Speech On The Truman Doctrine

The author notes that initially, Congress was compliant with Truman giving him most of the power when it came to decision making. Paterson also notes that the public were “yea-sayers.” Early in the chapter, it is said that occasionally Truman officials suggested that their decisions were influenced by the attitude of the American public. However, the author points out that in the majority, President Truman did what he thought he needed to do and “successfully persuaded the reluctant to walk his path.” The book summarizes that even though Truman and his Cabinet officials charted their own path, they were aware of public opinion and feared negative attitudes towards foreign policy.

The discrimination of the United States against undesirable ideologies is, in essence, the very action that was feared about other countries. Author Regin Schmidt wrote about how the FBI set up political surveillance systems in foreign nations to prevent this kind of power the government had over the people from being exported to the U.S. Unbenounced to the public, however, the real threat was not in any foreign nation, but in the domestic government. Schmidt also went on to explain how President Truman attempted to make substantial revisions to foreign policy when enacting the Truman Doctrine. This belief of America being a promiseland is shown today when the United States continually forces itself into wars in an attempt to press its

The Truman Doctrine affected the Cold War by stopping Communists from destroying Europe any further. History.state.gov states, “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 authoritarian forces.” In his speech, he asked Congress to give support to the Greek government and go against the Communists. If the U.S. government failed to help the Greek government, the Communists would continue to damage Europe. The Truman Doctrine affected the Cold War, and another policy that affected the Cold

1947: Truman Doctrine: The Truman Doctrine was one of the policies under President Truman’s “Containment Policy.” In the Doctrine, he requested $400 million to bolster forces in eastern Europe to defend against Communism. Congress agrees and passes the doctrine. Dean Acheson, who was the Secretary of State at the time, argued that the fall of a Communist country will have a “domino” effect on the neighboring countries, and they need to be properly prepared for such a situation. As result of this policy, the US became the “global

Offner, Arnold, "Provincialism and Confrontation: Truman’s Responsibility" in Major Problems in American Foreign Relations, Volume II.

The United States has recognized that local threats have worldwide consequences. Recognizing our global interconnectedness was essential for any foreign policy, especially in a world where traditional borders are quickly breaking down. The Doctrine highlighted that foreign intervention does not need to rely solely on military action. Today, political and economic sanctions are a key part of American foreign policy (Bolinder 2013). The Doctrine also calls for the U.S to lead the international community in spreading peace, prosperity and democracy around the world. It has become the foundation for United States foreign policy and a guidebook for international relations in a nuclear and digital age.

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

He established that the United States would provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces.

Putting containment into practice, President Truman focused his efforts on stabilizing war-battered Asia and Europe. With epidemic malnutrition and tuberculosis tormenting both continents, communist parties threatening to rise to power in France and Italy, and Great Britain being unable to provide financial and economic anti-communist aid to Greece and Turkey any longer, the situation certainly appeared delicate and urgent. On March 12, 1947, Truman addressed Congress and unveiled the Truman Doctrine, which pledged American support to "free peoples” in their fight against totalitarian regimes, including $400 million to help Greece and Turkey (808). Congress approved his proposal and tried to facilitate America's self-appointed role as global policeman by passing the National Security Act of 1947, which united the U.S. armed forces under a single Department of Defense and created the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Security Council. The Marshall Plan, also signed off by Congress in 1947, channeled an additional $17 billion into European recovery (809).

The British troops helping the Grecian government were strangled of supplies due to poor economic times in Britain. Also, further territorial requisitions to Yugoslavia, Albania, and Bulgaria were being made. Seeing the deteriorating U.S. - Soviet relations, Truman issued two statements about "agreements, violations, reparations, and Soviet actions threatening U.S. security." "1.

In conclusion, Truman was constantly ready with very strong charges against communism, but they were all misleading and misinforming. Truth, justice, international understanding, and peace – goals of decent people everywhere – are not served by dividing the world into "good guys" and "bad guys," into saints and devils, into "free peoples" and followers of an

The foreign policy of the United States during the Cold War fully supported the growth of democratic nations. The USSR, however, wanted countries to become communist like them. These opposing views led to tension between the two nations. As a result, in 1947, President Truman issued the Truman Doctrine which stated that the United States would supply aid to any country as long as they pledged to be democratic. The Marshall plan was enacted in 1948 and it was similar to the Truman Doctrine except it provided financial aid to these countries. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the United States used its foreign policy to help countries resist communist influence.

Within theories and finding, The Truman Doctrine was established and on March 12th, 1947. Truman speech pledged “American support for free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures” (Simkin, n.d.) Congress also agreed to give economic aid to the military to help fight Greece against communism as he felt that the political stability was threatened. With Greece in trouble Truman as concerned the other countries would fall into Communism and was known as the ‘domino theory’. If it was not for Truman then Greece and Turkey could no longer afford to fight the rebels. “Truman said that the Cold War was a choice between freedom and oppression; Therefore, Americans would have to abandon their decisions not to get involved in European affairs; America was OBLIGED to get involved” (Clare, n.d.). The Truman Doctrine was an American challenge not only to Soviet ambitions but also through a policy of containment.

The original main idea of the Truman doctrine and the policy of containment were to support Turkey and Greece – who were on the verge of being subjugated to the Soviet Union and communism. They needed the assistance of an outside power to help them fight off this threat . The main point to understand this is that it set the precedent that the USA would help any country that was under threat from the Soviet Union in any way, including a communist government trying to take power.

The historian’s belonging to this school see the Truman doctrine from 1947 as the point when the Cold War started. They put the responsibility for the Cold War on the Soviet Union and its expansionist policy. According to them, this is the reason, why Soviets broke promises from the negotiations during the World War II, especially the Yalta agreement. On the other hand, the U.S. politicians wanted to continue the cooperation between the Allies even after the defeat of the Axis. They put a lot of hope to the newly created organization – United Nations – and the principle of collective security. However, the U.S. needed to react to the Soviet aggression in Europe. They adopted the policy of containment. The orthodox scholars view this policy as necessity because without it “the Soviet Union would have become the master of all Europe, instead of only the eastern Europe” .