Bearing burdens and paying prices in Ukraine

John F. Kennedy articulated America’s Cold War credo in his inaugural address, “we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” 

Though often observed in the breach, when adhered to, this doctrine sometimes enmeshed us in disasters. Today, many of our leaders wrongly think the American people have rejected it, but the reality is more complex. 

President Kennedy’s words weren’t wholly accurate descriptions of U.S. policy before, during, or after his too brief administration. 

In effect, America recognized the post-World War II partition of Europe. When Soviet tanks and troops invaded Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968, the U.S. not only failed to “bear any burden,” we barely lifted a finger. 

Executing the Kennedy Doctrine sometimes resulted in abysmal failure — our invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs was a fiasco, while Vietnam proved a horrific waste of blood and treasure. Too often the doctrine put us on the side of kleptocratic dictators happy to espouse anti-communist rhetoric in exchange for American largesse. 

There were also stunning successes. American support for the Marshall Plan and NATO kept Europe free. Thirty-six thousand Americans sacrificed their lives to protect the liberty of South Korea and American taxpayers spent more than $300 billion in today’s dollars on that project. 

Most of these efforts enjoyed widespread public support at the outset. According to Gallup, 65 percent favored a NATO-like pact as it was being negotiated. Initially, 78 percent approved of President Truman’s decision to send U.S. troops to Korea; just 15 percent disapproved. In 1965, only 24 percent believed it was a mistake to send troops to Vietnam. 

More recently, the U.S. went to war in Afghanistan with the support of some 90 percent of Americans. Just after hostilities began, 72 percent backed the war in Iraq.  

In all these conflicts, support faded as we began bearing a heavier burden and paying a higher price. When the wars were going “well,” when American saw clear and important objectives being achieved, they favored the war effort, but when things were proceeding poorly, support crashed. 

By 1971, 60 percent thought Vietnam was a mistake and by 2010 a similar number had the same view of Afghanistan.

Public disillusionment with Vietnam and the “forever wars” in Afghanistan and Iraq led politicians to believe Americans were no longer willing to bear the burden and pay the price to which Kennedy had committed us.  

Hence the rhetoric around Ukraine falls far short of the Kennedy Doctrine. We are willing to employ economic sanctions to deter Russia, but the use of force was put off the table from the beginning of this crisis. 

While that is in line with actual policy since the end of World War II, it’s not consistent with the rhetoric.     

Whatever the views of decision makers, voters offer a more nuanced assessment. 

While Americans are certainly more focused on domestic than foreign matters and prefer their politicians similarly absorbed, voters are not abandoning foreign entanglements, and even support the use of force when the objectives are clear and important.  

Last year’s Chicago Council on Global Affairs poll found 63 percent would favor use of U.S. troops if North Korea invaded South Korea; 64 percent if North Korea attacked Japan; 52 percent if China invaded Taiwan; and 71 percent to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. 

All these numbers reflect increases from earlier soundings. For example, the number supporting dispatching U.S. troops if North Korea invaded the South nearly doubled since the late 1990s.  

This same poll asked about sending U.S. troops if Russia invaded “the rest of Ukraine,” long before the current crisis. Half said yes.

Last week YouGov found Americans evenly divided over sending U.S. troops to Ukraine “to help, but not to fight Russian soldiers.” By better than a 40-point margin they rejected sending Americans “to fight” Russians, which sounds a lot like World War III. 

In the end, Americans remain willing to bear many burdens and pay a significant price to truly defend liberty, in circumstances where it makes sense and there are reasonable chances of success. 

Mellman is president of The Mellman Group and has helped elect 30 U.S. senators, 12 governors and dozens of House members. Mellman served as pollster to Senate Democratic leaders for over 20 years, as president of the American Association of Political Consultants, and is president of Democratic Majority for Israel.

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