Question

What was so ironic about Dean Acheson’s speech to the Delta Council in 1947??

Answer 1

Secretary of State Dean G. Acheson gave a speech to the Delta Council in 1947. The speech was called "The Economics of Peace" and was created to promote world peace. In it he outlined the American defensive line to run through Japan, Ryukyu's, and the Philippines.

This speech about peace was considered to be controversial and ironic because many critics argue that it gave North Korea the idea to launch a military operation with the almost successful goal of spreading communism over the entire Korean peninsula. After the Korean War, many hold Acheson and his comments responsible for igniting the war between North and South Korea.

Answer 2

Dean Acheson's was the US Secretary of State under President Truman administration. His speech to the Delta Council had an amount of unintended irony because he addressed to people as “free peoples” but Delta’s citizens had no liberties which he spoke.

In the context of the Cold War, Truman failed to defend civil liberties and even repressed them in a certain way - federal loyalty program, Smith Act prosecutions, and anti-communist rhetoric.