For Eisenhower and Dulles, the Mansfield Report was a godsend, providing just the kind of bipartisan legitimacy they wanted at a critical time in the war, when the U.S. aid effort was ramping up massively. He was a junior senator but a respected one, especially on Asian issues, and he was from the opposition party. His claim that the military outlook was good and getting better served to further strengthen the consensus on Capitol Hill that this was a battle that should be waged.
