George Ball Quotes
Once on the tiger's back, we cannot be sure of picking the place to dismount.
George Ball, 1909-1994, Undersecretary of State (Democrat), 1964
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
The British had committed to self-government and independence for India. However, there was great pressure from Muslims for a partition of India to have a separate independent state—Pakistan. The British had to decide whether there should be a separate Muslim state and if so what area should it encompass?" 1st Baron Ismay
This was very consistent with the programmatic philosophy of his boss, FDR, who campaigned on no specific solutions to the Great Depression but promised to try things and of the did not work, try others. His predecessor, Hoover, would try nothing as most ideas contradicted his philosophy or was not favored by the wealthy business interests of the day.
George Wildman Ball was an American diplomat and banker. He served in the management of the US State Department from 1961 to 1966 and is remembered most as the only major dissenter against the escalation of the Vietnam War. He refused to publicize his doubts, which were based on calculations that South Vietnam was doomed. He also helped determine American policy regarding trade expansion, Congo, the Multilateral Force, de Gaulle's France, Israel and the rest of the Middle East, and the Iranian Revolution.
