<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_18239" style="width: 1074px;"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-18239">Dean Acheson w/ Sen. Tom Conally – wading through a Cold War atmosphere.</figcaption></figure>

– Dean Acheson address – November 21, 1959 (unknown location) – Gordon Skene Sound Collection.

Former Secretary of State Dean Acheson, who served under President Truman from 1949-1953 had the onerous task of keeping the world reasonably sane during what became the height of the Cold War. Weathering the Korean War, the takeover of China by The Communists under Mao Tse-Tung, the newly minted Red Scare which leveled charges at the Acheson State Department for being a hotbed of Communist activity – it was enough to drive just about anyone crazy.

After his tenure was over, Acheson settled into the role of Elder Statesman, offering views on a world rapidly changing and becoming increasingly more dangerous with each passing day.

In this address, given on November 21, 1959 – Acheson addresses the parliamentarians of The North Atlantic Treaty Organization and discusses what he terms as a “New World Order“; the alliance of Western powers in opposition to the perceived Communist threat emanating from Moscow, a threat Acheson was amply convinced could sweep over Western Europe easily since much of Western Europe was split socially and politically and Acheson believed there wasn’t the dynamic drive which was so prevalent in the Soviet Union, despite the fact that the population of Western Europe was greater than that of the Soviet Union. It was the U.S., he believed, who had the responsibility to set the tone and the example of this new and potentially dangerous atmosphere.

Just one of the many elements going into the Cold War period, giving further evidence a confrontation between East and West was inevitable during this period of uncertain times.

Here is that address, as given by Former Secretary of State Dean Acheson to members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on November 21, 1959.

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