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A Weak Executive, an Irresponsible Congress, and a Courageous Judiciary

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Book cover Peter von Zahn's Cold War Broadcasts to West Germany

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in the History of the Media ((PSHM))

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Abstract

Zahn found President Eisenhower well intentioned but indecisive. He depicted Congress as often being a destructive force in the formulation of American foreign policy. Senators and congressmen focused on the economic interests of their own districts, even when this involved sacrificing the national interest. Zahn particularly criticized the role of the Republican right, whose policies he characterized as swinging between isolationism and dangerous belligerence. Although he was himself firmly anti-Communist, Zahn repeatedly criticized Senator Joseph McCarthy’s anti-Communist crusade, which he interpreted as a weapon aimed primarily at liberals, not Communists. Zahn praised the federal courts, and especially the Supreme Court, as a key source of protection against the excesses of the anti-Communist crusade.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Peter von Zahn to Friedrich von Zahn, September 8, 1952, BArch N 1524/428, File F. Zahn wrote that “I far prefer Stevenson to any other [candidate] and especially to Eisenhower….”.

  2. 2.

    Broadcasts of September 16, 1952, Nr. 32, pp 2–3; October 28, 1952, Nr. 38, p. 1, both BArch N 1524/408.

  3. 3.

    Broadcast of January 20, 1953, Nr. 49, p. 4, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1193.

  4. 4.

    Ibid., p. 3.

  5. 5.

    John Wheeler Bennett and Anthony Nicholls, The Semblance of Peace. The Political Settlement after the Second World War (New York: Norton, 1972), 53.

  6. 6.

    Broadcast of January 20, 1953, Nr. 49, p. 4, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1193.

  7. 7.

    Peter von Zahn, Fremde Freunde. Bericht aus der Neuen Welt (Hamburg: Hoffmann und Campe Verlag, 1953), 283, from broadcast of August 15, 1952, BArch N 1524/409.

  8. 8.

    Broadcast of January 20, 1953, Nr. 49, p. 4, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1193.

  9. 9.

    Broadcast of April 30, 1957, Nr. 252, p. 1, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  10. 10.

    Broadcast of February 24, 1953, Nr. 55, p. 3, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1193.

  11. 11.

    Broadcast of December 22, 1953, Nr. 92, p. 3, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1193.

  12. 12.

    Broadcast of November 6, 1956, Nr. 229, p. 1, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  13. 13.

    Broadcast of April 30, 1957, Nr. 252, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  14. 14.

    Broadcast of February 24, 1953, Nr. 55, p. 2, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1193.

  15. 15.

    Broadcast of June 2, 1953, Nr. 68, p. 3, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1193. And similarly broadcast of December 3, 1957, Nr. 278, p. 2, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  16. 16.

    Broadcast of February 24, 1953, Nr. 55, p. 1, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1193.

  17. 17.

    Broadcast of December 19, 1953, Nr. 93, p. 1, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1193.

  18. 18.

    Broadcast of February 5, 1957, Nr. 240, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  19. 19.

    Broadcast of January 13, 1953, Nr. 48, p. 2, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1193.

  20. 20.

    Broadcast of December 19, 1953, Nr. 93, p. 1, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1193.

  21. 21.

    Broadcast of April 2, 1957, Nr. 248, pp. 1–2, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  22. 22.

    Broadcast of February 17, 1959, Nr. 336, p. 2, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  23. 23.

    Broadcast of November 6, 1956, Nr. 229, p. 2, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  24. 24.

    Broadcast of December 29, 1953, Nr. 93, pp. 3–4, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1193.

  25. 25.

    Broadcast of December 3, 1957, Nr. 278, p. 1, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  26. 26.

    Broadcast of March 3, 1953, Nr. 56, p. 6, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1193.

  27. 27.

    Broadcast of April 22, 1953, Nr. 63, p. 5, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1193. In fact, the Eisenhower administration had not taken McCarthy’s stunt lying down; Dulles had given McCarthy a private tongue-lashing and persuaded him to sign a statement denying that he had entered a formal agreement with Greek shippers. Herbert Parmet, Eisenhower & the American Crusades (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction, 1999, 1st. ed. 1972), 251.

  28. 28.

    Broadcast of April 22, 1953, Nr. 63, p. 6.

  29. 29.

    On the “New Look,” see Robert Divine, Eisenhower and the Cold War (New York: Oxford University Press, 1981), 37–39.

  30. 30.

    Broadcast of March 9, 1954, Nr. 101, p. 1, BArch N 1524/412.

  31. 31.

    Broadcast of January 1, 1954, Nr. 95, p. 3, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  32. 32.

    Ibid., p. 3. See also Broadcast of January 14, 1958, Nr. 282, p. 2, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  33. 33.

    Broadcast of March 9, 1954, Nr. 101, BArch N 1524/412.

  34. 34.

    Zahn made the same point in a 1957 review of Henry Kissinger’s study of military strategy in the nuclear age, which also criticized reliance primarily on the doctrine of mutual assured destruction and proposed strategies for a more limited form of warfare. Broadcast of September 3, 1957, Nr. 267, BArch N 1524/415.

  35. 35.

    Broadcast of January 7, 1958, Nr. 281, p. 2, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194. Eisenhower “did not govern, but only reacted.” Ibid., p. 3.

  36. 36.

    Broadcast of February 28, 1956, Nr. 194, p. 2, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  37. 37.

    A criticism also common at the time on the American left. Michael Adamson, “‘The Most Important Single Aspect of Our Foreign Policy,’ The Eisenhower Administration, Foreign Aid, and the Third World,” in The Eisenhower Administration, the Third World, and the Globalization of the Cold War, eds. Kathryn Statler and Andrew Johns (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006), 47–54. During its second term the Eisenhower administration placed more emphasis on economic aid, largely for the reasons Zahn had noted in his 1956 critique. Ibid., 56–61.

  38. 38.

    Broadcast of February 28, 1956, Nr. 194, p. 3, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  39. 39.

    Broadcast of May 27, 1958, Nr. 299, p. 3, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  40. 40.

    Broadcast of November 13, 1956, Nr. 230, pp. 2–3, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  41. 41.

    Broadcast of November 6, 1956, Nr. 229, p. 1, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  42. 42.

    Peter von Zahn to Friedrich von Zahn, December 12, 1956, BArch N 1524/940.

  43. 43.

    Broadcast of October 8, 1957, Nr. 274, p. 2, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  44. 44.

    Broadcast of October 22, 1957, Nr. 276, p. 1, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  45. 45.

    Ibid., p. 1.

  46. 46.

    Broadcast of January 17, 1956, Nr. 189, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  47. 47.

    Broadcast of March 9, 1954, Nr. 101, p. 1, BArch N 1524/412.

  48. 48.

    Broadcast of April 9, 1957, Nr. 249, p. 1, BArch N 1524/415.

  49. 49.

    Ibid., p. 3.

  50. 50.

    Broadcast of April 23, 1957, Nr. 251, pp. 1, 2–3, BArch N 1524/415.

  51. 51.

    Broadcast of May 20, 1958, Nr. 298, p. 3, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  52. 52.

    Ibid., p. 2.

  53. 53.

    Broadcast of 19 January 1954, Nr. 96, p. 4, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1193.

  54. 54.

    Ibid., p. 3.

  55. 55.

    Broadcast of October 8, 1957, Nr. 274, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  56. 56.

    Broadcast of December 3, 1957, Nr. 278, p. 1, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  57. 57.

    Ibid., p. 2.

  58. 58.

    Zahn, Fremde Freunde, 246; Broadcast of June 9, 1953, Nr. 69, p. 3, BArch N 1524/411. In a letter to his brother of January 22, 1952 Zahn characterized a visit to the United States by Winston Churchill as “the visit of a statesman to a world of local politicians.” BArch N 1524/428, File F.

  59. 59.

    Zahn, Fremde Freunde, 245, from broadcast of June 9, 1953, Nr. 69, BArch N 1524/411.

  60. 60.

    Broadcast of January 7, 1958, Nr. 281, p. 1, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  61. 61.

    Peter von Zahn, An den Grenzen der Neuen Welt (Hamburg: Hoffmann und Campe Verlag, 1955), 217, from broadcast of May 11, 1954, Nr. 109, p. 1, BArch N 1524/412.

  62. 62.

    Zahn, Grenzen, 216.

  63. 63.

    Ibid., 222.

  64. 64.

    Broadcast of March 16, 1954, Nr. 102, p. 2, BArch N 1524/412.

  65. 65.

    Zahn, Grenzen, 216, from broadcast of May 11, 1954, Nr. 109, BArch N 1524/408.

  66. 66.

    Broadcast of November 9, 1954, Nr. 135, p. 3, BArch N 1524/412.

  67. 67.

    Broadcast of October 7, 1958, Nr. 317, p. 3, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1193.

  68. 68.

    Broadcast of June 10, 1958, Nr. 301, p. 2, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  69. 69.

    Ibid., p. 3.

  70. 70.

    Broadcast of May 18, 1953, Nr. 66, p. 1, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1193.

  71. 71.

    Broadcast of May 21, 1957, Nr. 255, pp. 2–3, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  72. 72.

    Broadcast of November 11, 1958, Nr. 322, p. 1, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  73. 73.

    Peter von Zahn to Friedrich von Zahn, June 28, 1952, pp. 3–4, BArch N 1524/940.

  74. 74.

    Broadcast of November 9, 1954, Nr. 135, BArch N 1524/412.

  75. 75.

    Broadcast of February 3, 1959, Nr. 334, p. 3, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  76. 76.

    Broadcast of November 10, 1959, Nr. 373, p. 3, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  77. 77.

    Broadcast of February 3, 1959, Nr. 334, p. 2, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  78. 78.

    “Von Nah und Fern,” December 11, 1951, p. 3, BArch N 1524/412.

  79. 79.

    Peter von Zahn to Walter D. Schultz, February 2, 1952, BArch N 1524/428, File S.

  80. 80.

    Ibid.

  81. 81.

    Broadcast of November 25, 1952, Nr. 41, p. 4, BArch N 1524/408.

  82. 82.

    Broadcast of January 6, 1953, Nr. 47, p. 2, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1193.

  83. 83.

    Ibid., p. 1.

  84. 84.

    Ibid., p. 2. In April 1951 President Truman had relieved General MacArthur of the command of American soldiers in Korea for insubordination.

  85. 85.

    Ibid., p. 5.

  86. 86.

    Broadcast of June 23, 1953, Nr. 71, p. 4, BArch N 1524/411.

  87. 87.

    Broadcast of March 3, 1953, Nr. 56, p. 6, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1193.

  88. 88.

    Broadcast of April 22, 1953, Nr. 63, pp. 3–4, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1193.

  89. 89.

    Ibid., p. 4.

  90. 90.

    Ibid., p. 5.

  91. 91.

    Ibid., p. 7.

  92. 92.

    Broadcast of August 11, 1953, Nr. 78, p. 3, BArch N 1524/411.

  93. 93.

    “Mcarthy,” oder “Die Verschwörung der Tugendhaften,” Part I, “Das Tribunal und der Mathematiklehrer” (The Tribunal and the Mathematics Teacher), StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 2038. The subtitle of the second half of the program was “The White House or Prison.” BArch N 1524/419.

  94. 94.

    Ibid., p. 4.

  95. 95.

    Zahn, Grenzen, 222–57.

  96. 96.

    Ibid., 234–40.

  97. 97.

    The Murrow broadcast, part of the CBS program “See it Now,” took place on the evening of March 9, 1954. It contributed to the ten point rise in McCarthy’s unfavorable popularity ratings between March and April 1954. See Nelson Posby, “Towards an Explanation of McCarthyism,” Political Studies 8 (1960): 252, n. 4.

  98. 98.

    Broadcast of March 16, 1954, Nr. 102, p. 3, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1193.

  99. 99.

    Ibid., p. 4.

  100. 100.

    Ibid., p. 3.

  101. 101.

    Ibid., p. 4.

  102. 102.

    Broadcast of March 30, 1954, Nr. 103, p. 2, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1193.

  103. 103.

    Ibid., pp. 2, 4.

  104. 104.

    Broadcast of February 24, 1953, Nr. 55, p. 1, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1193.

  105. 105.

    Broadcast of May 18, 1953, Nr. 66, p. 2, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1193.

  106. 106.

    Broadcast of May 18, 1954, Nr. 110, p. 4, BArch N 1524/412.

  107. 107.

    Broadcast of February 2, 1954, Nr. 98, p. 2, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1193.

  108. 108.

    Broadcast of June 8, 1954, Nr. 113, BArch N 1524/412.

  109. 109.

    Broadcast of February 1, 1955, Nr. 143, BArch N 1524/413; broadcast of May 13, 1958, Nr. 297, p. 2, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1194.

  110. 110.

    Peter von Zahn, “‘Ich bin ein Ehrenmann,’ sagt McCarthy,” Die Zeit (November 25, 1954), 19.

  111. 111.

    Ibid.

  112. 112.

    Broadcast of June 23, 1953, Nr. 71, BArch N 1524/411.

  113. 113.

    Broadcast of February 2, 1954, Nr. 98, StAHH 621-1/144, Nr. 1193.

  114. 114.

    Christoph Classen, “Antikommunismus in Film und Fernsehen der frühen Bundesrepublik,” in “Geistige Gefahr” und “Immunisierung der Gesellschaft” Antikommunismus und politische Kultur in der frühen Bundesrepublik, eds. Stefan Creuzberger and Dierk Hoffmann (Oldenbourg: De Gruyter, 2014), 275–96; Heide Fehrenbach, Cinema in Democratizing Germany. Reconstructing National Identity after Hitler (Chapel Hill: North Carolina University Press, 1995), 89–91, 118–47. The fact that many, probably most, West German films in the 1950s were made with government subsidies, and that films officially designated by a film rating board as valuable enjoyed tax breaks, provided means of steering the content of films. Catholic film leagues limited the distribution of, and hindered attendance at showings of, objectionable films.

  115. 115.

    “Echo der Welt,” Broadcast of July 6, 1955, pp. 13–15, BArch N 1524/410.

  116. 116.

    Broadcast of July 16, 1957, Nr. 262, p. 1, BArch N 1524/415.

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    Eli Nathans

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Nathans, E. (2017). A Weak Executive, an Irresponsible Congress, and a Courageous Judiciary. In: Peter von Zahn's Cold War Broadcasts to West Germany. Palgrave Studies in the History of the Media. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50615-9_9

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