Compare And Contrast Kennedy's Policy Of Containment

During the Cold War, America's basic policy was that of "containment" of the Soviet Union. The policy of containment was based upon several principles. First, the Soviet Union wanted to spread socialism to all areas of the world. However, it was felt that the leadership of the Soviet Union felt no particular rush to accomplish their goal. "The Kremlin is under no ideological compulsion to accomplish its purposes in a hurry. Like the Church, it is dealing in ideological concepts which are of a long-term validity, and it can afford to be patient. (Hook and Spanier, 42)." In other words, the Soviet leadership believed that, since their ideas were the correct ones, they would eventually prevail, and thus, no direct confrontation would be

Considering the continued growth of Communism on the international stage and the Democratic president Harry S. Truman’s inability to stop events like the Communist takeover of China, the Republican Platform, that President Dwight D. Eisenhower ran on, proposed an exceptionally tougher stance on Communism. The platform had determined mere containment of Communism to be an insufficient solution, so therefore called for military action to reverse the spread of Soviet influence. However, President Eisenhower also promised large budget cuts to the military, so they devised a policy that they believed would cut spending but also increase the effectiveness of the military’s power. The Eisenhower administration announced this policy that called for the creation of a nuclear bomb carrying air fleet, that would be used as a threat to any Communists groups to discourage them from making advances to invade or takeover countries requesting American aid. Eisenhower planned to reverse the growth of Communism by using a superbomber airfleet as an effective weapon against Communism, however, he often failed to follow this initial foreign policy throughout his administration.

“The United States countered Soviet expansion and propaganda with a policy of containment, initially with the Truman Doctrine of aid to Greece and Turkey in 1947, the Marshall Plan (1948) for Europe’s economic reconstruction the airlift (1948-49) to the blockaded city of Berlin, and the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949” (Nogee, 2005)

There was no confrontational fighting during this period. The Soviets had suffered in World War II, losing millions of soldiers and civilians. Stalin did not want Germany to be able to strike them again and wanted a buffer zone in Eastern Europe, but strived for more; to expand the Soviet Empire. The Democratic Capitalist United States was guided by a foreign policy called containment during most of the Cold War. Containment supported the idea that Communism and the Soviet Union should not be allowed to spread. In 1947, the President of the United States, Harry Truman, declared that his country would support “free peoples” or people who were being threatened by communists, with the Truman Doctrine. He also declared the Marshall Plan, in which European democracies would be aided and rebuilt by. This plan thought to give these types of countries resources so that Communist ideas would not be so attractive. The United States contained Communism by participating in three events, the Korean War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Berlin Blockade and

After WWII, the U.S. became fully interventionist. US interventionism was motivated primarily to contain the spread and influence of communism and made us a leader in global security, economic and social issues. We then entered into the Cold War. President Truman’s Containment policy was the first major policy during the Cold War and used numerous strategies to prevent the spread of communism abroad.

Tension between the United States, NATO and the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact was high during the late 40s and early 90s—the Cold War was in full force. This was soon after World War II and the United States was suspicious of the the Soviet Union’s communistic ways and of their leader Joseph Stalin. In efforts of keeping the Soviet Union in check the United States’ President Harry S. Truman created a Containment Policy to try to prevent the spread of communism. Communism is nearly on the opposite side of democracy. It is against free trade. The United States and NATO were very on edge at the thought of the Soviet Union using nuclear power and of winning the Space Race. It was constant hostility between two major political and military powers

Following the end of the Second World War the western powers were not certain what system of defense they wanted to adopt. The European nations were in the process of recovering from the effects of the War but they knew that they wanted to keep the Soviet Union from dominating the entire continent. The United States shared this desire but did not want to get embroiled too heavily in what many considered a European problem. Nevertheless, the United States and their allies in Europe recognized that a strong U.S. presence was necessary in order to counterbalance the Soviet Union which had already established a strong presence in Eastern Europe. Policy makers in the United States hoped that the U.S. presence would be temporary and would last only long enough for the Western Europe nations to develop their own defenses (Deighton, 1990). Unfortunately, until the end of the Cold War the United States presence was reduced only slightly and, as a result, the United States influence in the area was considerable.

Eisenhower’s administration took many actions to strengthen anti-communist states and prevent the spread of communism. One example would be the use of former President Truman’s containment policy to prevent ware between the U.S. and the USSR. Another example would be, to prevent the Soviet Union from attacking the U.S., the Eisenhower administration began massive retaliation or the mass building of nuclear weapons. This would help the United States save money and cause our enemies to think twice before starting an attack. The USSR building nuclear bombs themselves put the U.S. at risk (Doc E), this should be taken with a grain of salt though because the potential of a war and destruction was too much of a risk for both countries to attack. This potential put both countries back at a stalemate position. Ultimately, massive retaliation acted as a protective barrier for the U.S. and American citizens, calming the fear of

Kennedy learned various lessons from Cuba and Berlin such as: looking for diplomatic solutions, being skeptical of his advisors, and to not act without plausible deniability. Kennedy would carry over those lessons for the rest of his term as President. Had Kennedy remained President from 1964-1968, the lessons acquired from Cuba and Berlin would have prevented an escalation in Vietnam. Kennedy viewed getting involved in Vietnam as a disruption to his foreign policy goals. One of Kennedy’s primary concerns during the Cold War was preventing escalation with the Soviet Union, it was a larger concern to him than to his advisors. The United States lacked support from other major countries and by interfering in Vietnam, the relationship with China that Kennedy wanted would have been negatively impacted. Kennedy’s priority during the Cold War was to defuse conflicts in Europe, and Vietnam would have been a secondary struggle with no real benefit. Kennedy demonstrated his skepticism to his advisor’s proposals by rejecting Rostow’s Berlin proposals. As a second term President, Kennedy would only have more freedoms when making foreign policy decisions. Kennedy did not want militaristic escalation in Vietnam, and would ensure that escalation would not take place. Although Kennedy did want to prevent the spread of communism in Southeast Asia, sending ground troops was not the way he wanted to accomplish his goals. Kennedy would carry over his diplomatic intentions or quick action

President Truman said in the essence of that the United States would provide many to countries that claimed they were threatened by communist expansion.” (150) President Truman concern was with the expansion of Soviet to the Eastern Mediterranean, it will cause communist to expand their regime and force the Eastern Mediterranean countries fall into the communist regime. This will cause for the Eastern Mediterranean countries like Greece and Turkey to will change politically, economically, and militarily to Soviet Union communist regime. President Truman wants the U.S. to provide aid and support those who are threatened by communist and those who want to be free from suppressor, dictator, and communist regime. As of many other countries was

Harry S. Truman was well known for The Truman Doctrine that would give aid for Greece and Turkey to quote “The foreign policy and the national security of this country are involved. One aspect of the present situation, which I present to you at this time for your consideration and decision, concerns Greece and Turkey. The United States has received from the Greek Government an urgent appeal for financial and economic assistance. Preliminary reports from the American Economic Mission now in Greece and reports from the American Ambassador in Greece corroborate the statement of the

As America’s focus on certain economic and social domestic issues shifted its approach to global affairs went right along with them. From Kennedy to Obama each president’s methods of handling global affairs were either inspired by their predecessors or focused on their own visions for America’s future. Kennedy was one of the few presidents who held foreign policy as one of his main priorities while in office. Since Vietnam exposed the United States limits of military power and the faults in its foreign policy (textbook 29.1) it was perfect that Kennedy was the one who came into the inaugural office at just the right time new, young and with fresh ideas. His views on global strategy involved collaborating with other countries to form alliances

In February 1947 the British government announced that it could no longer provide the military and economic assistance to Greece and Turkey that it had been providing since the end of the Second World War. On 12 March 1947 President Truman spoke to congress and what he said later became known as the ‘Truman Doctrine.’ His speech on March 12 marked a new era in the USA’s attitude to world politics and in his speech Truman stated that Greece and Turkey were “threatened by the terrorist activities of several thousand armed men, led by communists.” Truman requested $400 million in assistance for the two nations and two months later, congress approved his request. The doctrine marked the beginning of the containment policy to stop Soviet expansion.

Harry Truman’s speech to Congress on March 12, 1947 tailored itself to opposing the spread of communism. The “containment doctrine” announced its efforts to support Greece and Turkey to the tune of “$400,000,000” (Merrill, 222) in economic aid and military assistance, which the latter did not eventually transpire. The plea was made amid Greece’s civil war (1946-49), where as a result of World War II the “Germans had destroyed virtually all the railways, roads, port facilities, communications, and merchant marine…[left] Eighty-five per cent of the children [as] tubercular. Livestock…had almost disappeared…[where] inflation had wiped out practically all savings…[making] economic recovery impossible” (Truman). Truman felt Greece’s political chaos “threatened by the terrorist activities of several thousand armed men, led by Communists” (Truman) and the guerrilla forces controlled by the Greek Communist Party (KKE) warranted the monetary support of the U.S. Greece’s neighbor, Turkey, who received aid during the war from the U.S. and Britain, was confronted with a different situation, yet also required funds “for the purpose of effecting that modernization necessary for the maintenance of its national integrity...[that] is essential to the preservation of order in the Middle East” (Truman) and was becoming an increasingly important region for the U.S. Soviet pressure was placed onto Turkey to open up its shipping lanes in

After World War II President Harry Truman pledged in his Truman Doctrine, “To ensure the peaceful development of nations, free from coercion.” In this doctrine he proposed aid for the Greek government, on the grounds that the Communist rebels would take over and thus spread the Communist trait of instability to the nearby nations of France and Italy. Truman believed totalitarian governments posed a threat to free peoples around the world and to international peace—and in turn the people of