Chance for Peace

Date: April 16, 1953

Created By: Dwight D. Eisenhower

Citations: Eisenhower Presidential Library

Eisenhower gives this speech before the American Society for Newspaper Editors, shortly after the death of Joseph Stalin. It is also known as the ‘Cross of Iron’ speech. The President contrasts the Soviet Union’s post-World War II doctrine as one of force, while the United States pursued peace and cooperation in the world. He notes that the belligerence of the Soviet Union brought free nations together to avoid atomic war, and he challenges the new Soviet leadership to reject Stalin’s style of governance.