WEBVTT - How Did the Truman Doctrine Change U.S. Foreign Policy?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Folke bomb here. Ever, since George Washington,

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<v Speaker 1>named King George, started going at it, foreign policy in

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<v Speaker 1>the United States has been a tickle ish affair. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>stay out or jump in, be aggressive or be possessive,

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<v Speaker 1>stand on your own or seek help, lead or follow,

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<v Speaker 1>put up walls or call for them to be torn down.

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<v Speaker 1>The answers are never easy, but that's what makes the

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<v Speaker 1>Truman Doctrine so impressive. A Few, if any, American foreign

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<v Speaker 1>policy stances have held the weight, lasted as long, or

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<v Speaker 1>changed the world as much as the Truman Doctrine. It's

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<v Speaker 1>the post World War Two strategy designed to contain the

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<v Speaker 1>spread of communism and hold America's wartime ally, the Soviet Union,

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<v Speaker 1>in check. Even today, with other global threats emerging and

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<v Speaker 1>a stated America First foreign policy, the ideas behind the

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<v Speaker 1>Truman Doctrine endued and inform the country's worldview. On March

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<v Speaker 1>twelfth of nineteen forty seven, Harry S. Truman, the thirty

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<v Speaker 1>third President of the United States, laid out the center

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<v Speaker 1>beam of what came to be known as the Truman

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<v Speaker 1>Doctrine in a speech to a joint Session of Congress.

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<v Speaker 1>He said, in part, I believe that it must be

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<v Speaker 1>the policy of the United States to support free peoples

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<v Speaker 1>who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by

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<v Speaker 1>outside pressures. I believe that we must assist free people's

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<v Speaker 1>to work out their own destinies in their own way.

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<v Speaker 1>With the Truman doctrine, America stepped away from a largely

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<v Speaker 1>isolationist history, took the lead in battling communism and furthering democracy,

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<v Speaker 1>and forged relationships with nations militarily, economically, and otherwise that

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<v Speaker 1>endured today. So today, let's take a closer look at it.

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<v Speaker 1>Less than two years after the end of World War Two,

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<v Speaker 1>many nations, especially in Europe, were in economic shambles and

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<v Speaker 1>right for exploitation. Two of them, Greece and Turkey, had

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<v Speaker 1>major problems with insurgents and faced political uncertainty without outside aid.

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<v Speaker 1>Even the once mighty British were mired in the struggles

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<v Speaker 1>of rebuilding their war shattered country. They can no longer

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<v Speaker 1>chip in to help others, So Greece and Turkey instead

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<v Speaker 1>turned to the United States, and Truman, a Democrat, turned

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<v Speaker 1>to Congress. Republicans then held both the House and the

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<v Speaker 1>Senate looking for four hundred million dollars in foreign aid.

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<v Speaker 1>That's more than four point six billion in today's dollars.

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<v Speaker 1>We spoke with Sam Roche, the supervisory archivist at the

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<v Speaker 1>Harriest Ruman Librarian Museum in Independence, Missouri. He explained there

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<v Speaker 1>was a key meeting at the White House in late

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<v Speaker 1>February with congressional leaders and George Marshall, who was Secretary

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<v Speaker 1>of State, made a strong pitch, and so did Dean Atchison,

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<v Speaker 1>who was the Under Secretary of State. They talked about

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<v Speaker 1>the merits and the urgency of doing something to help.

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<v Speaker 1>The British had announced the they were going to withdraw,

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<v Speaker 1>and Marshall and Atchison didn't want there to be a

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<v Speaker 1>vacuum that might mean the Soviets would step into that vacuum.

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<v Speaker 1>After Truman's speech before Congress, a push to pass the

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<v Speaker 1>Grease Turkey Aide bill was championed by Marshall, Atchison and others.

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<v Speaker 1>They managed to bring over even staunch isolationists like Senator

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<v Speaker 1>Robert A. Taft, though some influential voices such as former

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<v Speaker 1>Vice President Henry Wallace and conservative journalist Walter Littman remained opposed.

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<v Speaker 1>Pitching a new foreign policy initiative, one that went against

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<v Speaker 1>long held isolationist tendencies, to a Congress run by the

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<v Speaker 1>opposition party and a war weary American public was a

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<v Speaker 1>tall order. Rochet said, there was a lot of selling

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<v Speaker 1>to do, and selling it, I think was the right

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<v Speaker 1>word to try to sell it to the American people

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<v Speaker 1>and to Republicans and to conservative Southern Democrats who were

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<v Speaker 1>very influential as well, that this was really a good

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<v Speaker 1>thing because it was in our interest. In the end,

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<v Speaker 1>the idea that commerce between the US, Eastern Europe, and

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<v Speaker 1>the Middle East could be negatively impacted, that the Soviets

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<v Speaker 1>could gain more power by stepping in something that could

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<v Speaker 1>alter world politics for generations to come, was enough. The

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<v Speaker 1>Greece Turkey Aid Bill passed convincingly. Truman signed the bill

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<v Speaker 1>in May of nineteen forty seven in America set out

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<v Speaker 1>on a new path in Europe and eventually other places

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<v Speaker 1>in the world. So what did it mean then and

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<v Speaker 1>what does it still mean today? The journalist Lippman coined

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<v Speaker 1>the term Cold War what would become a decades long

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<v Speaker 1>standoff between the US and the Soviet Union that began

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<v Speaker 1>at the end of World War Two, the implementation of

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<v Speaker 1>the Truman Doctrine was one of its major milestones. In

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<v Speaker 1>eight the so called European Recovery Plan otherwise known as

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<v Speaker 1>the Marshall Plan, was signed into law, designed to help

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<v Speaker 1>rebuild Western Europe and further block any Communist in roads.

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<v Speaker 1>Without the new foreign policy outlined in the Truman doc

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<v Speaker 1>trin the Martial Plan would not have been possible. In

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen forty nine, the US and eleven other nations in

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<v Speaker 1>North America and Europe, in order to quote guarantee the

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<v Speaker 1>freedom and security of its members through political and military means,

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<v Speaker 1>formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO, which now boasts

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<v Speaker 1>thirty member countries, has ever since acted as a deterrent

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<v Speaker 1>to Soviet and Communist expansionism. Even before the Truman Doctrine

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<v Speaker 1>became official policy, its theories were in use as World

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<v Speaker 1>War Two was ending. Soviets occupied Korea, of prompting the

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<v Speaker 1>US to send troops to the peninsula in a standoff

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<v Speaker 1>that eventually exploded into the Korean War. Immediately after World

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<v Speaker 1>War Two, the Soviets in the US squared off over Iran,

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<v Speaker 1>too and Germany. In nineteen fifty four, well after the

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<v Speaker 1>Truman Doctrine was initiated, President Dwight Eisenhower warned of a

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<v Speaker 1>domino effect if communists prevailed in Southeast Asia. A prelude

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<v Speaker 1>to the US involvement in Vietnam, Ronald Reagan built upon

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<v Speaker 1>the Truman doctrine with the Reagan Doctrine of the nineteen eighties,

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<v Speaker 1>which not only called for containment of Soviet expansionism, but

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<v Speaker 1>the backing of anti communists everywhere. With the breakup of

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<v Speaker 1>the Soviet Union in nineteen one, the Cold War technically ended,

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<v Speaker 1>but the basic ideas behind the Truman doctrine, containing communism,

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<v Speaker 1>championing democracy, helping others internationally remained important to many modern

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<v Speaker 1>day politicians. Richet said the Truman doctrine was sort of

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<v Speaker 1>an explication of a new foreign policy, very international minded.

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<v Speaker 1>For Truman, it was in the self interest of the

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<v Speaker 1>United States to work with other nations in the interests

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<v Speaker 1>of peace and resisting maybe a verbal war that you

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<v Speaker 1>see through the United Nations, where he was very active.

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<v Speaker 1>Truman helped build a structure of peace through the Truman Doctrine,

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<v Speaker 1>through the United Nations, through NATO, through the Martial Plan.

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<v Speaker 1>There's a real ideology behind it, but fundamentally Truman sought

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<v Speaker 1>in the United States best interest. Former United Kingdom Prime

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<v Speaker 1>Minister Winston Churchill gave a speech in Missouri in ninety

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<v Speaker 1>and Truman was there, warning of a communist expansion across

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<v Speaker 1>Europe and calling for a reply that avoided war. In

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<v Speaker 1>that speech, Churchill said, an iron curtain has descended across

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<v Speaker 1>the continent. Surely we should work with conscious purpose for

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<v Speaker 1>a grand pacification of Europe within the structure of the

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<v Speaker 1>United Nations and in accordance with its charter that I

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<v Speaker 1>feel is an open cause of policy, a very great importance.

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<v Speaker 1>A year later, Truman made his pitch to Congress. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>episode was written by John Donovan and produced by Tyler Klang.

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<v Speaker 1>For more on listen lots of other curious topics, visit

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