When Kim Il Sung invaded South Korea, Truman administration critics recalled that Acheson, in an important speech he’d given at the National Press Club back in January, had failed to single out Korea as one of the Asian nations the United States was committed to protecting under its broader security umbrella. Some asserted that Acheson’s omission had so emboldened Kim that it may well have been one of the precipitating factors of the invasion. Once Kim attacked, it was Acheson, against the recommendation of many other Truman advisers, who had convinced the president to commit troops to the
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