Doctor Curmudgeon Dumbarton Oaks

By Diane Batshaw Eisman, M.D. FAAP Doctor Eisman is in Family Practice in Aventura, Florida with her partner, Dr. Eugene Eisman, an internist/cardiologist

Whenever I listen to Stravinsky’s Dumbarton Oaks Chamber Concerto, it reminds me of the Dumbarton Oaks Conference.
Stravinsky wrote the concerto for the thirtieth wedding anniversary of a D.C. couple, Robert and Mildred Bliss. In 1940, the couple made a gift of their home, Dumbarton Oaks to Harvard University.
And then in the early summer and late fall of 1944, the mansion had a new purpose. It became the site of the Dumbarton Oaks conference.
From August 21 to October 7, 1944, representatives of the United States, United Kingdom, China, and the Soviet Union met at Dumbarton Oaks.These diplomatic meetings discussed proposals for establishing a worldwide organization to maintain peace and security.
Each delegation had its own chair:
US Under Secretary of State Edward Stettinius, Jr,
British Permanent Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Sir
Alexander Cadogan,
Chinese Ambassador to the United Kingdom Wellington Koo,
Soviet Ambassador to the United States, Andrei Gromyko, and
British Ambassador to the United States, Edward Wood.

There were two phases to these deliberations.
The first phase occurred between August 21 and September 28. This phase brought together the Soviet Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
The second phase between September 29 and October 7 involved the representatives of the United Kingdom, the United States, and China.
Why couldn’t they all meet at the same time? It seems that the Soviets had simply refused to meet with the Chinese delegation.
The purpose of the Dumbarton Oaks Conference was to develop friendly relationships among nations, achieve international co-operation in solving social, economic, and other problems, maintain international peace and security, and create a center to meet in order to harmonize the actions of nations to achieve common goals.
In my opinion, having to meet in two phases did not seem like a good start for the goals of the Dumbarton Oaks Conference, but the discussions laid the groundwork for an international organization focused on maintaining peace and cooperation after World War II.
And then in San Francisco on June 26, 1945, fifty countries met to finalize the UN charter, establishing the United Nations as an International organization.
As I enjoy Stravinsky’s Dumbarton Oaks concerto in E flat, I also muse about a famous conference and the birth of the United Nations.
THE IMAGES ARE OF THE DUMBARTON OAKS RESIDENCE AND OF A MEETING

Dr. Curmudgeon suggests “Bitter Medicine”, Dr. Eugene Eisman’s story of his experiences–from the humorous to the intense—as a young army doctor serving in the Vietnam War.
Bitter Medicine by Eugene H. Eisman, M.D. –on Amazon

Doctor Curmudgeon® is Diane Batshaw Eisman, M.D., a physician-satirist. This column originally appeared on SERMO, the leading global social network for doctors.
SERMO www.sermo.com

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