Where Does He Come In ?

The article focuses on the role of U.S. attorney Marshall MacDuffie in U.S.-Soviet relations. MacDuffie used to work for Sullivan & Cromwell, the powerful New York law firm of which Secretary of State John Foster Dulles was once a member. In 1946 MacDuffie headed the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration mission to the Ukraine, where he met, among others, the then rather obscure Nikita Khrushchev. One member of this Ukraine mission, John Fischer, now editor of Harper's magazine, produced a book about it, entitled Why They Behave Like Russians, which was chosen by the Book of the Month Club. As U.S. opinion toward Moscow hardened, MacDuffie dropped rather out of sight. In 1953 he suddenly reappeared with a well publicized trip back to the Soviet Union, to see what great strides Russia was making under the enlightened leadership of his old pal, Khrushchev. And in 1955, there he was as first counsel to the Hennings Committee for its inquiry into the dangers of anti-Communism, a post which, after a mysterious quarrel with someone, he relinquished in mid-course.