Truman’s Presidency
Introduction
Harry Truman became the 33rd President of America after the death of President Franklin B. Roosevelt in 1945. Truman was faced with the most daunting task during his office time i.e., following in the footsteps of his esteemed predecessor who had remodeled the American governance and made the office of the president an icon during his unprecedented twelve years reign in office. The Roosevelt’s shadow was challenging to dodge for Truman, or for any other Democrat for that matter. Moreover, Truman lacked the charisma, stature, or even the vocal public speaking skills that Roosevelt possessed. However, the new president possessed other qualities and skills that made it possible for him to excel in several foreign and domestic policies. This essay will discuss Truman’s foreign and domestic policies during and after WWII.
When Truman took over the presidency, he determined to curb the effects of the Great Depression. He (Truman) introduced a domestic program dubbed as the “Fair Deal.” The program consisted of education federal aid, public housing projects, health care programs, among other initiatives that were in line with liberal politics. Congress rejected most of the “Fair Deal” programs, and only the housing projects under the Housing Act of 1949 survived.
The communist threat was felt domestically in the USA all through the 1940s to the 1950s. To curb the spread, Truman formed a loyalty security program temporarily to deal with the threat of domestic communism (Paterson, 1979). Five months later, after the inception of the program, Truman issued a declarative, making the program a permanent one. The program would, however, lead to countrywide scare with Truman’s government determined to wipe out all the communists and their sympathizers in the USA. The scare which came to be known as the Red scare compromised civil liberties.
In 1947, Truman launched the Truman Doctrine. The Truman Doctrine marked the inauguration and implementation of the American foreign of containment (Paterson, 1979). The meaning of the word containment is wrapped in the word itself, meaning that the USA acted to support the Free states trying to resist communist aggression and interference. The containment policy came to the height in the Greek Civil Wars in 1946 to 1949 in a time when the whole world was watching what stand Greek and Turkey would take. Truman then, through the containment policy, promised to support Greek and Turkey from the communist influence of the Soviet Union.
The other foreign policy that Truman faced was the decision to use a nuclear bomb against Japan. Truman’s presidency attempt to destroy Japan was met with vast criticism, and the questions were, couldn’t Truman have anything else? This policy perhaps would have been demonstrated better by either a delay in the use of the bombs or opting for a demonstration of the immense power instead. Many historians have described the use of atomic bombs against Japan as an “inhumane use of weapons.”
Conclusion
Truman’s rise to the office was a surprise to many. Because he was kind of an underdog, his actions were pretty dynamic. Truman’s presidency is associated with several historic foreign affairs and also several influential domestic affairs.
Reference:
Paterson, T. G. (1979). Presidential foreign policy, public opinion, and Congress: the Truman years. Diplomatic History, 3(1), 1-18.