Welcome to Keith Knight. Don't tread on Anyone in the Libertarian Institute. This is a section of a book titled Freedom Betrayed by Former President Herbert Hoover. He was president of America from 1929 to 1933. In this book, he makes the case that the US should not have gotten involved in the Second Great War, both with the information you had going into the war and even in retrospect.
Originally the book was titled Lost Statesmanship, and at the end of this 1000 page book he summarizes his entire thesis in 19 points. I wanted to go through those. Here is a review of Lost Statesmanship 19 times in seven years, written in 1953. This introduction is by George Nash, who is the editor of this volume.
These are the final climactic pages of the last chapter of the 1953 version of Hoover's magnum opus, which for a time he entitled Lost Statesmanship. These pages were probably written very early in 1953, not long after the presidential election of 1952. In this chapter, Hoover summed up with remarkable candor and intensity his revisionist indictment of the Roosevelt, Truman foreign policy. I was opposed to the war and every step of policies in it, he
wrote. I have no apologies, no regrets. A review of law statesmanship 19 times in seven years. There are those who still defend Roosevelt and Truman by blaming Hitler and Stalin for all the calamities which have come upon the world. That they were malignant and malign figures in human history needs no demonstration. Any review of American and British law, statesmanship in dealing with them, however, has no excuse in history. Without these gigantic errors, these calamities could not have
come to the Western world. I shall list those major occasions here, lest the reader in his maze of actions has forgotten who was responsible for what and when. I refer the reader to those chapters in this memoir where the facts and reasons for their convictions are given. The World Economic Conference of 1933 first The first time of importance that Roosevelt became lost in international statesmanship was his destruction of the 1933 World
Economic Conference the. This conference was arranged by British Prime Minister McDonald and myself to take place in January 1933. Owing to the election of Mr. Roosevelt, it was postponed until June. At that time, the world was just beginning to recover from the worldwide depression, but was engaged in bitter currency wars and multiplying Trade barriers. Hoover doesn't mention that one of the major trade barriers was the Smoot Hawley tariff that he
enacted and signed into law. The preliminary work had been done by experts. Roosevelt called 10 prime ministers to Washington, with whom he agreed to restore the gold standard in international transactions. Suddenly, during the conference, he repudiated the bombshell these undertakings, and the conference cracked and died without accomplishment. His own Secretary of State Hull explicitly denounced this action as the roots of war.
World War 2IN short, if countries are not trading with each other, it is not in their economic interest to make sure the other doesn't get bombed to smithereens. The recognition of Communist Russia in 1933. Second Roosevelt's second law statesmanship was in recognition of Communist Russia in November 1933. Four presidents and five secretaries of state, Democrats as well as Republicans, had, with knowledge of the whole purpose and methods of international communism, refused
such action. They knew and said the Communists would be able to penetrate the United States carrying their germs of destruction of religious faith, freedom of men and independence of nations. They considered our recognition of Soviet Russia would give it prestige and force among other nations. All of Roosevelt's puerile agreements with them that they would not deal in their wickedness within our borders
were on the record repudiated. In less than 48 hours, a long train of communists and fellow travelers were taken into the highest levels of administration. 5th Column action spread over the country with a long series of traitorous acts during his remaining 12 years in the presidency. So this was after the Soviets committed all the atrocities in Ukraine, referred to as the Holodomor.
Remember, we can't talk to Vladimir Putin because he did bad things in Ukraine, but Joseph Stalin, who killed far more people in Ukraine in a much more unprovoked manner, Well, that's someone we can recognize as legitimate, have conversations with, and have a formal alliance with. It's also worth noting international communism referred to world domination under a dictatorship of a proletariat. There was an explicit plan to take over the world.
Because remember, the reason we had to go to war with the National Socialists of Germany and bomb their civilian population into oblivion is because they were trying to take over the world. Well, their government was, but it's OK to hold people responsible for what their government does in their name. Next, Munich. 3rd.
I am not disposed to condemn the agreement at Munich in September 1938 for transfer of Sudeten Germans to the Reich, because it was a hideous heritage from Versailles which made such action inevitable. However, by Munich Hitler opened the gates for consummation of his repeated determinations to invade Russia. Having gone that far in providing for the inevitable war between the dictators, the lost statesmanship was then trying to stop these monsters from mutual
destruction. So in 1938 people were saying Chamberlain should have declared war against the National Socialists because they took the Sudetenland, 1/5 of Czechoslovakia's area. After the war, the Bolshevik regime occupied all of Czechoslovakia, not just the Sudetenland, and there was no declaration of war. Because sometimes it's just not worth engaging in a mass murder campaign, even if there's a very bad government calling the shots for the livelihoods of millions of people.
Next, the British, French guarantee of Poland and Romania in 1939. Fourth, the 4th abysmal loss of statesmanship was when the British and French guarantee the independence of Poland and Romania at the end of March 1939. It was at this point that the European democracies reversed their previous policies of keeping hands off the inevitable war between Hitler and Stalin. It was probably the greatest blunder in the whole history of European power diplomacy. Britain and France were helpless
to save Poland from invasion. By this act, however, they threw the bodies of democracy between Hitler and Stalin. By their actions they not only protected Stalin from Hitler, but they enabled him to sell his influence to the highest bidder. The Allies did bid, but Stalin's price was annexation of the defenseless people of the Baltic States and E Poland, a moral price which the Allies could not meet. Stalin got his price from Hitler.
Yet Hitler had no intention of abandoning his determination to expand in Southeast Europe and to destroy the communist Vatican in Moscow. But now he must of necessity first neutralize the Western democracies, which he proceeded to do. The long train of hideous World War 2 started from the blunder of the Polish guarantees.
Roosevelt had some part in these power politics, but the record is yet too incomplete to establish how much Churchill, not yet in the government, had contributed something by Golding Chamberlain to the desperate action after his appeasement at Munich. It doesn't necessarily make you a great person to say that the people of your country now have an obligation to make sure this country is independent. Much like if you write someone a blank check, they have no
incentive to spend money wisely. If you give a country the kernels in a certain country a war guarantee, they have no incentive to make sure they're acting peacefully and not provoking conflicts with other countries.
When you have a blank check from the British Empire, who at this time I think controlled 25% of land on the planet Earth, well you're going to act in a more aggressive manner in the city of Danzig against the German minority there then you otherwise likely would if you didn't have such a blank check. This just puts massive obligations on your domestic population. It's hard enough to defend your own country, let alone countries thousands of miles away.
So the war for Polish independence, which according to Neville Chamberlain was the reason he declared war against Britain and France, declared war against Germany on September 3rd, 1939. The war for Polish independence led to the death of 7 million Poles and ended with Poland
under Bolshevik occupation. Next United States Undeclared war 5th The fifth major blunder in statesmanship was when Roosevelt, in the winter of 1941, threw the United States into undeclared war with Germany and Japan, in total violation of promises upon which he had been elected a few weeks before.
This is in reference to the Greer incident of September 1941. Failure in watchful waiting 6th In the weeks before Lend Lease and its war powers were forced upon the American people, Roosevelt knew definitely of Hitler's determination to attack Russia, and he informed the Russians of it. He should have turned away from the undeclared war on Germany, confined Lend Lease to simple aid to Britain by way of finances to buy munitions, supplies and ships, thus keeping within international law.
Statesmanship at that moment demanded imperialistly a policy of watchful waiting. Next alliance with Stalin 7th. Indeed, the greatest loss of statesmanship in all American history was the tacit American alliance and support of Communist Russia when Hitler made his attack in June 1941. This again is referring to the Lend Lease package.
Even the false theory that American military strength was needed to save Britain had now visibly vanished by diversion of Nazi furies into the swamps of Russia. No one could any longer doubt the safety of Britain and all the western world. These monstrous dictators were bound to exhaust themselves no matter who won. Even if Hitler won military victory, he would be a Mensch for years trying to hold these people in subjugation. And he was bound, even in victory to exhaust his military
strength. And the Russians were bound to destroy any sources of supplies he might have hoped for. His own generals opposed his action. This is why there is such a correlation between expanding empires, the time they expand, and when they end up falling. The Ottoman Empire fell from over expansion and involvement in the First World War. The Japanese Empire expanded and was spread too thin. The first German Reich under
Kaiser Wilhelm expanded. Well that was arguably the second, but the German Empire of Kaiser Wilhelm expanded and fell. The British Empire in the Second World War over expanded itself and fell. Tsar Nicholas getting involved in the First World War spread his troops too thin and couldn't defend his own capital against the Bolshevik revolutionaries. So it doesn't necessarily make you pro America if you want America to constantly get involved in wars and spread ourselves too thin.
American aid to Russia meant victory for Stalin and the spread of communism over the world. Statesmanship again imperialistly cried to keep out, be armed to the teeth and await their mutual destruction. When that day came, there would have been opportunity for the United States and Britain to use their strength to bring a real peace and security to the free world. No greater opportunity for lasting peace ever came to a president, and he muffed it, referring to the spread of
communism over the world. You had the Cambridge 5A number of communists that had infiltrated Britain. The Venona papers confirmed that roughly 300 people in the State Department or actively in support of the Soviets during the Second World War, people in very high levels of a position. Today roughly 17% of professors at universities in the social sciences explicitly identify as Marxist. There is basically no discussion of abolishing the income tax,
abolishing the welfare state. It's not that more people identify as communism today, but more people today have embraced the assumptions of communism. When you look at the scale from total private property and voluntary exchanges capitalism to complete communism, the abolition of private property, people are continuously getting nudged in the anti voluntary
exchange end of the scale. Next, the economic sanctions on Japan of July 1941 Eighth the 8th gigantic error in Roosevelt's statesmanship was the total economic sanctions on Japan one month later at the end of July 1941. The sanctions were war in every essence except shooting. Roosevelt had been warned time and time again by his own officials that such provocation would sooner or later bring
reprisals of war. This is in reference to the the Japanese Export Control Act, the US Export Control Act of 1940 against Japan, as well as the freezing of Japanese assets by President Roosevelt. Wasn't too kind of the domestic population either. Confiscating the nation's gold with executive orders. Next, refusal to accept Konoye's
peace proposals, 9th. The 9th time statesmanship was wholly lost was Roosevelt's contemptuous refusal of Prime Minister Konoye's proposal for peace in the Pacific of September 1941. The acceptance of these proposals was prayerfully urged by both the American and British ambassadors in Japan. The terms Konoye proposed would have accomplished every American purpose except possibly the return of Manchuria, and even this was thrown open to
discussion. The cynic will recall that Roosevelt was willing to provoke a Great War on his flank over this remote question and then gave Manchuria to Communist Russia. Next, refusal to accept a three month standstill agreement with Japan 10th.
The 10th loss of statesmanship was the refusal to accept the proposals which his ambassador informed him came from the Emperor of Japan for a three month standstill agreement in November 1941. Our military officials strongly urged it on Roosevelt. Japan was then alarmed that Russia might defeat her ally Hitler. 90 days delay would have taken all the starch out of Japan and kept war out of the Pacific. As the Stimson Diary disclosed,
Roosevelt and his officials were searching for a method to stimulate an overt act from the Japanese. This is according this is in reference to Secretary of War Henry Stimson, November 25th of 1941, he wrote in his diary That was found in the 1946 Pearl Harbor investigation, he said. We met with the President. Secretary Hull was there.
We discussed the likelihood that the Japanese could attack as soon as next Monday. The question was how we should maneuver them into making the first overt move. Then Hull issued his foolish ultimatum and we were defeated at Pearl Harbor. This was in Hawaii, which was not a state in 1941. It wouldn't become a state until 1959. So this wasn't even on American land. Well, it was American troops in
a colony. The trade of losses and this Japanese victory in the Japanese occupation of all South Asia were incalculable. Further, with the loss of sea control, Hitler and Togo were able to destroy our shipping insight of our own shores. So what he's saying in the Japanese occupation of all South Asia were incalculable. Japan at the time had been occupying Korea since 1910 and had been occupying Vietnam since September of 1940.
When you withdraw the troops from a certain place, it doesn't necessarily mean a Thomas Jefferson comes to the top of the government and everyone embraces democracy or freedom or anything else that is reflecting civilized society. It tends to be rather chaotic and create the very power vacuum status accuse, you know, libertarians of creating.
So when you had the withdrawal of troops from Korea and Vietnam, it led to a proxy war in Korea for from 1950 to 1953, killing roughly 2 to 3,000,000 Koreans. 10 years later you had the US Soviet proxy war in Vietnam, killing millions of people there along with 10s of thousands of American soldiers. Next, the demand for unconditional surrender. 11th. The 11th gigantic error in Roosevelt's statesmanship was demand for unconditional surrender.
Casablanca in January 1943 where without our military or even Churchill's advice, he was seeking a headline. Here is a great lesson in public choice theory. Human beings are self interested. Every time you watch Netflix, instead of going and feeding the homeless, you are engaged in a selfish action. There's really nothing wrong with this overall.
The problem is when you're in a free market, in order to get more power, money, social status, influence, you can't get anyone's time or money unless they give it to you voluntarily because there's the freedom of disassociation principle when it comes to the political realm. People are able to get your time and your money without your consent. So people are selfish universally in both systems. The political system makes it so you can benefit at the expense
of others. Roosevelt seeking a headline meant. Even though it would cost hundreds of thousands of civilian lives and thousands of American lives, it was still worth him getting the headline for so he could increase his social status at the expense of so many other people. That's why politics is so dangerous. It played into the hands of every enemy, militarist and propagandist. It prolonged the war with Germany, Japan and Italy.
And in the end, major concessions in surrender were given to both Japan and Italy. It held out no hope of peace to the Germans if they got rid of the Nazis. The war to the bitter end left no semblance of structure in Germany upon which to build again.
So without the Japanese Empire, you have no bulwark against the Communists in China, and without any German Empire or strong military, there's no bulwark against the Soviets expanding into Europe. So there's always costs and benefits that you have to look at with these things. The sacrifice of the Baltic States and E Poland at Moscow, October 1943, 12th. The 12th era of law statesmanship was the sacrifice of free nations at the Foreign Ministers meeting at Moscow in October 1943.
Here, amid the words of freedom and democracy, not a word of protest was made against the known Russian intentions to annex the Baltic States, E Poland, E Finland, Bessarabia and Bukovina, which he had in his agreement with Hitler. The acquiescence marked the abandonment of the last words of the Four freedoms and the Atlantic Charter.
This is the great lesson of war. Not only are the costs extraordinarily high monetarily and the number of people getting killed, the opportunity cost wasted resources, but the outcomes are extraordinarily uncertain.
Would the American people have supported declaring war if they knew at the end of it they'd have to fight a proxy war in Korea as a result, a proxy war in Vietnam as a result, And the Bolsheviks would control Eastern Europe and the Chinese would end up, the communists would end up controlling China. The outcomes are extremely unforeseeable. So you should be very, very, very hesitant to embrace such a high death toll. Next, Tehran and its sacrifice
of seven more nations, 13th. The 13th, and possibly one of the greatest of all confused wanderings in Roosevelt's and Churchill statesmanship, was at Tehran in December 1943. Here was confirmation of the acquiescence at the Moscow Conference of the annexations. Here was the acceptance of Stalin's doctrine of a periphery of friendly border states, the puppet Communist governments over seven nations.
The seven nations he's referring to is the Bolsheviks occupying Poland, Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Yugoslavia and Hungary. So again, a war that was declared over a violation of independence led to massive violations of the independence of many other countries. Fidelity to international morals and their own promises of independence of nations and free men demanded that Roosevelt and Churchill at Tehran stand firm against Stalin once and for all.
There were by this time no such military perils of Stalin's making a separate piece that could justify these agreements, acquiescences and appeasements. Remember, if we ever don't like what the domestic government is doing, we must appease them and we must always be peaceful. We must try to persuade
voluntarily. But if any other foreign government potentially violates the freedom of a different country thousands of miles away, well then we must declare war and start killing civilians immediately. Yalta, the secret agreements on the downfall of nations, 14th. The 14th fatal loss of statesmanship was by Roosevelt and Churchill at Yalta in February 1945.
Not only were all Stalin's encroachments on the independence of a dozen nations ratified, but with a long series of secret agreements, other malign forces were set in motion which will continue to plague the world with international
dangers for generations. Knowing that Stalin had already created communist puppet governments over seven nations, Roosevelt and Churchill sought to camouflage their lost statesmanship with gadgets entitled Free and Unfettered Elections, representation of all liberal elements. Even the strongest defender on military grounds of appeasement at Tehran could no longer defend it at Yalta.
Here at last a stand might have been made for decency and free mankind, which would have left America with cleaner hands and the moral respect of free men. Refusal of Japanese priests. Proposals of May to July 1945. 15th the 15th time of law Statesmanship was in respect to Japan in May, June and July 1945. Truman refused to take notice of the Japanese white flags. Truman was not obligated to Roosevelt's unconditional surrender folly.
It had been denounced by our own military leaders in Europe. Peace could have been made with Japan with only one concession. That was the preservation of the Mikado, who was the spiritual as well as the secular head of state. His position was rooted in 1000 years of Japanese religious faith and tradition, and we finally conceded this after hundreds of thousands of human lives had been sacrificed. Remember, it is really bad when someone dies in the free market
on the job. It means we need massive regulation. We might even need to abolish capitalism. But when governments kill 10s of millions of people, well, nothing wrong with that. Maybe just, you know, alter a few of the 10s of thousands of laws no one has ever read. Maybe get a different psychopath controlling the central bank and having the right to tax and the
right to conscript. Next. Potsdam 16th, the 16th time of blind statesman was Truman At Potsdam. Power had now passed to inexperienced men on the democratic countries, and the Communists had their way at every consequential point. The whole Potsdam agreement was a series of ratifications and amplifications of the previous surrenders to Stalin.
Not only were all the communist annexations and puppets further cemented to Stalin, but the provisions as to government in Germany and Austria were so set as to send parts of these states into Stalin's bosom. Referring to the occupation of East Germany for the next 5 decades and the occupation the Bolshevik occupation of Austria until 1955.
The result of reparations policies was to load the American taxpayers with billions of the cost for relief of idle Germans and stifle the recovery of Germany and thus of Europe. For years. The wickedness of slavery, of war prisoners, the expelling of whole peoples from their homes was ratified and amplified from Yalta.
This is in reference to what's referred to as Operation Keel Hall. Beyond all this, against advice from leading men, the ultimatum was issued to Japan of unconditional surrender without the saving clause allowing them to retain the Mikado recommended by a score of experienced American voices. The Japanese in reply asked for only this concession, which was met with the atomic bomb and
then conceded. In the end, dropping the atomic bomb 17th, the 17th wandering of American statesmanship was Truman's immoral order to drop the atomic bomb on the Japanese. Not only had Japan been repeatedly suing for peace, but it was the act of unparalleled brutality in all American history. It will forever weigh heavily on the American conscience, giving China to now say tongue. 18th.
The 18th series of steps in loss of statesmanship was by Truman, Marshall, and Atchinson in respect to China, beginning with Roosevelt's insistence to Chiang Kai Shek of the Communist coalition government. There followed Roosevelt's hideous secret agreement as to China at Yalta, which gave Mongolia and in effect Manchuria to Russia. Truman sacrificed all China to the Communists by insistence of his left wing advisors and his appointment of General Marshall
to execute their will. He must be assessed with a gigantic laws of statesmanship in those policies which in the end made 450 million Asiatic peoples a Communist puppet state under Moscow. The Dragon's teeth of World War 319th from the Moscow, the Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam conferences, the policies as to China, the Dragon's teeth of a Third World War were sown in every quarter of the world, and we were to see the Cold War over years and finally the hideous
war in Korea and the feeble N Atlantic Alliance with all its dangers of American defeat. Again, the end. I do not need end these volumes with more than a few sentences. I was opposed to the war and every step of policies in it. I have no apologies, no regrets. I had warned the American people time and again against becoming involved. I stated repeatedly it's only end would be to promote communism over the earth, that we would impoverish the United
States and the whole world. The situation of the world today is my vindication. Despite these physical losses and these moral political disasters and these international follies, Americans can have faith that we will grow strong again, that the March of progress will sometime be
renewed. Despite the drift to collectivism, despite the degeneration in government, despite the demagogic intellectuals, despite the corruption in our government and the moral corruption of our peoples, we still hold to Christianity. We still have the old ingenuity of our scientific and industrial progress. We have 35,000,000 children marching through our schools and 2.5 million in our institutions of higher learning. Sometime these forces will triumph over the ills in American life.
The promise of a greater America abides in the millions of cottages throughout the land where men and women are still resolute in freedom in their hearts the spirit of America still lives. The boys and girls from those homes will someday throw off these disasters and frustrations, and we'll recreate their America again. The election of a Republican administration in 1952 is the
sign of this turning. Thanks to everyone for watching Keith Knight, Don't Tread on Anyone, and the Libertarian Institute. Of by the way, that people on my side, I'll just say I'll just admit it on the right. You know, I've spent the last 80 years defending dropping nuclear weapons on civilians. Like, are you joking? That's just like prima facie evil. If you can't. Well, if we hadn't done that, then this that the other thing that was actually a great savings. Like no, it's wrong to drop
nuclear weapons on people. And if you find yourself arguing that it's a good thing to drop nuclear weapons on people, then you are evil.