Henry A. Wallace

Henry A. Wallace—vice president of the United States under Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1941 to 1945—was replaced in the 1944 election by Harry S. Truman, who became president upon Roosevelt’s death in April 1945. Prior to Roosevelt’s death, Wallace was appointed secretary of commerce but resigned from the position by presidential request after he attacked the administration’s harsh policies toward the Soviet Union in a speech given at Madison Square Garden in New York City, on September 12, 1946. He ran for president as the Progressive candidate in 1948, calling for disarmament and an end to the Cold War.

In the following viewpoint, excerpted from his controversial speech, Wallace argues that war with the Soviet Union would be devastating, particularly in light of...