Chapters 7-8 Summary and Analysis

"Yet if there was a problem with the pragmatism of the period, it was that there were simply too many foreign policy problems, too many crises, each crowding the others, demanding to be taken care of in that instant. There was too little time to plan, to think; one could only confront the most immediate problems and get rid of them piecemeal but as quickly as possible, or at least postpone any action. Long-range solutions, thoughtful changes, would have to wait, at least until the second term," (Chapter 7, p. 128).

The world situation resulted in a more or less irrational foreign policy for the Kennedy administration. He wanted to work on the China policy but there was never time. Rusk did not want a new China policy and Kennedy did not have the time to formulate one. This was to...