"We Will Keep the Covenant"

In the first month of 1947, the U.S. had two Secretaries of State at the same time. In Washington, Jimmy Byrnes had resigned, but he still carried on, in precarious health. In Honolulu, General George Catlett Marshall, his appointment already confirmed by the Senate, relaxed with his wife in an inconspicuous green cottage, awaiting orders to return for the oath of office.

In the lull between peace conferences the U.S. could look back with a sense of achievement to the mission accomplished by patiently firm Jimmy Byrnes; it looked ahead with confident hope to General Marshall in the even tougher job ahead.

The immense confidence which George Marshall inspired was the most important fact in U.S. relations with the world last week. President Truman had often called him "the greatest living American." Congress, having listened to his hours of patient testimony before wartime committees, respected him. The world at large, to which he was not as well known as Eisenhower, Patton or MacArthur, realized that he was the great architect of the military victory.

Since the war, seeking retirement but not shirking duty, General Marshall had shown that, at 66, he could still grow and learn, and willingly tackle a thorny new subject with determination and an open mind. In a practical and immediate sense, his mission to China (see below) had been a failure; but it had also been a demonstration of his capacity to understand and his willingness to lead. In history's longer-sighted eye, it might turn out to have been a success.

Charted Policy. The world would probably see few changes in U.S. foreign policy. The U.S. was committed to U.N. and to devoting all its powers to make it work. The line toward Russia would not waver; the atom secret would not be given away until the U.S. program for internationalization was accepted. The U.S. still stood for disarmament--when all other major powers are ready to do the same.

But some changes would certainly come. Last week in Cleveland, in his first policy speech as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Michigan's Arthur Vandenberg pointed the way to some (see REPORT FROM THE WORLD). It was now time, he said, to consider a change in China policy, toward more active support of Chiang's attempts to create a broadened, more democratic government. It was high time for the U.S. to urge the oft-deferred Pan-American conference. But major U.S. policy had now been charted.

On the same Cleveland platform, before 12,000 cheering spectators who rose in a standing ovation, Jimmy Byrnes declared in his swan song: "We were determined to do our part to bring peace to a war-weary world and we have not sought any excuse, however plausible, for shirking our responsibilities. . . . The U.S. will keep that covenant."

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