The world we would inherit : state department planning for the postwar world, 1939-1945

This study examines the role of the Department of State in planning for the postwar world during the years 1939-1945. Previous efforts examined the policy proposals and official programs of the Department without examining the personnel and attitudes of the persons who formed those. This study examines the attitudes and efforts of 1945 programs that helped shape the plans that resulted in official policy. Through memoirs, personal papers, government documents and other primary sources, the influence of personality and individual ideas on policy planning becomes evident. This examination argues that the individual characteristics of the people who made policy decisions was as important as the national and international situations they faced. A thorough examination of the individuals who initiated the plans which shaped the world in the aftermath of World War Two has long been absent. This work goes some way toward filling that void.