Dorothy Fosdick (April 17, 1913 – February 5, 1997) was an American

foreign policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...

expert.

Early life and education

She was the daughter of Harry Emerson Fosdick, who was the first pastor of the

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. She graduated from

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

in 1934 and received a Ph.D. from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1939, subsequently returning to Smith College to teach for four years.

Career

In 1942 Dr. Fosdick joined the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

, taking a membership position on the Policy Planning Staff of the

Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

from 1948 to 1953, and becoming the first woman to hold a prominent policy position in the State Department. Fosdick had also been a

speech writer A speechwriter is a person who is hired to prepare and write speeches that will be delivered by another person. Speechwriters are employed by many senior-level elected officials and executives in the government and private sectors. They can also be ...

for Adlai Stevenson, with whom she had a brief romantic relationship.Ware, Susan and Stacy Lorraine Braukman. ''Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary Completing the Twentieth Century.'' Harvard University Press, 2004, p. 219. Dr. Fosdick served as a professional assistant and foreign and defense policy adviser to United States Senate, Senator Henry M. Jackson from 1955 until Senator Jackson's death in 1983. In this capacity Dr. Fosdick served in Special Assistant and Staff Director positions on the Subcommittee on National Policy Machinery (1959–1962), Subcommittee on National Security, Staffing and Operations (1962–1965), Subcommittee on National Security and International Operations (1965–1973), Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (1973–1981), and took over the post of Special Assistant for National Security Affairs in 1979. After Senator Jackson's death Dr. Fosdick posthumously edited two compilations of speeches by Senator Jackson, ''Henry M. Jackson and World Affairs: Selected Speeches, 1953-1983'' and ''Staying the Course: Henry M. Jackson and National Security.'' Dr. Fosdick served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, as well as the Visiting Committee of the University of Washington Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, Seattle, Washington. Dr. Dorothy Fosdick died at her home in Washington, D.C., on February 5, 1997.

Views

Contrary to the beliefs of her father, Harry Emerson Fosdick, Dr. Dorothy Fosdick immediately took to the political outlook of Reinhold Niebuhr and his concept of Christian realism, advocating for a continuum between the way in which the United States conducts domestic and world affairs. In 1955 Fosdick published ''Common Sense and World Affairs,'' a publication that pushed for what she saw as a common sense approach to international relations. Among the main points Fosdick covered she highlighted twelve major ones: # To know when to be scared is the beginning of wisdom. # Whoever says he has the solution to our problems speaks too soon. # To make a fine choice, yet decline to pay for it, is folly. # Fashioning your methods in the light of your end is prudence. # Sometimes to let things alone is sound sense. # Stealing a march on trouble is foresight. # To believe you are more generous than you really are is hazardous. # Asking only for immediate and tangible rewards is shortsighted. # Some things can only be good if the occasion is ripe. # Safety lies in acting on the truth of the matter, rather than the imagination of it. # To talk as well as you perform makes sense. # To do the good that is straight under your nose is vigilant.

References

Bibliography

*Fosdick, Dorothy. 1939. ''What is liberty? A study in political theory.'' New York: Harper and Bros. *Fosdick, Dorothy. 1955. ''Common sense and world affairs.'' New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Co. *Fosdick, Dorothy, ed. 1987. ''Staying the course: Henry M. Jackson and national security.'' Seattle: University of Washington Press. *Fosdick, Dorothy, ed. 1990. ''Henry M. Jackson and world affairs: selected speeches, 1953-1983.'' Seattle: University of Washington Press. *Kaufman, Robert G. 2000. ''Henry M. Jackson: a life in politics.'' Seattle: University of Washington Press. *Ognibene, Peter J. 1975. ''Scoop: the life and politics of Henry M. Jackson.'' New York: Stein and Day. *Prochnau, William W. and Richard W. Larsen. 1972. ''A certain democrat: Senator Henry M. Jackson; a political biography.'' Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc. *The Fosdick Family Papers, including the papers of Dorothy Fosdick are at the Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fosdick 1913 births 1997 deaths Smith College alumni