressman Boggs.
Baruch was the first politician to use of the phrase "cold war." It had actually been originated by a friend and speechwriter, Herbert Bayard Swope, who had proposed using the phrase earlier. Baruch thought that too early and waited.
Morris Berman is an American historian and social critic. He earned a BA in mathematics at Cornell University in 1966 and a PhD in the history of science at Johns Hopkins University in 1971. Berman is an academic humanist cultural critic who specializes in Western cultural and intellectual history.