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The United States under Truman and Eisenhower – Part Two
Objectives:
While traveling the U.S. in 1946, Winston Churchill observed about Europe that “an iron curtain has descended
across the continent.” Analyze developments from 1945 to 1953 during the Truman administration that increased
suspicion and tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and compare it with Eisenhower’s brand of
containment from 1953 to 1961.
To Americans, the greatest problem with the concept of communism was its appeal to the poor. With its promises of
equality and unity, food, shelter and a job for everyone, the lure of communism was almost too much for other
countries to resist -- particularly true in a world characterized by countries with overwhelmingly poor populations.
Although the Cold War is billed as a war without actual fighting, but rather one characterized by the buildup of
militaries, defenses and diplomatic tensions between the US and USSR, “hot” wars with actual fighting would be
fought indirectly between American democracy and Soviet communism, on the fields, deserts and jungles over the
course of the four and a half decades following the Second World War.
After WWII, American foreign policy had to reinvent itself to face the new world reality and come up with a strategy
that made us both competitive in the world with the Soviets and at the same time hold back the threat of the spread of
communism. The solution was uniquely American – the one thing that the US had that the Soviets did not was a lot of
money. We would capitalize on this and make democracy look just as enticing as communism by throwing large sums
of money at countries tempted by the allure of communism.
Harry Truman and George Keenan with the State Department came up with a policy called containment, a concept
outlined in NSC Document #68. It was simple. Communism, like a disease, must be contained to prevent its
infectious spread. The means to contain communism was to administer an injection of a large dose of cash, a.k.a. the
Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan. The Truman Doctrine was in response to potential communist take-over of
the countries of Greece and Turkey. In his speech in which he outlines the doctrine, Truman stated that, “The U. S.
should support free peoples throughout the world who were resisting takeovers by armed minorities or outside
pressures…We must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way.”
The US prepared for the Cold War by making some post-WWII changes. Truman made the decision to continue
research in weapons technology by continuing to fund the nuclear research. The US will maintain wartime military
levels of expenditures and established the Atomic Energy Commission to continue research. Additionally, the US
Congress passed the National Security Act of 1947. It restructured the military by creating the Department of
Defense to combine all armed services. It further created the National Security Council in the White House and the
Central Intelligence Agency to collect information and train spies. Next, in 1949, the US formed the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO) which included the US, Canada and most of the Western European nations. Its
purpose was to form an alliance against the threat of Soviet expansion. The USSR eventually responded with its own
alliance in 1955 with the formation of the Warsaw Pact which included the USSR and its satellite nations.
The Marshall Plan was billed as an economic recovery program in the wake of the devastation of WWII. Food, farm
equipment, farm animals, clothing, care packages, building materials, and of course, money was sent to any country
who needed it. It was a great show to other countries of the potential power, wealth and greatness of a democratic
nation that could be theirs too if they too adopted democracy and rejected communism.
In 1948, the Berlin crisis began as a result of the tensions between the US and the USSR. The city, much like the
country of Germany, had been divided at the Potsdam Conference into 4 zones. Berlin had the unfortunate distinction
of being deeply ensconced in the Soviet zone. Stalin cut western Berlin off from the western portion of Germany thus
beginning the Berlin Blockade. Truman boldly responded with a round-the-clock airlift that ran supplies to the
isolated city 24/7 with planes taking off every seven seconds. The Berlin Airlift lasted for just over a year with the
US, British, Australians, Canadians and New Zealand, participating in providing supplies to the beleaguered city; the
bulk of the load being carried out by the US. In the face of such resolve, Stalin finally lifted the Blockade in 1949 and
soon thereafter, the French, British and US zones formed the country of West Germany with West Berlin being its
capital.
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Future presidential administrations would pick up this baton of containment which will be called different things by
different presidents though when stripped down all these policies will look like containment. Eisenhower called it
brinkmanship and utilized the Eisenhower Doctrine, Kennedy called it flexible response, and Lyndon Johnson
continued containment in Vietnam as did Nixon who called it the Nixon Doctrine.
Also in 1949, the Soviets exploded their first atomic bomb and China fell to communism in the Mao Revolution,
Chiang Kai-shek and his Nationalists being forced to flee the country. The threat of nuclear war was now real and
irrevocably changed American society as there were now two nuclear superpowers entrenched in an unofficial war.
With the threat of nuclear annihilation, the American people began to prepare by building fallout shelters and
preparing school children with Duck and Cover drills. All of this hid a growing insecurity that loomed in the
shadows of the American consciousness. Could it be possible that we Americans were not in fact number one? Could
there be a people who were smarter and better than we were? Many Americans felt that that this was impossible, but
evidence was mounting to the contrary and paranoia fueled a red scare. Fear of growing communism and communist
spies spread like wildfire fueling such events in society as McCarthyism and The House of Un-American Activities
Committee (HUAC) where a young congressman by the name of Richard Nixon made a name for himself.
Adding to the tension in 1957 was the Russian launch into space of Sputnik I, a seemingly harmless metal sphere that
orbited the earth for several days. The problem was that the United States could not even get a missile off the ground
without exploding it on the launch pad. The Soviets on the other hand not only were able to launch an object into
space but what was most damaging to our American psyche was that they reached space, FIRST. Communist paranoia
grew as the Soviet’s “space grapefruit” became the first man-made device launched into orbit.
The ripple affects of Soviet superiority were sobering. In response Eisenhower launched two programs: The National
Space and Aeronautics Agency otherwise known as NASA and the National Defense Education Act which placed
an emphasis in education on science and math. The “Space Race” was well underway and came to epitomize the
competitive nature of the Cold War during the 1950s and 1960s when the Soviets owned the US. The Soviets were
the first to get a man into space (Yuri Gagarin) and orbit the earth.
As explained in the intro, the Cold War at times did turn “hot”. The causes of America’s involvement in Korea and
Vietnam stem back to WWII. In the post WWII conferences, it was decided that Korea would be divided at the 38th
parallel into North and South Korea. The north would be communist and the south would not. In 1950 the North
would attempt to reunite the countries under communism when North Korean forces invaded South Korea.
President Truman following his policy of containment convinced the United Nations to intervene on behalf of South
Korea. General Douglas McArthur led United Nation forces to push the North Koreans out of South Korea’s
borders. Then something interesting happens. Breaking its policy of containment, the UN called for an advance past
the 38th parallel and continued marching into North Korea in an attempt to reunite Korea under non-communism. The
Chinese watched as American led UN troops advanced ever so close to its border with North Korea. China’s growing
concern with American intentions resulted in China coming to the aid of its communist neighbor, North Korea. With
Chinese aid, North Korean forces repelled UN troops and the result was a stalemate.
During the conflict MacArthur demanded from Truman the use of nuclear weapons against the North Koreans, but
fearful of a nuclear war, Truman refused and MacArthur complained of having to fight what he considers a limited
war. Finally, in the Eisenhower administration, a truce is established and a ceasefire signed in the Geneva
Conference in 1954 ending the conflict but not the war. To this day North and South Koreans troops are stationed at
the 38th parallel waiting for the other to make a move.
Eisenhower had his own brand of containment which he called brinkmanship. Its objective was to convince the
Soviets that the US was willing to go to the brink of war, using our entire arsenal of nuclear weapons if necessary and
not even blink. The hope (behind the scenes) was that the communist would back down due to the U.S. nuclear
superiority. Additionally, Eisenhower employed the idea of Massive Retaliation which focused the military on
nuclear weapons, air power, and the H-Bomb by 1953 despite the real threat of mutual extinction or what will be
called MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction). In addition to Korea, Eisenhower had his foreign policy plate full in the
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1950s. Events included Stalin’s Death (1953) and the rise of the volatile Khrushchev and his short lived “peaceful
coexistence” in which he felt that the USSR could live peacefully with the US provided they matched us militarily,
the Hungarian Revolt (1956) in which Hungarians demanded democracy but were rolled over by Soviet tanks, Suez
Canal Crisis (1956 to 57) when Egypt nationalized the canal eliciting a response by Israel to invade the Sinai
Peninsula, Sputnik (1957) instilling fear when the Soviets beat us to space, the Second Berlin Crisis (1958) where
we see the construction of the Berlin Wall, Khrushchev again with his speech promising “We will bury capitalism”,
U-2 Incident (1960) in which Francis Gary Power’s U-2 spy plane was shot down over Soviet airspace, support for
Batista in Cuba (1952) and then the Communist Revolution in Cuba which saw the rise to power of Fidel Castro.
Source (Modified from): http://www.teacherweb.com/LA/MandevilleHighSchool/Marina/HTMLPage8.stm
Twenty Questions
1. Define “Cold War” based on the reading.
2. In reading Harry Truman’s quote explaining what has since become known as the Truman Doctrine, what idea of
Woodrow Wilson’s does Truman seem to also be promoting?
3. What was the purpose of NATO and how did the Soviets respond?
4. Why was Berlin easy for Stalin to blockade?
5. During World War II, the United States provided aid to Chiang Kai-shek of China. How did this end up working
out for the United States? Be specific with your answer.
6. Explain in detail the impact the launch of Sputnik I had on the United States.
7. How did the situation in Korea change as a result of the Korean War? Be specific in you answer.
8. What did Eisenhower call his form of containment and what was the inherent risk with his strategy?
9. What foreign nations did Eisenhower have his hands full with in the 1950s?
10. In what ways was post-WWII America similar to how America was after World War I?
11. After reading Parts One and Two of the US under Truman and Eisenhower, how would you explain the
statement, “The post-WWII years in America under Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower was one of contrast.”
12. Also, having now read Parts One and Two of the US under Truman and Eisenhower, identify four ways in
which the 1950s continues to impact America in the 21st century.
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