Truman and the Cold War CHA3U. Roots of the Cold War Philosophical Differences Soviet Union:...

Truman and the Cold War

CHA3U

Roots of the Cold War

• Philosophical Differences Soviet Union: communism, totalitarian dictatorship

United States: free-enterprise capitalism, republic

• WWII Conflicts Allies during war, but not friends

Soviets wanted British/Americans to open second European front earlier in the war

U.S. atomic bomb plans worried Soviet Union

• Post War Conflicts Soviet Union refused to let Eastern Europe hold elections as promised at Yalta Conference

United States resisted Soviet expansion

Iron Curtain• Stalin wanted to retain political

and economic control over Eastern Europe

• Soviets managed to install Communist governments throughout Eastern Europe

• Stalin outlawed political parties or newspapers that opposed Communists

• Soviets jailed or killed opponents

• Soviets fixed elections to ensure success of Communists

• Churchill attacked Soviet Union for creating “Iron Curtain”

How does the U.S. respond? Containment

• Policy stated that U.S. should resist Soviet attempts to expand its power

• Containment included economic aid, sanctions, and military force

Truman Doctrine

• Said that United States would help people fight against oppressors

• Truman wanted to send aid to Greece and Turkey to help them fight Soviet pressure

• Congress agreed to send millions of dollars to Greece and Turkey

Marshall Plan

• Aid program to rebuild economies of European countries to create stable conditions for democracies

• 17 countries received $13.4 billion dollars in aid

• Helped build strong political support in Western Europe

Berlin

• Soviets planned to keep their German zone under Communist control

• British, Americans, and French began to take steps to set up free, democratic government w/in their German zones

• British, Americans, and French set up democratic government in West Berlin

• Soviets unhappy w/ idea of Western-style government and economy in middle of Soviet zone

Berlin Airlift• June 1948 - Soviets

announced they would block any road, rail, or river traffic into West Berlin

• West Berlin’s residents were cut off from food, coal, and other products essential to survival

• West Berlin was not completely cutoff because it had airstrips

• British and American planes began making deliveries

• Continued until Soviet Union lifted its blockade on May 12, 1949

NATO

• 1949 - U.S. and 6 other nations joined Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and U.K. to form NATO

• Armed attack against one would be considered an attack against all

• Later expanded to include 26 countries

Election of 1948

• Many Democrats compared Truman unfavorably to FDR

• Republicans began to attack Truman before 1946 congressional elections and gained majority in Congress

• Made it difficult for Truman to put his programs into place

The Election of 1948• Southern democrats opposed

to Truman’s support for civil rights program

• Proposed end to racial segregation and integrate armed forces

• Nominate South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond

• Other democrats feared Truman was antagonizing Soviet Union

• Nominate former V.P. Henry Wallace

• Truman had lost support from both the right wing and left wings of his party

The Election of 1948

• Republicans nominate Governor of N.Y. Thomas Dewey

• Truman’s sinking popularity and three way split in Democratic Party meant that Dewey appeared unbeatable

• Dewey avoided risk, controversy and was vague about what he would do as president

• “Agriculture is important. Our rivers are full of fish. You cannot have freedom without liberty. Our future lies ahead.”

Election of 1948

Election of 1948

• Truman aggressive on campaign trail• Ordered Republican Congress back and

challenged them to pass civil rights legislation, health and education reform

• All were part of the Republican platform• Republican Congress did little to enact its

own legislation• “Do-nothing, good for nothing Republican

80th Congress”

The Election of 1948

• Truman crosses country on whistle-stop tour

• Brief speeches from back on private train car that carried Truman from one town to the next

• “Give ‘em hell, Harry!” - popular slogan shouted at stops

The Election of 1948

• Final days of campaign only Truman believed he would win

• His wife doubted he could pull out upset

• Not a single reporter travelling on his campaign thought he would win

• Many newspapers/magazines were so confident of Dewey's victory they wrote articles to be printed the morning after election speculating about new "Dewey Presidency “

The Election of 1948

The Election of 1948

• Truman won California, Illinois, and Ohio by less than 1%

• Totaled 78 electoral votes and difference in election

• Chicago Tribune went to press with headline

• “Dewey defeats Truman”

Why did Truman win?

• Victory attributed to many factors:

• Aggressive and populist campaign style

• Dewey's complacent approach to campaign

• His failure to respond to Truman's attacks

• Public approval of Truman's foreign policy and support for Berlin airlift

• Widespread dissatisfaction w/ Republican controlled Congress

• Strong economy in 1948 and fear that recession would return if Republicans won

• Third party candidates did not hurt Truman as much as was predicted

• Strom Thurmond's Dixiecrats carried only four Southern states

• Henry Wallace's Progressives received only 2.4% of national popular vote - well below their expected vote total

• Civil rights platform helped Truman win large majorities among black voters in populous Northern and Midwestern states

Growing Fear of Communism

Soviet Atomic Weapons

• 1949 - Soviet Union detonated an atomic bomb

• Shock – America no longer had monopoly on the bomb

• Truman began to strengthen nation’s military against possible Soviet nuclear threat

Communist China

• Communists in China had gained control of mainland

• Nationalist government of fled to Taiwan (Chiang Kai-shek)

• China was in hands of Communist Party (Mao Zedong)

• Americans worried that China increased Communist threat to U.S.

Spy Rings

• Alger Hiss—convicted of being spy for Soviets

• Klaus Fuchs—a Manhattan Project scientist who gave atomic bomb information to Soviets

• Ethel and Julius Rosenberg—convicted of passing secrets to Soviets

• Executed

Communism at Home • House Un-American Activities

Committee (HUAC) investigated full range of radical groups in U.S.

• Truman created plan to investigate all federal employees

• Those disloyal to United States were barred from federal employment

• Employees forced to take loyalty oaths

• Investigations turned up little evidence of disloyalty

Communism at Home• Smith Act - made it crime to

call for overthrow of government

• Truman charged leaders of Communist Party in U.S. under act, including Eugene Dennis – General Secretary of CP USA

• Convicted, convictions were upheld in Dennis v. United States

• Found that Dennis did not have right under 1st Amendment to exercise free speech, if it was part of a conspiracy to overthrow government

HUAC

• HUAC explored possible Communist influence in film industry

• Hollywood Ten – former members of the Communist Party who refused to answer HUAC questions about their beliefs or those of their colleagues

• Blacklisted

• Many others in Hollywood stars, writers and directors named names of suspected communists

• In doing so they stayed off blacklist

Joseph McCarthy • 1950 - U.S. senator claimed

205 known Communists working for U.S. Department of State

• Cartoonist dubbed McCarthy’s tactic of spreading fear and making baseless charges “McCarthyism”

• Claims rarely backed up w/ any evidence

• Gained reputation as nation’s top Communist fighter

• McCarthyism spread into other branches of government, universities, labor unions, and private businesses

Korea

• After WWII, Japanese-occupied Korea was temporarily divided into northern and southern parts

• Soviet Union controlled Korea north of 38th parallel

• U.S. controlled Korea south of 38th parallel

• Soviet Union established a communist government in North

• In South Korea, United States promoted a democratic system

Start of the Korean War

• June 25, 1950 - North Korea invaded South Korea

• American troops stationed in South Korea since WWII had recently completed their withdrawal

• U.S. not well prepared to fight in Korea; however, decision to fight was made quickly

• Truman decided that the United States would take a stand against Communist aggression in Korea

• United Nations Security Council voted unanimously in favor of the use of force in Korea

The Korean War

Role of the United States

• South Korea was where the United States had to take a stand against Communist aggression

• Truman ordered American naval and air forces to support Korean ground troops

• Truman asked United Nations to approve the use of force to stop North Korean invasion

Role of the United Nations

• The UN Security Council supported the use of force in Korea

• Truman sent ground troops to Korea

• The troops sent to Korea were to be a United Nations force

• Instead of calling this a war, the whole effort was referred to as a UN police action

Inchon• Truman appointed General

MacArthur to command all UN troops in Korea

• UN forces made an amphibious landing behind North Korean lines at Inchon

• MacArthur’s surprise attack worked

• September 1950 invasion at Inchon was key victory

• Offensives from Inchon and Pusan resulted in destruction/surrender of huge numbers of North Korean troops

• By October 1950 all of South Korea was back in UN hands

Retreat

• MacArthur refuses to halt - carries war into north

• Action threatens Communist China

• October 1950 – 260 000 Chinese troops joined North Koreans forcing UN forces to retreat to Seoul

• Longest fallback in U.S. military history

• MacArthur - "an entirely new war"

Truman and MacArthur• MacArthur believed UN faced

choice between defeat by Chinese or major war

• Wanted to expand war by bombing Chinese mainland, perhaps even w/ atomic weapons

• U.S./ U.N. stopped Chinese and pushed them back to the 38th parallel — w/out needing to expand the war

• MacArthur disagreed w/ President Truman about direction of fighting and challenged authority of president

• Truman fired MacArthur

The Korean War

• 1952 – Truman popularity at all-time low

• Announces he will not seek another term as president

• Dwight D. Eisenhower runs as a Republican — promised to end the war— is elected president

• An armistice agreement was finally reached on July 27, 1953

• Left the map of Korea looking much as it had in 1950

Legacy of Truman

• Left office most unpopular president in history

• 22% approval rating• 1965 – Lyndon Johnson

signed Medicare into law• Gave Truman first

Medicare card• Honor his fight for

government healthcare as president

Legacy of Truman

• Died in December of 1972 • Emerged as a folk hero

after his death• Exemplified integrity and

accountability• “The buck stops here” • Routinely ranked as one of

the greatest presidents• C-Span poll ranked 5th