Joseph E. Davies - Ambassador To The Soviet Union

Ambassador To The Soviet Union

Davies was appointed Ambassador to the Soviet Union by Franklin D. Roosevelt and served from 1936-38. His appointment was made in part based on his skills as a Corporate lawyer (Chairman, FTC), and international lawyer, his long time friendship with FDR since the Woodrow Wilson days and for his political loyalty to Roosevelt.

Davies had been asked by FDR to evaluate the strength of the Soviet Army, its government and its industry and to find out if possible which side the Russians would be on in the "coming war."

While Davies' predecessor, William Christian Bullitt, Jr. had been an admirer of the Soviet Union who gradually came to loathe Stalin's brutality and repression, Davies remained unaffected by news of the disappearance of thousands of Russians and foreigners in the Soviet Union throughout his stay as U.S. Ambassador. His reports from the Soviet Union were pragmatic, optimistic, and usually devoid of criticism of Stalin and his policies. While he briefly noted the USSR's 'authoritarian' form of government, Davies praised the nation's boundless natural resources and the contentment of Soviet workers while 'building socialism'. He went on numerous sanitized tours of the country, carefully prearranged by Soviet officials. In one of his final memos from Moscow to Washington D.C., Davies assessed:

"Communism holds no serious threat to the United States. Friendly relations in the future may be of great general value."

Davies attended some of the Stalinist purge trials of the late 1930s, and despite widespread evidence to the contrary, was convinced of the guilt of the accused, although he was a lawyer himself. According to Davies, "the Kremlin's fears were well justified". His opinions were at odds with most of the non-Stalinist press of the day, as well as those of his own staff, many of whom had been in the country far longer than Davies. The career diplomat Charles Bohlen, who served under Davies in Moscow, later wrote:

"Ambassador Davies was not noted for an acute understanding of the Soviet system, and he had an unfortunate tendency to take what was presented at the trial as the honest and gospel truth. I still blush when I think of some of the telegrams he sent to the State Department about the trial." (p.51)

"I can only guess at the motivation for his reporting. He ardently desired to make a success of a pro-Soviet line and was probably reflecting the views of some of Roosevelt's advisors to enhance his political standing at home."(p.52)

After Moscow, Davies was assigned to the post of Ambassador in Belgium (1938–1939) and Minister to Luxembourg concurrently before being called back to the United States following the declaration of war in 1939. Davies served as a special assistant to Secretary of State Cordell Hull.