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Truman vs. MacArthur
The Korean War changed the face of American Cold War diplomacy forever. In the midst of all the political conflict and speculation worldwide, the nation had to choose between two proposed solutions, each one hoping to ensure that communism didn?t sweep across the globe and destroy American ideals of capitalism and democracy. General Douglas MacArthur takes the pro-active stance and says that, assuming it has the capability, the U.S. should attack communism everywhere. President Harry Truman, on the other hand, believed that containing the Soviet communists from Western Europe was the best and most important course of action, and that eliminating communism in Asia was not a priority.
The question was whether the USA should pursue the same policy regarding communism in the Far East as in Europe, or should it concentrate on making sure that the Soviets couldn?t expand westward? Despite being a little too optimistic, MacArthur?s decisive policy addressed the global threat of communism better because it acknowledged that the U.S. shouldn?t just ignore one communist sector of the world, and because it recognized that we should eliminate an enemy that we are inevitably bound to come into conflict with.
Analysis of Truman?s Policy
Truman?s approach to Cold War politics was practical and logical, but it was too reactionary by nature. Truman failed to see that it was inevitable for the U.S. to eventually fight against the Soviets; in fact, one Soviet diplomat even said this himself as a rationalization for seizing more lands. The Truman Administration clearly realized that the Soviets had engaged in a struggle for power, a Cold War, so why then didn?t Truman do everything in his power to eliminate this...
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... passed, was more pro-active as opposed to reactionary. Also, wasn?t it Truman who allowed the general to invade North Korea in the first place?
But he wasn?t decisive and convicted enough to go all out. Maybe it was because Truman made many decisions regarding Korea based on the assumption that he thought that the Soviets were more involved than they actually were; in retrospect, if he hadn?t had those suspicions, he may not have been so cautious about driving Asian communism into the ground was the best course of action.
The lesson to be learned from all this: the deciding factor in diplomacy should be more based on what one thinks will happen as opposed to could happen. While a little idealistic, MacArthur certainly knew what he was talking about when it came to warfare, and America would have won the Cold War sooner if MacArthur?s mindset were accepted.
During the cold war, the United States engaged in many aggressive policies both at home and abroad, in which to fight communism and the spread of communist ideas. Faced with a new challenge and new global responsibilities the U.S. needed to retain what it had fought so strongly for in World War II. It needed to contain the communist ideas pouring from the Soviet Union while preventing communist influence at home, without triggering World War III. With the policies of containment, McCarthyism, and brinkmanship, the United States hoped to effectively stop the spread of communism and their newest threat, the Soviet Union.
“Was Truman Responsible for the Cold War”, well, according to author Arnold A. Offner, his simplistic answer is an obvious “yes.” “Taking Sides” is a controversial aspect of the author’s interpretation for justifying his position and perception of “Truman’s” actions. This political approach is situated around the “Cold War” era in which the author scrutinizes, delineates, and ridicules his opponents by claiming “I have an ace in the hole and one showing” (SoRelle 313). Both authors provide the readers with intuitive perceptions for their argumentative approaches in justifying whether or not “Truman” contributed to the onset of the “Cold War.” Thus far, it would be hard-pressed to blame one single individual, President or not, for the “Cold War” initiation/s. Information presented shows the implications centered on the issues leading up to the Cold War”, presents different ideologies of two Presidents involving policy making, and a national relationship strained by uncooperative governments.
During the 1960s through the 1990s the United States was involved in a diplomatic standoff with the Soviet Union. Both nations were preparing nuclear weapons to immediate the other. Throughout the world communism was being spread by the power Soviet forces and the United States created the Truman Doctrine to stop the spread of communism in Turkey and Greece. They continued to combat the spread through wars and “rebellions”. Through the extent of the Cold War, the United States made it their mission to stop the spread of communism. This plan both worked and failed in diplomacy throughout Europe, Latin America, and Asia.
Discussions of the causes of the Cold War are often divisive, creating disparate ideological camps that focus the blame in different directions depending on the academic’s political disposition. One popular argument places the blame largely on the American people, whose emphasis of “strength over compromise” and their deployment of the atomic bomb in the Second World War’s Pacific theatre apparently functioned as two key catalysts to the conflict between US and Soviet powers. This revisionist approach minimizes Stalin’s forceful approach and history of violent leadership throughout World War 2, and focusing instead on President Harry Truman’s apparent insensitivity to “reasonable Soviet security anxieties” in his quest to impose “American interests on the world.” Revisionist historians depict President Truman as a “Cold War monger,” whose unjustified political use of the atomic bomb and ornery diplomatic style forced Russia into the Cold War to oppose the spread of a looming capitalist democratic monopoly. In reality, Truman’s responsibility for the Cold War and the atomic bomb drop should be minimized. Criticisms of Truman’s actions fail to consider that he entered a leadership position set on an ideological collision course, being forced to further an established plan for an atomic monopoly, and deal with a legacy of US-Russian tensions mobilized by Roosevelt prior to his death, all while being influenced by an alarmist and aggressive cabinet. Upon reviewing criticisms of Truman’s negotiations with Soviet diplomat Vyacheslav Molotov and his involvement in the atomic bomb drop, the influence of Roosevelt’s legacy and Truman’s cabinet will be discussed in order to minimize his blame for starting the Cold War.
To President Truman, controlling General MacArthur was becoming increasingly difficult. President Truman had a strong base of legitimate power to stand on, due to the fact that organizationally he was at the top. Along with legitimate power, President Truman used its innate coercive power to put pressure on General Mac Arthur. However, legitimate power meant almost next to nothing for the egotistical General MacArthur and he ignored President Truman’s attempt
...n hopes of taking a stand to end communism. (Johnson) The stand was that it goes strictly against President Truman’s war policy, Macarthur knowing this, still wanted to carry out the plan. (Johnson) This is where Truman and Macarthur clashed opinions on the war policy. (Johnson) Macarthur wanted to do whatever necessary to do the right thing. (Johnson) On the other hand President Truman wanted to stay with his war policy for the chance of possibly starting another world war. (Johnson) Ultimately this led to Macarthur getting dismissed/ fired from the army. (Johnson) This raised question in the eyes of the Americans. Was Macarthur’s stand on ending communism a smart or dumb move? Should he be seen as a War hero or a man who was obsessed with power? Many questions rose but most people agreed that what he did was a true act of doing what was right at the time.
Truman also complicated the end of the war with Japan when he stated at the Potsdam Conference that Japan must unconditionally surrender. MAGIC,
General Douglas MacArthur reacted to the events in Korea by thinking he could do anything he wanted to them because he was liked by the American people. He wanted to stop Korea entering China.
As a result, popular pressures provided the influence of expanding the war into China and to use atomic weapons, therefore MacArthur’s strategy against China became very clear and that was to: invade, blockade and bomb. This caused a disruption simply because taking “Korean action had become a war with Communist China” and the focus was not on Korea anymore and containing the spread of Communism. This event proves that “policy is made through politics” since the dire need to attack China was immensely present, it contradicted the peacekeeping policy regarding the Korean War and could have caused a WWIII. Ultimately, MacArthur had to be relieved of his command because not only did he have the need to attack China in order to prevent communist action and preserve Formosa, but his own purpose which was “to serve for the US” was persistently hindered due to the excess power he carried. This made it difficult for him to attack issues at an appropriate time rather than trying to concentrate on everything simultaneously. Therefore, the wrong focus on China and Formosa went against the nation’s foreign policy, thus resulting in the dismissal of Douglas MacArthur’s command in the
Both Truman’s and Eisenhower’s governments were engaged in the Cold War, and contributed to increased tensions with Russia. Truman was the initiator of the containment policy, which was implemented throughout the duration of the Cold War. This policy was put into effect in order to prevent the spread of communism.
Truman was not opposed to helping the South Koreans throw the ruling North Korean Communists, and actually did formally call North Korean's invasion of South Korea a violation of international peace and furthermore demanded the Communists to withdraw. President Truman firmly believed that a policy of containment in Korea would be the best plan to end the war. He also sent military advisors over and supplies. But it soon became clear that it would not b enough to help the South Koreans. Truman did not want to start a war with the Chinese Communists. Truman just believed in the act of being there for the South Koreans with no permanent involvement in their battle. Truman's involvement was set to have no repercussions on the United States, he
On April 11, 1951, President Harry S. Truman relieved General Douglas MacArthur of the command of the United States forces in Korea because of his opposing views with the President over the extent of American involvement in the Korean conflict, upsetting many Americans and causing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to investigate his firing to determine if the firing was justified. Although found to be justified, Truman’s handling of the dismissal lacked diplomacy and caused him to lose popularity with the American public. The dismissal of General MacArthur should not destroy his reputation as one of the greatest generals in American history.
Influenced by the fear of communism by American society and containment beliefs of people like George Kennan, who advocated that the US should use diplomatic, economic, and military action to contain communism, Truman established the Truman Doctrine, which stated that the US would protect democracies throughout the world, pledging the US would fight it around the world. This doctrine was an extension to both the Monroe Doctrine and the Roosevelt Corollary. In dealing with foreign policy, Truman did everything to protect nations of being consumed by communism, such as the Berlin Airlift, in which Truman decided to avoid the Soviet blockade of West Berlin and flew supplies directly over to the people in need. In Asia, Truman decided to use limited warfare, meaning the lack of atomic weapons, and was highly criticized by Douglas MacArthur, commander of the army, who he later dismissed for not following US policy.
America feared that the Soviet Union intended to spread communism to other nations and in 1947 President Harry Truman issued what would become known as the Truman Doctrine. This was a pledge that the US would help any nation resist communism in order to prevent its spread.This foreign policy centered on the "containment" of communism, both at home and abroad in an attempt to contain communism through economic and military aid. This was a demonstration to the world that the US would take an active role in world affairs. This tension between the Soviet Union and the United States became known as the Cold War and was an important cause in the Korean War. Relations between the two occupying powers of the Soviet Union and United States in North
The domino theory states that the spread of communism is like a row of dominos and once one nation falls to communism all the other nations around it will began to fall. This hardline theory implied to U.S officials that the American government must be willing to militarily protect the noncommunist countries around the Soviet’s iron curtain. The policy of containment would be put in place which was actively stopping the spread of communism and containing communism to countries that were already communist. At first this only meant sending military supplies and monetary aide to countries such as Greece who were in the middle of civil war with the communist right wing. This policy would only continue to escalate and become more aggressive as seen in 1950 when the soviet backed communist North Korea invaded south Korea sparking the Korean war. Fearing a spread of communism throughout Asia the U.S entered the war on behalf of south Korea and engaged in a three-year long stalemate with Soviet back north Koreans. Other proxy wars would occur under the cold war but for numerous reasons including the threat of nuclear weapons a direct engagement between the U.S and the Soviet Union never