Stimson’s Geneva Gamble Foiled: A Grim Reality Check for the US

In a stark reversal, Secretary of State Henry Stimson returned to the State Department in Washington, D.C. on May 14, 1932, his Geneva disarmament proposals met with a chilly reception. The failed diplomatic mission has left the US facing a daunting array of international problems, rivaling the nation’s crippling economic woes. The Secretary’s trip to Geneva, though not deemed a complete failure, has instead shed light on the bleak prospects for practical disarmament in the face of entrenched European animosities.