As one of the most powerful members of the Senate and with his strong interest in foreign policy, Knowland helped set national foreign policy priorities and funding for the Cold War, the policy regarding Vietnam, Formosa, China, Korea and NATO, as well as other foreign policy objectives. He opposed sending American forces to French Indochina and was a sharp critic of Communist China under Mao Zedong. Knowland represented the right-wing of the party and considered some of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's policies too liberal.