Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T17:10:53.147Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Spruille Braden Versus George Messersmith: World War II, the Cold War, and Argentine Policy, 1945-1947

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Roger R. Trask*
Affiliation:
Historical Office, Office of the Secretary of Defense

Extract

Between 1945 and 1947, Argentina posed a complex and exasperating problem for the United States as it endeavored to develop policy to guide its relations with Latin America. Among the questions involved were how to deal with an alleged neofascist dictator in Argentina, how to preserve the aura of the so-called Good Neighbor policy, whether to provide arms and economic aid to Latin America, and whether to enter into a collective security agreement for the western hemisphere.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Acheson, D. (1969) Present at the Creation: My Years in the State Department. New York: W. W. Norton.Google Scholar
Alexander, R. J. (1979) Juan Domingo Perón: A History. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Alexander, R. J. (1951) The Perón Era. New York: Columbia Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Bendner, r. (1946) “Spruille Braden.” The Nation 162 (23 February): 215219.Google Scholar
Blanksten, G. I. (1953) Perón's Argentina. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Braden, S. (1971) Diplomats and Demagogues: The Memoirs of Spruille Braden. New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House.Google Scholar
Braden, S. (1946) “The Germans in Argentina.” The Atlantic Monthly 77 (April): 3743.Google Scholar
Burr, R. [ed.] (1973) Latin America. Volume 5 in Schlesinger, A. M. Jr., (general ed.) The Dynamics of World Power: A Documentary History of United States Foreign Policy, 1945-1973. NY: Chelsea House.Google Scholar
Byrnes, J. F. (1958) All in One Lifetime. NY: Harper.Google Scholar
Campbell, T. M. (1973) Masquerade Peace: America's UN Policy, 1944-1945. Tallahassee, FL: Florida State Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Campbell, T. M. and Herring, G. C. [eds.] (1975) The Diaries of Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., 1943-1946. NY: New Viewpoints.Google Scholar
Clissold, S. [ed.] (1970) Soviet Relations with Latin America, 1918-1968: A Documentary Survey. London: Oxford Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Conil Paz, A. and Ferrari, G. (1966) Argentina's Foreign Policy, 1930-1962. Notre Dame, IN: Univ. of Notre Dame Press.Google Scholar
Connell-Smith, G. (1974) The United States and Latin America: An Historical Analysis of Inter-American Relations. London: Heinemann Educational Books.Google Scholar
Connell-Smith, G. (1966) The Inter-American System. London: Oxford Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Dozer, D. M. (1959) Are We Good Neighbors? Three Decades of Inter-American Relations, 1930-1960. Gainesville, FL: Univ. of Florida Press.Google Scholar
Gaddis, J. L. (1972) The United States and the Origins of the Cold War, 1941-1947. NY: Columbia Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Gellman, I. F. (1979) Good Neighbor Diplomacy: United States Policies in Latin America, 1933-1945. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, D. (1971) The Containment of Latin America: A History of the Myths and Realities of the Good Neighbor Policy. Chicago: Quadrangle.Google Scholar
Greenup, R. and Greenup, L. (1947) Revolution Before Breakfast: Argentina 1941- 1946. Chapel Hill, NC: Univ. of North Carolina Press.Google Scholar
Hilton, S. E. (1981) “The United States, Brazil, and the Cold War, 1945-1960: end of the special relationship.” J. of Amer. History 68 (December): 599624.Google Scholar
Hull, C. (1948) The Memoirs of Cordell Hull. NY: Macmillan.Google Scholar
May, E. R. (1974) “The ‘bureaucratic politics approach: U.S.-Argentine Relations, 1942-47,” pp. 129163 in Cotler, J. and Fagen, R. R. (eds.) Latin America and the United States: The Changing Political Realities. Stanford, CA: Standford Univ. Press.Google Scholar
McGann, T. F. (1962) “The ambassador and the dictator: The Braden mission to Argentina and its significance for United States relations with Latin America.” The Centennial Rev. 6 (Summer): 343357.Google Scholar
McGann, T. F. (1957) Argentina, the United States, and the Inter-American System, 1880-1914. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Meacham, J. L. (1961) The United States and Inter-American Security, 1889-1960. Austin, TX: Univ. of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Messersmith, G. S. (1946, 1947) George S. Messersmith Papers, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware, (hereafter cited as GSM)Google Scholar
GSM (1947a) Messersmith memo, undated, §2006.Google Scholar
GSM (1947b) Messersmith memo, undated, §1949.Google Scholar
GSM (1947c) Messersmith memo to Truman and Marshall, 6 June 1947, §1893.Google Scholar
GSM (1947d) Messersmith to Marshall, June 5, 1947, § 1889.Google Scholar
GSM (1947e) Messersmith to Marshall, May 8, 1947, §1880.Google Scholar
GSM (19471) Messersmith to Marshall, January 24, 1947, §1841.Google Scholar
GSM (1946a) Messersmith statement, December 10, 1946, § 1829.Google Scholar
GSM (1946b) Clipping from The Standard (Buenos Aires), December 8, 1946, §1827.Google Scholar
GSM (1946c) Messersmith to Byrnes, October 30, 1946, §1814.Google Scholar
GSM (1946d) Messersmith to Byrnes, October 30, 1946, §1813.Google Scholar
GSM (1946e) Messersmith to Sulzberger, September 26, 1946, §1807.Google Scholar
GSM (19461) Messersmith to Byrnes, June 15, 1946, §1781.Google Scholar
GSM (1946g) Messersmith to Braden, March 14, 1946, §1774.Google Scholar
GSM (1947h) Messersmith to Braden, February 28, 1946, §1773.Google Scholar
Moss, K. B. (1979) “George S. Messersmith and Nazi Germany: the diplomacy of limits in Central Europe,” pp. 113126 in Jones, K. P. (ed.) U.S. Diplomats in Europe, 1919-1941. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio.Google Scholar
Moss, K. B. (1978) “Bureaucrat as diplomat: George S. Messersmith and the state department's approach to war, 1933-1941.” Ph.D. dissertation. Minneapolis: Univ. of Minnesota.Google Scholar
New York Times (1978) January 12.Google Scholar
Pach, C. J. Jr., (1982) “The containment of U.S. military aid to Latin America, 1944-49.” Diplomatic History 6 (Summer): 225243.Google Scholar
Potash, R. A. (1980) The Army and Politics in Argentina, 1945-1962: Perón to Frondizi. Stanford, CA: Stanford Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Potash, R. A. (1969) The Army and Politics in Argentina, 1928-1945: Yrigoyen to Perón. Stanford, CA: Stanford Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Rabe, S. G. (1978) “The elusive conference: United States economic relations with Latin America, 1945-1952.” Diplomatic History 2 (Summer): 279-94.Google Scholar
Rawls, S. N. (1976) “Spruille Braden: a political biography.” Ph.D. Dissertation. Albuquerque, NM: Univ. of New Mexico.Google Scholar
Tillapaugh, J. (1978) “Closed hemisphere and open world? The dispute over regional security at the UN Conference, 1945.” Diplomatic History 2 (Winter): 2542.Google Scholar
Time (1946) “Career Man's Mission.” 48, 2 (December): 2224.Google Scholar
Time (1945) “Democracy's Bull.” 46, 5 (November): 4547.Google Scholar
Trask, R. R. (1977) “The impact of the Cold War on United States-Latin American relations, 1945-1949.” Diplomatic History 1 (Summer): 271284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Truman, H. S. (1945, 1946, 1947) Papers of Harry S. Truman, Truman Library, Independence, Missouri, (hereafter cited as HST)Google Scholar
HST (1947a) Acheson to Truman, May 19, 1947, PSF-SF (President's Secretary's File), Box §170.Google Scholar
HST (1947b) Byrnes to Truman, January 9, 1947, OF (official File), Box §1370.Google Scholar
HST (1946a) Messersmith to Truman, October 12, 1946, PSF-SF, Box §170.Google Scholar
HST (1946b) Messersmith to Byrnes, October 12, 1946, PSF-SF, Box §170.Google Scholar
HST (1946c) Messersmith to Byrnes, October 9, 1946, PSF-SF, Box §170.Google Scholar
HST (1946d) Truman to Messersmith, September 6, 1946, PPSF-SF, Box §170.Google Scholar
HST (1946e) Acheson to Messersmith, August 29, 1946, PSF-SF, Box §170.Google Scholar
HST (19461) Messersmith to Byrnes, August 16, 1946, PSF-SF, Box §170.Google Scholar
HST (1946g) Messersmith to Acheson, August 16, 1946, PSF-SF, Box §170.Google Scholar
HST (1946h) Acheson to Truman, July 12, 1946, PSF-SF Box §170 (transmittal of Braden's memorandum on the Argentine situation, full text).Google Scholar
HST (1946i) Byrnes to Truman, April 9, 1946, OF, Box §1370.Google Scholar
HST (1946j) Byrnes to Truman, February 8, 1946, PSF-SF, Box §170 (contains a copy and summary of the Blue Book).Google Scholar
HST (1945a) Braden to Stettinius, May 31, 1945, enclosure in Grew to Truman, June 1, 1945, PSF-SF, Box §188.Google Scholar
HST (1945b) Stettinius to Truman, April 16, 1945, OF, Box §247.Google Scholar
Truman, H.S. (1963) Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States. Truman, Harry S.… 1947. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, (hereafter cited as Truman PP) Google Scholar
Truman PP (1947a) President's News Conference, June 5, 1947.Google Scholar
Truman PP (1947b) Joint Statement Following Discussions with Ambassador Ivanissevich of Argentina, June 3, 1947.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of State General Records(1945,1946,1947) Record Group 59, National Archives. Washington, D.C. (hereafter cited as DS)Google Scholar
DS (1947a) Messersmith to Acheson, June 9, 1947, 711.35/6-947Google Scholar
DS (1947b) Messersmith to Acheson, April 3, 1947, 711.35/4-347.Google Scholar
DS (1947c) Acheson memo of conversation with Ivanissevich, March 31, 1947, 711.35/3-3147.Google Scholar
DS (1947d) Messersmith to Marshall, January 21, 1947, 711.35/1-2147.Google Scholar
DS (1946a) Messersmith to Braden, June 6, 1946, 711.35/6-646.Google Scholar
DS (1946b) Messersmith to Byrnes, Acheson, and Braden, May 29,1946,711.35/5-2946.Google Scholar
DS (1945) Division of American Republics, “Ambassador Braden's proposed policy respecting dictatorships and disreputable governments in the other American republics,” Records of the Office of American Republic Affairs, October 1945.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of State (1969) Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers 1945. Vol. 9: The American Republics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, (hereafter cited as FRUS 1945)Google Scholar
FRUS (1945a) Documents on the Chapultepec Conference, 1945.Google Scholar
FRUS (1945b) Correspondence, Braden and Department of State, 1945.Google Scholar
FRUS (1945c) Byrnes to Braden, 14 August 1945.Google Scholar
FRUS (1945d) Braden to Byrnes, 10 August 1945.Google Scholar
FRUS (1945e) Documents on the Rodriguez-Larreta proposal, 1945.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of State (1969) Foreign Relations of the United States 1946. Vol. 11: The American Republics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, (hereafter cited as FRUS 1946)Google Scholar
FRUS (1946a) Braden to Byrnes, December 16, 1946.Google Scholar
FRUS (1946b) Messersmith to Byrnes, November 19, 1946.Google Scholar
FRUS (1946c) Messersmith to Acheson, October 2, 1946.Google Scholar
FRUS (1946d) Messersmith to Byrnes, August 15, 1946.Google Scholar
FRUS (1946e) Truman to Acheson, July 22, 1946.Google Scholar
FRUS (1946f) Acheson to Truman, July 12, 1946 (summary of Braden Memorandum).Google Scholar
FRUS (1946g) Messersmith to Byrnes, June 15, 1946.Google Scholar
FRUS (1946h) Acheson to Diplomatic Representatives in the American Republics Except Argentina and Haiti, 1 April 1946 (text of policy statement released on April 8, 1946).Google Scholar
FRUS (1946i) Cabot to Byrnes, February 8, 1946.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of State (1972) Foreign Relations of the United States 1947. Vol. 8: The American Republics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, (hereafter cited as FRUS 1947)Google Scholar
FRUS (1947a) Documents relating to the Rio de Janeiro Conference, August 1947.Google Scholar
FRUS (1947b) Braden to Acheson, May 29, 1947.Google Scholar
FRUS (1947c) Inverchapel (British Ambassador) to Marshall, May 21, 1947.Google Scholar
FRUS (1947d) Memo by Ellis Briggs, Office of American Republic Affairs, May 20,1947.Google Scholar
FRUS (1947e) Messersmith to Marshall, May 9, 1947.Google Scholar
FRUS (1947f Marshall to Messersmith, May 7, 1947.Google Scholar
FRUS (1947g) Minutes of meeting with Secretaries of State, War, and Navy, May 1,1947.Google Scholar
FRUS (1947h) Acheson to Messersmith, April 2, 1947.Google Scholar
FRUS (1947i) Braden to Acheson, February 10, 1947.Google Scholar
FRUS (1947j) Messersmith to Marshall, February 7, 1947.Google Scholar
FRUS (1947k) Memo of conversation, Acheson with Inverchapel, January 27, 1947.Google Scholar
FRUS (19471) S. E. O'Donoghue (Charge, Buenos Aires) to Marshall, January 24, 1947.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of State (1948) Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Continental Peace and Security, Quitandinha, Brazil, August 15-September 12, 1947: Report of the Delegation of the United States of America. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, (hereafter cited as USDS)Google Scholar
U.S. Department of State (1946) Consultation Among the American Republics with Respect to the Argentine Situation, Memorandum of the United States Government (Blue Book). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of State, (hereafter cited as USDS)Google Scholar
Welles, S. (1947) “Intervention and interventions.” Foreign Affairs 26 (October): 116133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Welles, S. (1946) Where Are We Heading? New York: Harper.Google Scholar
Whitaker, A. P. (1968) “The election of February 24,1946: ‘Braden or Perón:’ second phase,” pp. 218224 in Barager, J. R. [ed.] Why Perón Came to Power: The Background to Perónism in Argentina. New York: Knopf.Google Scholar
Woods, R. B. (1979) The Roosevelt Foreign Policy Establishment and the “Good Neighbor”: The United States and Argentina 1941-1945. Lawrence, KS: Regents Press of Kansas.Google Scholar