Who is Harry Truman?

Harry Truman was the Vice-President of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  Truman took

over as President of the United States after President Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945. President Truman is mainly remembered for his doctrine of communist containment during the Cold War.  President Truman did many great things for his country.

 

For a brief general biography of Harry Truman see:

 

            <http://www.americanpresident.org/history/harrytruman/>

 

For a detailed time line of Harry Truman and his times see:

 

            <http://www.gsinstitute.org/dpe/timeline.html>

 

 

 

What is Harry Truman’s background? What particular experiences may have shaped his world view?

 

            Harry S. Truman was born in Lamar, Missouri on May 8, 1884.  Truman attended public school in Independence Missouri where he graduated from high school in 1901.  After finishing high school, Truman changed jobs a lot until 1905 when he served in the Missouri National Guard until 1911. Truman fought in World War I, he helped organize the 2nd regiment of Missouri field Artillery, which was called into Federal service as the 129th Field Artillery and sent to France.

            Before Truman took the presidency over after the death of President Roosevelt he began his political career as a Jackson County Judge.  He built a reputation for honesty and efficiency in the management of county affairs.  In 1934 he was elected to the United States Senate where he worked on many different committees.  In 1944, he nominated to run for Vice-President with Franklin D. Roosevelt.  In 1955, he was sworn in as the 33rd President of the United States after the unexpected death of President Roosevelt.

 

 

What is Truman’s position on Post-war Europe?  Policy toward the Soviets?

 

            After the death of President Roosevelt, President Truman addresses the Germans and the Soviets in his address to a joint session of Congress.  He states in his speech that there will be no “pause in the fight for victory”, and that the United States will continue to fight against communism and continue to fight for freedom.  Truman did not believe in appeasement, he seen how ineffective it was with Hitler and Germany in World War I.  The Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, and the Berlin Airlift were all tactics used to contain the spreading of communism throughout the world.  Everything that Truman undertook in his foreign policy was the desire to prevent the expansion of the influence of the Soviet Union.

 

For an in depth article on the Berlin Airlift see:

 

            <http://trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/berlin_airlift/large/docs.php>

 

What arguments does he make to justify his policy positions?

 

            When talks with Stalin didn’t help with the standoff with the Soviets, President committed the nation to the containment of Soviet power.  The Postdam conference with Stalin provided no settlement. When the war with Japan ended after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the relations with the Soviets degenerated into Cold War.  Truman knew that appeasement would not work with the Soviets and he also believed that you had to have a stern hand with the Soviets.  President Truman argued that the United States should do everything possible to contain the spread of communism throughout the world.  His administration came up with the Marshall Plan that offered help to other countries that were against communism.  Truman’s policy of containment policy ultimately worked against the Soviets.

 

 

Who agrees with Truman?

 

            George Kennan who is known as the father of the containment policy was the main ally of Harry Truman.  He underlined containment and patience as the means to meet and combat Soviet expansionism.  Keenan also developed the four pillars of American policy that would later be carried out officially in the Marshall Plan, which marked the beginning of the Cold War.  President Truman and George Kennan were both leaders that believed in the containment of communism.

 

Who opposes Truman?

 

            Walter Lippman opposed the idea of containment in Europe and Russia.  He spoke out against containment in a series of articles called The Cold War.  He believed that the United States was misusing or abusing their power.  He also did not believe that the Soviets could simply be talked or “charmed out of their existense”.

 

For more on Lippman’s thoughts see:

 

            <http://www.learner.org/channel/workshops/primarysources/coldwar/docs/lippman.html>

 

 

 

How important was Harry Truman’s impact on United States Cold War Policy?

 

            President Truman had a huge impact on United States Cold War policy.  The United States supported democratic institutions and market principles, while soviet leaders were totalitarian and ran a command economy.  The Cold War was fought indirectly between the United States and the Soviet Union.

            Harry Truman was the first American president to fight the Cold War.  He used several policies.  One was the Truman Doctrine.  This was a plan to give money and military aid to countries threatened by communism.  The Truman Doctrine effectively stopped communists from taking control of Turkey and Greece.  Another policy was the Marshall Plan, which provided financial and economic assistance to the nations of Western Europe.  This strengthened the economies and governments of countries of Western Europe, and as the economies of Western Europe improved, the popularity of communist parties declined.  President Truman had a huge impact on the United States Cold War policy.