George H. W. Bush Quotes
This is a fact: Strength in the pursuit of peace is no vice; isolation in the pursuit of security is no virtue.
Bush, George H. W. "Remarks at the United States Coast Guard Academy Commencement in New London, Connecticut." Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George Bush, 1989, Book I, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1990, p. 603.
There were many who thought that the Russians would view the Mutual Security Act as aggressive and they might respond with some kind of aggressive retaliation and this could lead to war. Others felt that containment would reduce the likelihood of war.
1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley. Chamberlain was about to leave for the Munich Conference where his appeasement emboldened Hitler and the Germans and dashed all hope of peace. Baldwin was out of office, but his support of the Munich appeasement changed his image from that of a popular statesman, to a craven appeaser. See {626930} for Churchill’s view of Baldwin.
One major problem at the time was that the Soviet Union was supporting and instigating revolutions in many parts of the world. When most nations of the UN wanted to provide peace keeping troops to quell the conflict, the Russians would veto and block the effort, Vandenberg wanted the UN to change the rules regarding the veto. The original right of veto for the major nations was originally included at the insistence of the United States and many Americans did not want to give it up or have any exceptions lest there be more. The Russians at that time also did not want to give up any of their veto powers. Another method that Vandenberg wanted to solve the Russian peacekeeping blockage problem was for America to engage in more collective security pacts so that action could be taken without UN Security Council unanimity by going around the UN.
The Republican controlled Senate had turned down the ratification of the League of Nations presented by Democratic President Wilson, and looked like they would turn down any international treaty even if presented by a Republican President. This statement allowed the treaty ratification by only a few votes. However, after that the Senate turned down our participation in the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague. See {640099}.
George Herbert Walker Bush was an American politician, diplomat and businessman who served as the 41st president of the United States from 1989 to 1993. A member of the Republican Party, Bush also served as the 43rd vice president from 1981 to 1989 under Ronald Reagan, in the U.S. House of Representatives, as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and as Director of Central Intelligence.
