Truman 's Speech : The Truman Doctrine

On May 22, 1947, U.S. President Harry S. Truman proposed the Truman Doctrine, which gave economical and finaical support to the countries of Greece and Turkey, to a joint session of Congress. However, the motive was to combat communism and for the U.S. to have a leadership role in Europe and around the world

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.

Truman gave the Truman Doctrine. The United States was the only country that could act to keep Russia out of Greece and Turkey, they were in danger of a dictatorial system of government forced on them , as Truman himself said, “...by direct or indirect aggression, [which would] undermine the foundations of international peace and hence the security of the United States.” (Truman) Therefore “... it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressure.” (Truman) This very well explains why it was important for the United States to get involved, and gives the reason for the Truman Doctrine be. Truman wanted to gain congressional approval and public support for supporting Greek and Turkish independence. He thought that the support should be mostly through economic and financial aid, but he wanted to keep costs downs so as not to provoke the Soviets into an aggressive response, so he asked congress to use $400 million to assist them. The money to assist Greece and Turkey was approved by legislation, on 22 May 1947, just two months after the doctrine was given. Dwight P. Griswold was appointed to administer the program of assisting Greece and he was able to stabilise greek affairs by September of 1948. Turkey wasn’t in as bod of an economic crisis, and it was also out of danger by 1948. As Donald McCoy

The foreign policy of the United States can be defined as a labyrinth- a set of complex intricacies which either lack comprehension or are characterized by meticulous thought. Established during a period of ideological warfare and domestic hysteria, it is evident the Truman Doctrine was conceived with a disregard for the future stability of American international affairs. Engulfed within a period marked by massive power struggles and distorted accusations, the Truman Doctrine may appear minimal in regard to alterations of the United States international attitude. However, the Doctrine acted as a catalyst for the shift in America’s foreign policy objectives and vision. It is clear the Truman Doctrine produced detrimental consequences in regard to the international policy of the United States, stability of foreign countries, and continuing repercussions in the modern day.

Harry S. Truman was born in Lamar, Missouri on May 8, 1884 and was at first just an average boy and then man, with dreams in the music field and interests in reading and history. His mother greatly supported his ideas and desires and wished him the best. Truman worked a series of clerical jobs and worked on the Santa Fe Railroad as well (“Harry S. Truman”). Truman’s first encounter with politics was when he served in WWI and was a captain in the Field Artillery in France. When he returned from France he married Bess Wallace on June 28, 1919. Later Truman became active in the Democratic Party and was elected a judge of the Jackson County Court in 1922. Truman then became Senator in 1934. Truman served as Vice President to FDR and after

Although Truman was not able to create a universal health care system for America’s citizens during his presidency, his efforts did help to expand health care quality and access throughout the country (Schimmel, 5) and paved the way for the creation of Medicaid and Medicare during the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson.

When I enrolled at Truman State University, I did not realize how my race impacted me on both a personal and global level. I believed we lived in a post-racial society where race and ethnicity did not matter. However, on Monday, November 24th, 2014, when officer Darren Wilson was not indicted for the killing of Michael Brown, I experienced an epiphany. Race matters. Whether an individual believes that race did or did not play a role in Michael Brown's death, race was reignited as a prominent topic in America due to the Black Lives Matter movement. Roland Martin, the host of News One Now, stated in an interview that “The reason Black Lives Matter has been so successful is because they have forced the most rigorous discussion on police brutality

Truman’s policy of containment was the idea of containing communism in areas where it was expanding. Truman asked Congress to give a helping hand to Greece and Turkey because they were starting to spiral into communism. After a while the threat was gone so good on Harry Truman. An economical aspect of this policy would be the fact we gave Greece and Turkey in total 400 million dollars which economically assisted them. A political aspect of this policy would be the fact we ended the spread of communism in these two countries. A cultural aspect of this was the fact Turkey and Greece hadn’t been completely switched over to communism.

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, the current President of 1945, effectively used rhetorical strategies on his announcement of the bombing of Hiroshima, which helped put World War II to an end when Japan conceded. After contemplating the decision to drop the bomb or invade, not taken lightly, Truman decided to drop the bomb. The atomic bomb was the culmination of the war, and ultimately changed the world since its use. Therefore, the announcement, directed towards the American people, of its use would have to be concocted in such a way that would prompt patriotism, and not make the United States look so vile. Truman pulled this speech off remarkably, despite not being widely recognized for his speeches,

The decision to use the atomic bombs posed several significant moral dilemmas, including the loss of many innocent lives, on President Harry S. Truman, as well as, provided many advantages to America, like ending the war. A mutual occurrence was that bombing Japan was the United States trying intimidate other countries. President Harry S. Truman was appointed with the Interim Committee, but Truman, being the leader, was left with all the responsibility on whether to drop the atomic bomb on Japan. The bomb was a very brutal reaction to the violence occurring in the war, that ended many Japanese lives, but it was a way of impressing and intimidate the Soviet Union.

By 1947, US president Harry S. Truman was outraged by the Soviet Union's perceived resistance to American demands in Iran, Turkey and Greece, as well as their rejection of the Baruch Plan on nuclear weapons. In February 1947, the British government announced that it could no longer afford to finance the Kingdom of Greece in its civil war against Communist-led insurgents.

The Civil War in Greece and the dispute over the Dardanelles of Turkey allowed for the implementation of the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan. Greece had been struggling against communists who wanted to take over the government. The United States, paranoid about the spreading of communism, sent $300 million in aid through troops and financial means. As a result, Greece was able to resist the communistic attempt to overthrow the democratic government. It was with the financial help of the U.S. that Greece was able to fight off those who threatened their values. This helped Greece but it mostly helped the United States since it was one less country that fell to communism. Additionally, the USSR’s leader, Joseph Stalin, wanted partial control of the Dardanelles between the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. Immediately, the U.S. government realized that they must send aid to Turkey. Otherwise, the USSR might have turned Turkey into a communist country. As with Greece, the United States sent military aid and financial help of $100

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.