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On
Truman learned about the atomic bomb soon after becoming president. Now, he agonized over whether to use the weapon against the Japanese. To do so might end the war quickly and minimize American casualties, but thousands of Japanese civilians would die. In June, a committee appointed by the president recommended using the bomb. Truman concurred. As
Truman's assessment of the Russian leader proved inaccurate. Even after Truman hinted about the atomic bomb, Stalin refused to budge. America's president did not know that the Soviets were developing an atomic weapon of their own. After
Circumstances, however, allowed Truman little time for remorse or celebration. Communists controlled Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Albania, and East Germany and the president's advisers made it clear that the Soviets would keep expanding their influence -- by force, if necessary. In
"Unless Russia is faced with an iron fist and strong language, another war is in the making," Truman wrote. "I'm tired [of] babying the Soviets." He sent the U.S.S. Missouri to the eastern Mediterranean, delivering a clear message that he would oppose Soviet aggression in the region. Still, the Soviets lingered. On March 12, 1947, Truman addressed Congress to request $400 million in emergency aid for Turkey and Greece, which faced internal and external Communist threats. In his speech, the president stated "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." Congress agreed with the president and overwhelmingly approved the aid. The policy came to be known as the Truman Doctrine. Now,
Hungary's shift to Communism in May boosted the plan's fortunes, as did the idea that the Europeans would spend most of the money on goods made in America. Congress approved interim aid to Europe in December, and signed off on the Marshall Plan the following spring. But by then, Communists were in control of Czechoslovakia. Truman and his advisers restructured America's military bureaucracy to meet the world's changing conditions. In September 1947 the National Security Act created three new defense-related agencies. The National Military Establishment (later replaced by the Department of Defense) would coordinate the actions of all branches of the armed services. The Central Intelligence Agency would coordinate intelligence gathering. The National Security Agency would coordinate military and diplomatic policy. As he worked to build a defense against Communism, Truman faced a crisis of conscience in the Middle East. Jews who had fled to Palestine to escape the Holocaust now demanded a Jewish state. Truman sympathized, but he knew that the formation of Israel would result in an immediate attack by Arab states that could threaten much of the world's oil supply. Jewish Americans lobbied Truman to create a safe haven in the Middle East; the president's former business partner, Edward Jacobson, petitioned Truman in person. When Israel declared statehood on May 14, 1948, Truman recognized it immediately. Meanwhile, in Germany, Stalin tried a risky gamble. On June 18, 1948, Communist forces responded to economic help to West Germany by cutting off land access to West Berlin, isolating the democratic city within Communist East Germany. Truman responded quickly with a massive airlift of supplies to the beleaguered Germans. The Berlin Airlift lasted nearly a year, and the Soviets eventually backed down. In July 1949 Truman further solidified Europe by joining Western nations in a mutual defense pact known as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO. But the move was offset by two shocking developments later that year: The Communist victory in China, and the successful testing of a Soviet atomic bomb. The Russians and the Chinese formed a mutual defense alliance in early 1950. In mid-June of that year, war broke out in Korea. Since the end of World War II, Korea had been divided into two nations, Soviet-backed North Korea and American-backed South Korea. On June 24, 1950, North Korea attacked its southern neighbor in an attempt to unify Korea under communism. Truman
Fearful that the conflict would precipitate atomic holocaust, Truman hoped for a rapid victory. It did not come. The combat-hardened North Koreans overwhelmed the inexperienced U.S. troops, and by the end of July, four thousand Americans were dead. Truman then approved a bold invasion plan prepared by General Douglas MacArthur. The invasion succeeded. North Korea retreated above the 38th parallel, and it seemed the war was won. But at that point, Harry Truman made one of the most costly foreign policy decisions of his presidency. Communist China had promised it would enter the war if UN troops pushed beyond the 38th parallel. But a confident Truman nevertheless allowed MacArthur to move above the 38th parallel and toward China's border. In
MacArthur requested permission to use nuclear weapons and to attack the Chinese mainland. Truman refused, and the Chinese advance continued. The president's popularity nose-dived especially after he fired MacArthur. Americans had grown tired of war. But soon, the tide began to turn. By March 1951 the Americans had pushed the Chinese and the North Koreans back to areas above the 38th parallel. Peace talks began in July. When a weary Harry Truman left office in January 1953, peace had still not been achieved. From the time he entered the White House until the time he left it, Harry Truman was engaged in a war. He fought diplomatically, financially, and militarily. When he left the presidency, the lines of the Cold War were firmly drawn, and the apparatus for fighting that war -- atomic weapons, international spy agencies, and growing defense budgets -- was well established. Next: Presidential Politics >> |
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