Herter Jr. Blames Lag In American Missiles On Democrat Regimes

Christian A. Herter, Jr. '41 last night blamed the "lack of foresight" in the Truman administration for America's current lag in missile development.

Herter, a member of the Massachusetts Governor's Council, claimed that Russia's obvious superiority in missile developments is due to the fact that the Democrats did "absolutely nothing" on the missile program during the post-war years 1947-1953. The Russians, on the other hand, were involved in an intensive missile program by 1947, Herter told the Harvard Eisenhower Club.

The cold war will continue on an "economic, political and propaganda level," Herter forecast, despite unanimous opposition to open warfare. In spite of this, he charged, the Democrats have repeatedly slashed the foreign aid plans of the Eisenhower administration. The blame must rest with southern Democrats who have lost interest in foreign export markets because of Democrat-backed federal parity supports, he explained.

In the cold war, Herter concluded, foreign aid will prove the most significant aspect of our foreign policy. What the United States does to help the twenty-odd nations that have been born since the war will be ultimately more important than a temporary disadvantage in the arms race, the son of the Undersecretary of State asserted.