When American Presidents Underestimate Russian Leaders

Terrible things happen when US Presidents underestimate or, worse, trust Russian leaders.  Franklin Delano Roosevelt is mostly considered a great president, but one of his biggest, most devastating mistakes came in trusting Josef Stalin.  A few quotes to illustrate, first these two:

• "Poor Neville Chamberlain believed he could trust Hitler. He was wrong. But I don't think I am wrong about Stalin."
• "I come from the Crimea with a firm belief that we have made a start on the road to a world of peace."

Added to that:

By March 21, Roosevelt's Ambassador to the USSR Averell Harriman cabled Roosevelt that "we must come clearly to realize that the Soviet program is the establishment of totalitarianism, ending personal liberty and democracy as we know it." Two days later, Roosevelt began to admit that his view of Stalin had been excessively optimistic and that "Averell is right."

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yalta_Conference

Plus one more quote, which I had in a previous entry (see which for sourcing):

• "I think that if I give him everything I possibly can and ask nothing of him in return, noblesse oblige, he won't try to annex anything and will work with me for a world of democracy and peace."

The result of this massive miscalculation was the people of Poland, what became East Germany, and much of the rest of Eastern Europe losing their freedom for decades.  Millions upon millions more harmed by World War II than had to be…all because a president was too arrogant to realize he was naive.

Maybe we can learn from that, and not do it again?