Introduction
Inheriting President Truman's policy of containment, President Eisenhower continued to push for strenuous isolation of the Soviets (and their satellites) from the West. This model was twofold in that it would starve the Soviets of possibilities to expand their influence, as well as hurt them economically. In this April 7, 1954 press conference, President Eisenhower explains his justification for vigorous containment coining the term, "falling domino theory."
Inheriting President Truman's policy of containment, President Eisenhower continued to push for strenuous isolation of the Soviets (and their satellites) from the West. This model was twofold in that it would starve the Soviets of possibilities to expand their influence, as well as hurt them economically. In this April 7, 1954 press conference, President Eisenhower explains his justification for vigorous containment coining the term, "falling domino theory."
Q. Robert Richards, Copley Press:
Mr. President, would you mind commenting on the strategic importance of Indochina to the free world? I think there has been, across the country, some lack of understanding on just what it means to us.
The President:
You have, of course, both the specific and the general when you talk about such things.
First of all, you have the specific value of a locality in its production of materials that the world needs.
Then you have the possibility that many human beings pass under a dictatorship that is inimical to the free world.
Finally, you have broader considerations that might follow what you would call the "falling domino" principle. You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly. So you could have a beginning of a disintegration that would have the most profound influences.
Now, with respect to the first one, two of the items from this particular area that the world uses are tin and tungsten. They are very important. There are others, of course, the rubber plantations and so on.
Then with respect to more people passing under this domination, Asia, after all, has already lost some 450 million of its peoples to the Communist dictatorship, and we simply can't afford greater losses.
But when we come to the possible sequence of events, the loss of Indochina, of Burma, of Thailand, of the Peninsula, and Indonesia following, now you begin to talk about areas that not only multiply the disadvantages that you would suffer through loss of materials, sources of materials, but now you are talking really about millions and millions and millions of people.
Finally, the geographical position achieved thereby does many things. It turns the so-called island defensive chain of Japan, Formosa, of the Philippines and to the southward; it moves in to threaten Australia and New Zealand.
It takes away, in its economic aspects, that region that Japan must have as a trading area or Japan, in turn, will have only one place in the world to go -- that is, toward the Communist areas in order to live.
So, the possible consequences of the loss are just incalculable to the free world...."
Mr. President, would you mind commenting on the strategic importance of Indochina to the free world? I think there has been, across the country, some lack of understanding on just what it means to us.
The President:
You have, of course, both the specific and the general when you talk about such things.
First of all, you have the specific value of a locality in its production of materials that the world needs.
Then you have the possibility that many human beings pass under a dictatorship that is inimical to the free world.
Finally, you have broader considerations that might follow what you would call the "falling domino" principle. You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly. So you could have a beginning of a disintegration that would have the most profound influences.
Now, with respect to the first one, two of the items from this particular area that the world uses are tin and tungsten. They are very important. There are others, of course, the rubber plantations and so on.
Then with respect to more people passing under this domination, Asia, after all, has already lost some 450 million of its peoples to the Communist dictatorship, and we simply can't afford greater losses.
But when we come to the possible sequence of events, the loss of Indochina, of Burma, of Thailand, of the Peninsula, and Indonesia following, now you begin to talk about areas that not only multiply the disadvantages that you would suffer through loss of materials, sources of materials, but now you are talking really about millions and millions and millions of people.
Finally, the geographical position achieved thereby does many things. It turns the so-called island defensive chain of Japan, Formosa, of the Philippines and to the southward; it moves in to threaten Australia and New Zealand.
It takes away, in its economic aspects, that region that Japan must have as a trading area or Japan, in turn, will have only one place in the world to go -- that is, toward the Communist areas in order to live.
So, the possible consequences of the loss are just incalculable to the free world...."
Questions
- What are three reasons that President Eisenhower argues the strategic importance of the region of South East Asia?
- Define and explain the "falling domino theory."
- What "losses" in South East Asia does President Eisenhower reference?
- Why, despite the losses already in South East Asia, does President Eisenhower argue the region is still very important?
- What would be the ultimate consequence of the nations of South East Asia becoming communist?
- What historical evidence can you offer to support President Eisenhower's theory of the falling dominoes?
Reference Sources
Dwight D. Eisenhower, The President's News Conference, April 7, 1954, in Public Papers of the Presidents: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1954 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1960), 381-90.
Engel, Jeffrey A., Mark Atwood. Lawrence, and Andrew Preston, eds.America in the World: A History in Documents from the War with Spain to the War on Terror. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2014. Print.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, The President's News Conference, April 7, 1954, in Public Papers of the Presidents: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1954 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1960), 381-90.
Engel, Jeffrey A., Mark Atwood. Lawrence, and Andrew Preston, eds.America in the World: A History in Documents from the War with Spain to the War on Terror. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2014. Print.
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