How did US President Truman deal with communism?

Answer 1

US President Harry S. Truman can be criticized for allowing the USSR to dominate Eastern Europe following WW 2. He dis learn his lesson however, and decided on a containment policy to decrease the threat of an expanding communist threat.

He showed that by his actions in the Korean War. He forced North Korea to retreat back to its original border with South Korea. On the other hand, he failed to use the US monopoly of nuclear weapons to force Stalin into giving Eastern Europe its freedom.

Answer 2

ContainmentTruman's policy against Communism was defined by an advisor, George F. Kennan. His policy, called containment, planned to leave Communism where it was already established, yet keep it from spreading to other countries.

The policy of containment was applied and tested throughout Truman's administration and the Cold War as well. One of the first examples of the policy is the Truman Doctrine, which poured money and supplies into war-torn Mediterranean countries like Greece and Turkey. As their economies wobbled and threatened to fall, they were increasingly susceptible to falling to Communism and becoming Soviet satellite countries. The money propped up both economies in the end, and eventually Communism did not spread. Another example is the Marshall Plan, which was similar to the Truman Doctrine in that it gave money to European countries for support. The NSC-68 report during Truman's presidency also determined that the thread of Communism could only be abated with continued defense and military spending, a policy that continued for 20 more Cold War years.

After the Chinese Revolution, China became a Communist government. Other than shocking the American people, the defeat of the Chinese Nationalists was blamed on Truman. Truman supported the Nationalists who fought against Mao Zedong, but when they lost, Truman was blamed. For the rest of his presidency, he had to deal with the label of being "soft on Communism," an epithet that would haunt future Democratic presidents. As a result, when the North Korean Communists threatened to take over what was below the 38th Parallel, Truman took more aggressive actions than the Containment policy before. Although it wasn't an official US war, almost all of the UN troops were American. When the war ended through negotiations, the 38th Parallel was reestablished, and Communism was prevented from spreading.