Businessmen in Foreign Policy.

The article focuses on the participation of businessmen in the higher echelons of the United States government. Their participation in the higher echelons of the United States government has been receiving much notice in recent years. During the 1952 Presidential campaign Dwight D. Eisenhower promised to bring to the costly operations of government to the help of business and professional examiners who can speak for the Chief Executive with expert knowledge. This he has proceeded to do in the almost pathetic belief that the Executive branch of the government can be run along the neat organizational lines of a modern corporation, with himself as chairman of the board. At the same time, systematic investigation of the participation of businessmen in government has led to questions about the effects of this trend. It is the purpose of this paper to show how these questions may be answered, in part, by examining the participation of businessmen in posts connected with the conduct of foreign relations. First it will be shown to what extent the proportion of businessmen in these posts has increased under the Eisenhower administration. Second, this change will be examined in terms of its implications for the conduct of foreign relations.