ABSTRACT
When Eisenhower succeeded Truman as President in 1953 he inherited an established and expansive embargo policy on trade with communist states. But being an established policy did not prevent it being troublesome throughout his two terms of office. Problems were exacerbated by tensions between the Administration’s determination to be tough and inflexible in its opposition to communism, and by both pressure from allies and Eisenhower’s own desire to relax export controls. As these tensions pulled and pushed policy-makers, and as the economic and strategic effectiveness of the embargo was reassessed, subtle changes occurred in the way that Americans justified their economic defence policy.
