Click on the link here for Audio Player – Meet The Press – Sir Anthony Eden – September 2, 1951 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection
During one of his visits to the U.S. of former Foreign Minister (and future Prime Minister) of Britain, Sir Anthony Eden drew more curious questions regarding Britain’s relationship with Russia than just about any other subject. The big concern, since Britain was, as this panel on Meet The Press put it, experimenting with Socialism and the increased amount of trade with The Soviet Union had some worried Britain was going Red.
Such was the climate of a paranoid state of mind in the U.S. in the early 1950s. The subject of the Middle East and the shift of power, along with the Iranian Oil matter along with the change in government and the Nationalization of Iran‘s Oil Industry under Mossadegh took scant interest on this panel – offering a few short questions towards the end of this interview.
The bulk had much to do with Britain’s relationship with Russia – and how this seemed to take precedence over the tone of questioning. But Eden does give some insights as to how the climate in Europe was turning around – how the Post-War atmosphere was still in a state of flux, some six years after the end of the War.
Anthony Eden wouldn’t become Prime Minister until 1955 – and much would happen before then. The Middle East would certainly come to haunt an Eden government, with many saying the crisis in the Suez Canal proved his undoing. But all that was a few years off.
In 1951, Eden was in the sidelines and the subject of much interest, as this episode of Meet The Press from September 2, 1951 proves.
