 National policy relating to the Cold War interested Flanders greatly . He was concerned about the world @-@ wide encroachment of Communism even without force of arms . He felt that President Truman was generally a good president , but was hampered by the Roosevelt legacy of appeasing the Soviets . He also felt that Truman 's commitment to bringing the Nationalist and Communist Chinese factions together into an alliance was mistaken . He endorsed the Marshall Plan as a way to avoid Communist influence in Western Europe . However , he was critical of John Foster Dulles , Secretary of State , for mishandling opportunities to create friendly alignment with Egypt and India , countries which instead sided with the Soviet Union . 
