Letter from Francis P. Sempa
‘Harry Levine Got It Wrong’
I have been writing about history and foreign policy for 40 years for national and international publications, and many readers have disagreed with my policy views and interpretations of historical events, but until now no reader has ever accused me of “dishonest writings.”
Harry Levine claims that I omitted George Washington’s qualifications regarding his warning against permanent alliances. Mr. Levine should read more carefully. Here is what I wrote that Washington said in the Farewell Address: “We should ‘steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world,’ while trusting to ‘temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies.’”
As far as Washington’s commitment to honoring existing commitments with foreign countries, perhaps Mr. Levine is unaware that Washington as president ignored an existing treaty with France in order to stay neutral in France’s war with Great Britain because remaining neutral was putting America First.
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