Mrs. Ambassador by Mary Dupont

Author:Mary Dupont
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society Press
Published: 2019-03-01T16:00:00+00:00

Five

BREACHING the IRON CURTAIN

During her years in Bulgaria Mrs. Anderson had opened the door for improved relations between the two countries—contacts were made and expanded, exchanges were promoted, some cultural exchanges took place, and a reservoir of good will for Americans was built. By combining charm with firmness, enthusiasm with dignity, Eugenie Anderson had made herself both liked and respected in a nation with which we have had more than our share of difficulties during the chillier phases of the Cold War. She demonstrated that intelligence, firmness, political experience, and understanding are the most potent weapons a free government can use against dictatorship.

VIRGINIA LANEGRAN, 1977

ANEW DECADE WAS DAWNING. NOW FIFTY YEARS—half a century—old, Eugenie Anderson recognized that reflection and study were all well and good, but action suited her better.

She had never given up on her belief in the Truman Doctrine: that Americans must be “willing to help free peoples to maintain their free institutions and their national integrity against aggressive movements that seek to impose upon them totalitarian regimes.” Knowing that one of the best ways to pursue these goals was having a deciding vote on internationalist Senate committees, Anderson had tried, in 1958, to join that club, but she was denied the chance to be admitted. She could have run again, but it would mean waiting a full six years (to overwhelmingly negative odds), or until Humphrey gained higher office. Whether or not she secretly considered another Senate run, Eugenie accepted that Hubert Humphrey remained one of her best contacts in Washington. So she went to work for him, yet again.1

It was no secret that Humphrey would run for president in 1960. The Democrats faced a tough offensive: Eisenhower had been very popular, and Republican vice president Richard M. Nixon was set to step smoothly into the Oval Office. On one of her speaking tours for Humphrey, in December 1959, Eugenie told her audience: “American people need to be aroused to realize how close we are to losing our supremacy and our freedom to Communist Russia,” citing hollow efforts by the Eisenhower administration to give glitzy shows of world summit meetings that led nowhere. Anderson’s credentials, beyond that of former ambassador, showed that she had a seat at many tables: she was a member of several committees that included the Democratic National Advisory Committee on Foreign Policy, the board of directors for the American Association for the United Nations, and the US Committee for the National Atlantic Treaty Organization Congress. She also remained chairman of the Minnesota State Fair Employment Practices Commission. Still, far more effective means existed that Eugenie felt she was more than capable of joining—as long as she could stay connected to the people in charge of appointments. Her path led back to diplomacy and opportunities to support NATO, the United Nations, and the United States in their international foreign services. If she wanted to step back into that arena, it would have to be under a Democratic administration; therefore, she stuck with Humphrey.2

As America welcomed the 1960s, the Democratic candidates faced off.

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