Conclusion

The Department of State that emerged from World War II better prepared to play a leading role in the foreign policy process and to participate fully in the difficult tasks ahead. In July 1945, Secretary James F. Byrnes recognized the extent of the postwar challenge. “The supreme task of statesmanship in the world over is to help them understand that they can have peace and freedom only if they tolerate and respect the rights of others to opinions, feelings, and way of life which they do not and cannot share.”