The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2009

tle’s interventions were not always suc- cessful. On Jan. 24, 1950, Acheson told Bat- tle that he intended to speak about Alger Hiss at a press conference sched- uled for the next day, four days after Hiss’ conviction on perjury charges. Suspecting that Acheson’s deep feeling might overcome his judgment, Battle enlisted the help of Paul Nitze and Charles Bohlen in urging that Acheson confine himself to a safe expression of regret. Brushing aside such advice as “pusillanimous,” Acheson instead an- nounced at the press conference that “I do not intend to turn my back on Alger Hiss.” Outrage provoked by that phrase would reverberate through the political system for months, weakening Acheson’s standing (his offer to resign was rejected by President Harry Tru- man) and undermining his ability to protect others in the State Department more unjustly accused than Hiss. During the Korean War, further sharp differ- ences surfaced between the two men. Battle un- successfully tried to per- suade Acheson to seek a congressional joint reso- lution approving Pres. Truman’s decisions at the outset of the war. And two months later, Battle’s efforts to en- list Acheson in an effort to put restraints on General Douglas MacArthur’s op- erations north of the 38th parallel re- sulted in Acheson exploding at him: “How old are you, Battle, for God’s sake? …Are you willing to take on the entire Joint Chiefs of Staff?” None of these disagreements, sharp as they sometimes were, impaired the openness, trust and personal warmth that characterized their close working relationship between March 1949 and July 1952. The problem for Battle was that matching the rewards of working for Acheson proved impossible in the years to come. “A Rather Odd Career” By the summer of 1952, it was clear to both Acheson and Battle that the Re- publicans, and John Foster Dulles (who viewed Battle as a “young squirt” and whom Battle saw in equally uncompli- mentary terms), would probably soon be in office, so leaving Washington might be the better part of valor. With the help of the ever-helpful Carl Humelsine, Battle obtained an as- signment as political section chief in Copenhagen (1953-1955) and then spent a year in Paris as chief of staff to the NATO secretary general. However, those initial three years in the Foreign Service failed to provide the challenge and stimulus Battle was seeking. Per- haps prompted by Acheson’s letters castigating the “cowardly fools” now in 42 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 0 9 Left: The Battle family in Egypt (c. 1965). Above: Lucius and Betty Battle on their wed- ding day (Oct. 1, 1949).