President Eisenhower's speech before the American Society of Newspaper Editors focuses on the threat of communism. As in many other speeches, Eisenhower stresses the role of the United States in ensuring freedom's survival. He feels that economically-troubled nations may turn to communism because of a lack of hope, and that the US must assist them, sometimes on a long-term basis. He wonders whether the death of Joseph Stalin has had any effect on the Soviet state, or not.