Western Cold War Figures- Set 3 People

Key Figures 23-37

Allen Dulles

CIA Director (1953-1961)

Led Operation PBSuccess, Operation AJAX

John Foster Dulles

Secretary of State (1953-1959); promoted brinkmanship, rollback, and massive retaliation.

Led US strategy during Geneva Conference (1954)

Dean Rusk

Secretary of State (1961-1969 (under JFK and LBJ)); represented continuity during the Cold War.

Supported Vietnam escalation and involvement.

James F. Byrnes

Secretary of State under Truman; opposed Soviet influence in postwar Germany

Attended Potsdam Conference

Went from wanting cooperation with USSR to a Cold War hardline.

Robert McNamara

Secretary of Defense (1961-1968); domino theory believer.

Helped design the Flexible Response.

Oversaw Vietnam War escalation; expressed later regret of war policies in a documentary.

George Marshall

Secretary of State (1947-1949)

Namesake of the Marshall Plan

Won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953

Lucius D. Clay

Military Governor of US Zone in Germany

Directed the Berlin Airlift

Advocated a tough stance on USSR in postwar Europe.

Henry Kissinger

National Security Advisor and Secretary of State under Nixon/Ford

Detente, SALT I, opening to China, Paris Peace Accords

Master of realpolitik; shaped Middle East policy.

Suzanne Massie

Russian cultural expert; informal advisor to Reagan

Encouraged humanization of Soviet people.

Taught Reagen the phrase “Trust, but verify”

Harold “Kim” Philby

British MI6 officer; double agent for USSR

Member of Confederate Spy Ring

Defected to USSR in 1963

Leaked Western info for over a decade, major failure for the West.

Winston Churchill

British Prime Minister

Iron Curtain Speech (Fulton, MO 1946)

Western alliance, strong NATO, anti-appeasement, anti-communist

“United States of Europe” vision

Ernest Bevin

UK Foreign Secretary (1945-1951)

Co-Founder of NATO (1946)

Supported Berlin Airlift

Charles de Gaulle

Leader of Free France; President (1959-1969)

Withdrew France from NATO command structure (1966)

Criticized US-Soviet “superpower duopoly”

Promoted French nuclear independence.

Stood against full US control of Western bloc.

Ernst Reuter

Mayor of West Berlin during Berlin Blockade

Ironic 1948 speech: “People of the world, look at this city!”

Symbol of Western Berlin resistance.

Promoted unity with Western allies

Helmut Kohl

Chancellor of West Germany (1982-1990)

Oversaw German reunification

Strong US ally during late Cold War.

Embraced European integration.

Helped guide transition after the Berlin Wall fell.

Konrad Adenaur

(West Germany)

First Chancellor of West Germany (1949-1963)

Aligned West Germany with NATO; key figure in postwar recovery.

Margaret Thatcher

(UK)

British Prime Minister (1979-1990)

Ally of Reagen, supported NATO

Willy Brandt

(West Germany)

Chancellor (1969-1974); known for Ostpolitik

Eased tension with Eastern Bloc and maintained NATO ties

Aldrich Ames

CIA counterintelligence officer who became a Soviet spy

Passed classified info to KGB, exposing 100+ US operations

Arrested by FBI in 1994 and sentenced to life imprisonment

Bernard Baruch

US financier and political advisor

Coined the term “Cold War”

Proposed Baruch Plan (1946) to control nuclear weapons (rejected by USSR)

George Blake

British MI6 agent turned double agent for Soviet Union

Sentenced to 42 years but escaped prison and fled to Moscow for Soviet protection

Jan Masaryk

Foreign Minister of Czechoslovakia during and after WW2

Advocate for democracy, even after Communist coup in 1948

Found dead in mysterious circumstances- likely murdered by communists but ruled as a suicide.