Foreign policy of the Harry S. Truman administration

The main issues of the United States foreign policy during the 1945–1953 presidency of Harry S. Truman include:^[1]

• Final stages of World War II included the challenge of defeating Japan with minimal American casualties. Truman asked Moscow to invade from the north, and decided to drop two atomic bombs.^[2]
• Post-war Reconstruction: Following the end of World War II, Truman faced the task of rebuilding Europe and Japan. He implemented the Marshall Plan to provide economic aid to Europe and Washington supervised the reconstruction of Japan.^[3]
• Formation of the United Nations: Truman played a key role in the formation of the United Nations, which was established in 1945 to promote international cooperation and prevent another world war. Because of the Soviet veto, it was ineffective in most major disputes.^[4]
• Cold War: Truman led the nation into the Cold War in 1947, a period of heightened tensions and rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union. Truman helped form the NATO military alliance. He implemented the policy of containment, which aimed to stop the spread of communism and limit Soviet influence around the world.^[5]
• Korean War: In 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, leading to a bloody conflict that lasted until 1953. Truman authorized U.S. military intervention in the conflict, which led to a protracted and costly war. He rejected the advice of General Douglas MacArthur, and fired him in 1951.^[6]
• Nuclear arms race: Truman made the decision to build the hydrogen bomb. He oversaw the development of the U.S. nuclear arsenal and the start of the nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union, which had far-reaching implications for U.S. foreign policy.^[7]

Taking office in April 1945 in the last stages of winning World War II, Truman worked with the main American Allies, especially Britain, the Soviet Union and China. He distrusted the Soviets. The challenges were to achieve victory over Germany and Japan; deal with the chaos in Europe and Asia in the aftermath of World War II; handle the beginning of the Cold War with the USSR; and launch new international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank. Truman's presidency was a turning point in foreign affairs, as the United States engaged in a liberal internationalist foreign policy and renounced isolationism by engaging in a long global conflict with the Soviet Union and its allies, forming NATO, and fighting China in the Korean War to a deadlock.

Truman took office upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt during the final months of war. Until then Truman had little interest in foreign affairs and no knowledge of Roosevelt's plans. He relied heavily on advisers like George Marshall and Dean Acheson, both of whom served as Secretary of State. Germany surrendered days after Truman took office, but Japan initially refused to surrender or negotiate. In order to force Japan's surrender without resorting to an invasion of the main Japanese islands, Truman approved of plans to drop atomic bombs on two Japanese cities. Even before Germany and Japan surrendered, the Truman administration worked with Moscow, London and other Allies to establish post-war international institutions and agreements. Most hope was placed in the United Nations until Moscow's veto made it ineffective. In economics there was the International Refugee Organization, and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. The Truman administration embarked on a policy of rebuilding democracy and the economy in Japan and West Germany. It acted practically alone in Japan, and with Moscow, London and Paris in Germany.

Tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union escalated after 1945, and by 1947 the two countries had entered a sustained period of geopolitical tension known as the Cold War. Truman adopted a policy of containment, in which the U.S. would attempt to prevent the spread of Communism but would not actively seek to regain territory already lost to Communism. He also announced the Truman Doctrine, a policy of aiding countries in danger of falling to Communism. Pursuant to this doctrine, Truman convinced Congress to provide an unprecedented aid package to Greece and Turkey, overcoming opposition from isolationists and some on the left who favored more conciliatory policies towards the Soviet Union. The following year, Truman convinced Congress to approve the Marshall Plan, $13 billion aid package enacted to rebuild Western Europe. In 1949, the U.S., Canada, and several European countries signed the North Atlantic Treaty, establishing the NATO military alliance. Meanwhile, domestic fears of Soviet espionage led to a Red Scare and the rise of McCarthyism in the United States.

The Truman administration attempted to mediate the Chinese Civil War and failed. The Communist forces under Mao Zedong took control of Mainland China in 1949. In June 1950 Communist North Korea invaded South Korea in an attempt to reunify the country. Acting under the aegis of the United Nations, the U.S. intervened, defeated the invaders, and prepared to unify Korea UN terms. However, in late 1950 millions of Chinese soldiers entered Korea and pushed the allies back. The war settled into a stalemate along a line close to its starting point. Truman left office quite unpopular, but scholars generally consider him to be an above average president, and his administration has been credited for establishing Cold War policies that contained the Soviets.

This article is part of a series about Harry S. Truman
Early life Electoral history Assassination attempt Legacy Truman Day Scholarship USS Harry S. Truman Truman Reservoir Little White House Bibliography Senator from Missouri Senate career Truman Committee Senate elections 1934 1940 33rd President of the United States Presidency timeline Executive actions Foreign policy Truman Doctrine international trips Cabinet Judicial appointments Supreme Court candidates First term First inauguration Atomic bombing Marshall Plan Strike wave Mental Health Act Potsdam Conference NATO Timeline '45 '46 '47 '48 Second term Second inauguration Korean War Housing Act Fair Deal Sherman Minton Supreme Court nomination Steel strike Puerto Rican referendum Timeline '49 '50 '51 '52–'53 Presidential and Vice presidential campaigns 1944 campaign convention election 1948 primaries convention campaign election Dewey Defeats Truman 1952 primaries convention Post-presidency Presidential library Death National historic Site
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