Comparison Of President Truman And The Expansion Of The United States

Truman believed that if Russia got Greece and Turkey it would then get Italy and France and the “iron curtain” would extend to western Ireland and to the United States. Arnold posits that Truman’s views were excessive. Stalin never challenged the Truman Doctrine or western dominance in Turkey, which was under U.S. military guidance, and Greece. Arnold states, “ [Stalin] provided almost no aid to the Greek rebels and told Yugoslavia’s leaders in early 1948 to halt their aid because the United States would never allow the Greek Communist to win and break Anglo-American control in the Mediterranean” (221). Arnold believed that President Truman more often than not narrowed rather than broadened his options. Truman’s insecurity also reinforced his liking to view conflict in black-and-white terms, to categorize all nations as either free or totalitarian, to demonize his opponents, and to ignore the complexities of historic national conflicts. In sum, despite Truman’s claim to have “knocked the socks off the communists,” he left the White House with his presidency in tatters, military spending at a record high, McCarthyism rampant, and the United States on Cold War footing at home and abroad.

Turkey, another country that had been dependent on British aid was also being pressured by the Soviets into granting them base and transit rights through the Turkish Straights. Worried about the growth the spread of communism and the growing influence of the Soviets; President Truman appealed to a joint session of congress to authorize $400-million in emergency aid to the Greek and Turkish Governments and the dispatch of American civilian and military personnel to those countries. In his Speech; Truman said “I believe it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures”. This would be known as the Truman Doctrine and it would be the foundation of the post-war American foreign policy throughout the Cold War. The Policy of Containment also sprung from the Truman Doctrine. This new foreign policy stood in stark contrast to the isolationist foreign policy that the United States had held in the past. Instead of avoiding international affairs and conflicts around the world the United States would become more proactive in the affairs of the world to promote its interest and to combat the influence Soviet

President Harry S. Truman established that the United States would provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal forces from the axis powers. The Truman Doctrine completely altered U.S. foreign policy, away from its usual stance of withdrawal from regional conflicts not directly involving the United States, to one of possible intervention in far away conflicts. The Truman Doctrine was based from a speech delivered by President Truman on March 12, 1947. The immediate cause for the speech was a recent announcement by the British Government that, as of March 31, it would no longer provide military and economic assistance to the Greek Government in its civil war against the

President Truman Doctrine 1945–1953 Contain the expansion of communism, presumably everywhere. Truman Doctrine 1947 announced on the 12th of March 1947 in response to Greek civil war and communist threat in Turkey, Truman asks Congress to approve $400 million in aid to both countries, and they accept, sets a precedent of US help to threaten states through economic means (Woolsey, G. C.2008).

It was on March 12, 1947, the beginnings of the Cold War between major world powers, the democratic US and the communist USSR, when President Harry S. Truman announced his famous Truman Doctrine before a joint session of congress. In his doctrine, Truman states the importance it is for the United Sates to become involved in assisting other countries with political, military, and economic aid to all “democratic” nations under any kind of communist threat. He also states that the reason countries become communist is because they had the “totalitarian regimes forced upon them against their will” (Truman, Harry S.); therefore, in order for that not to happen, the US would restore hope into those who are “resisting attempted subjugation by armed

It stated that the United States would provide Military, economic and political assistance to all of the democratic nations that were under the threat of authoritarian forces. The Truman Doctrine reoriented the United States foreign policy to possible intervention in conflicts beyond the United States.

Harry S. Truman, named after his maternal uncle, was born on May 8, 1884 in a small town known as Lamar, Missouri. A place where he would live until 1890 when his parents, John and Martha Truman, would move the family to a place known as Independence, Missouri. Independence was a county-seat with a miniscule population of just 6,000 citizens. Among those citizens was a great diversity due to the town’s location America’s west and south. Due to this location, many southerners had migrated down to it leading to an abundance of southern culture.

I do not believe that the American people and the Congress wish to turn a deaf ear to the appeal of the Greek Government. Greece is not a rich country. Lack of sufficient natural resources has always forced the Greek people to work hard to make both ends meet. Since 1940, this industrious, peace loving country has suffered invasion, four years of cruel enemy occupation, and bitter internal strife.

“It is of the utmost importance that we supervise the use of any funds made available to Greece; in such a manner that each dollar spent will count toward making Greece self-supporting, and will help to build an economy in which a healthy democracy can flourish” (Truman T18). Both Truman and Eisenhower used the policy of containment but Kennedy used the Flexible Response to help with other countries that have communism. During the Cold War, there were many problems that were going on with the United States and the Soviet Union. Military aid, military use, and the economic aid of three presidents were used. They gave assistance, money, military supplies and military help to these countries falling under the use of communism. The government

The progress of expansion in the United States is one filled with complicated, complex, and irrational decisions. Geographically, North America changed dramatically by having the landmass grow, through discovery, by at least doubling what it was before. The European discovery of North America, the Mississippian shatter zone, Louisiana Purchase, and the Mexican-American war are all historical events that changed the path and future of America dramatically, through the making of controversial decisions.

The United States came to believe in the ‘domino theory’ when it came to state governments falling to communism, and the Greek situation is no different. Truman thought that if Greece where to fall to communism then so would Turkey shortly after and eventually the entire Middle East. Because of this belief Truman request congress to give $400,000,000.00, American civilians, and military aid to not only the Greek government but also the Turkish government (State. Gov The Truman Doctrine 1947). This request was rationalized under the argument that if communism were to prevail in Greece it would threaten the stability of the region, thus threatening American interests in the region and therefore communism in Greece was a threat to the national security of the United States. Truman’s second argument was based on the political theory of R2P or ‘Responsibility to Protect’, which says that states with the ability to act also has the responsibility to (Office of Strategic Prevention of Genocide). Truman argued that as the leader of the ‘Free World’ the United States had a responsibility to stand up for ‘Free People’ in their struggles against authoritarianism (State.Gov The Truman Doctrine 1947). Like most American beliefs about communism they

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

The expansion of the United States into the territory west of the Mississippi River began with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Thomas Jefferson doubled the size of the nation with a great deal of $15 million from France. While, American development was influenced by westward expansion, the purchasing of more land created controversy. Many disagreed with the idea of expanding and taking over land because Indians who already occupied the land wasn’t included in the agreement that was made and the Constitution did not have any thing that supported this idea. Although, the Louisiana Purchase showed Jefferson 's ability to make a logical political decision, it was opposed by Federalists who questioned the purchase and his ability. They were oblivious to the fact that United States was going to become powerful and progress with growth. United States ' expansion was a fulfillment of manifest destiny because the U.S. was obligated to spread and so it was necessary, inevitable and desirable that the Americans did this.

The policy provided leaders in Washington with a framework for analyzing Soviet behavior. In doing so, it allowed firm diplomatic, economic, and military counter pressure to block Russian aggression. Subsequently, President Truman adopted this policy and, later created the Truman Doctrine. Indeed, the doctrine was an American foreign policy to stop Soviet imperialism during the Cold War. The Truman Doctrine pledged to contain Soviet threats to Greece and Turkey. Since Greta Britain no longer supported the two countries, they were more likely to be overpowered by Soviet forces. Through the Truman Doctrine, $400 million was provided for military and economic aid. Overall, the Truman Doctrine marked a new level of American Commitment to the Cold War.

Limiting the threat of a government that would control the flow of a free flow market and risk their security and investments. Truman said, “The American system can survive in America only if it became a world system”, by preserving national security and bringing “freedom, democracy, and capitalism to the rest of the world” (chapter. 10) would help ensure order to secure Americas peace in the future. Knowing America had a monopoly on atomic weapons, Truman was firm but willing to work with the Soviets as long as they conformed to the U.S. plans for the post war world as well as refrain from expanding. Stalin’s point of view was that he had power within those countries defeated in the war and those that the Red Army had liberated. The U.S. was rebuilding governments in Italy and Japan while Stalin had installed Communist governments in Poland and Bulgaria. Initially the Soviets were tolerate of non-communist countries, but would eventually remove their troops from Iran in the spring of 1946 when the Unites States applied pressure on them. As the book says, this allowed for the United States to gain access to the rich oil fields of Iran. Referring to the notes, the Cold War had become a race to expand spheres of influence, with the United States looked stuck with their allies as they resisted the efforts of the Soviets efforts to