Some Future Historian

In an article published in the New York Times in 1971, journalist Patrick Anderson asserted, “Barbara Tuchman, in her most recent book, has viewed the American experience in China in 1911-45 through the career of General Stilwell, and I think some future historian may decide that the Cold War experience can well be seen through the focus of Clifford’s career. This is not to say that Clifford is a heroic figure, or always an admirable figure, but that he is a representative figure, very American in his strengths and weaknesses, and pre-eminently a man caught up in the tides of his time.”[1] And that, right there, is why I am writing this thesis.

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[1] Patrick Anderson, Clark Clifford “Sounds the Alarm,” New York Times, August 8, 1971.