It is known throughout the history of America, post the Civil War that there was a clear division of reforms about the foreign policies between the republican and the democratic presidents. It is also stereotypically known that most democratic presidents have taken the road of diplomacy and understanding with their foreign affairs, while the republican presidents have always resulted to war, and different violent means to keep America in its position of power. But historic facts have proven that these political divisions are not at all related to their acts of presidency and their foreign policies. Here we have some of the most known presidents during the Cold War and their foreign policies to prove this point.
On April 1945, Harry Truman (Democratic Party) was elected president of the United States of America, and he promptly entered a foreign policy chaos. The thirst for power and control
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that the Soviet Union wanted over the Eastern Europe and the world while there was continuous war happening in Japan. He was put in front of a major decision to make when he was introduced to one of the most dangerous weapons in the world at the time, a weapon that could end the war without anymore American lives dangered, but with a great number of Japanese lives lost for this purpose. With the order of the committee that opinionated using the bomb, he decided with the only plausible option. In 1950 Truman’s postwar peace was proved short-lived as he sent troops to Korea and started big panic in the United States. By his choices as a President he showed that although he was from the Democratic Party he decided that the way to end a war was to bring more death to other countries and save his own. After Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower (Republican Party) came to power as president and as a former soldier in World War II. People believed he would put an end to the Korean War and he actually did by using nuclear threats. After the situation calmed post the Second World War, the Soviet Union was still a threat to the European Union and in a competing situation with United States. This struggle caused the beginning of the cold war between the Soviet Union and the United States, a war that Eisenhower saw as a war of goodness against evil (United States being the former). But he did not intervene or try to surpass the soviet gains in the years post World War II. He also largely sustained Truman’s cold war policies. He contributed in other foreign issues such as the forced end of the invasion that Israel, UK, and France wanted to make happen in Egypt. He also sent a grand number of troops to Lebanon to stop the pro-western government from falling into a revolution. Eisenhower equally used violent ways to keep peace even though his ways in foreign policies were more developed and helpful towards other countries except America. John F. Kennedy (Democratic Party) was the youngest president of the United States, and also one of the most preferred to this day. In terms of foreign affairs, the United States tried in 1963 to maintain the democratic beliefs they held against the communism of South Vietnam but unfortunately it was going towards failure. A grand number of Vietnamese started to go towards the communist opposition. President Kennedy tried his best to get the Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem under control and he planned to oppose the communism in his inauguration speech two years ago. He was the one who made possible the American involvement in the Vietnam politics to stop the communist expansion in Southeast Asian. He also supported West Berlin after the fall of the Berlin wall with another speech in 1963. President Kennedy believed that the best way to go was through diplomacy and union, and people would say that he proves the exact stereotype, but the next president shows us wrong. Lyndon B. Johnson (Democratic Party) was elected after the murder of Kennedy and even though a democrat he was not really keen of any land out of American shores. His domestic ambitions were threatened from an early point by turmoil overseas. In foreign policy he held superior opinions about U.S and he found the communism very threatening. International affairs didn’t interest him much and he had little appreciation about foreign cultures. However Lyndon Johnson did not start the involvement of America with Vietnam, it was all laid before by the previous presidents. Anyhow this war would remain known as Johnson’s war, and it ruined his entire foreign policy and his domestic ambitions. When Richard Nixon (Republican Party) started his presidency he was in the middle of a war and he is also known as one of the worst presidents because of the great turmoil that was America at that time.
In terms of foreign policies he started his career in politics as a fighter against communism, but ended up to be the most liberal of them all against the communist country of China. In 1971 he decided to announce that he would be the first president to visit China and this wasn’t taken lightly by the population. But for Nixon this was a great diplomatic development even though he had publicly condemned the communists of China. He ended the involvement of the United States by 1973 in the Vietnam War. In addition he also contributed in the creation of a détente with the Soviet Union when he decided to fix the relations with China. Another example that proves wrong the general opinion of “doves and hawks” that has been believed for a long time amongst Americans. President Nixon made possible the end of the war with Vietnam without any means of force and only by using
diplomacy. On the other hand, Gerald Ford (Republican Party) was a president with much potential to change matters of America and its foreign policies but the congress found power after the Vietnam War and refused requests after requests of ford to help other countries against communism and he felt mostly limited as if he had no power to change anything. Meanwhile Jimmy Carter (Democratic Party) made much more progress in terms of foreign affairs. He made possible the peace accord between Israel and Egypt in 1979 and the Panama Canal treaty in 1978. Unfortunately some affairs such as the American hostages in Iran were too much for him and through his two last years he gave an impression of weakness. After Carter, Ronald Reagan (Republican Party) was chosen as a president and he might have been the first president to give the idea that all republicans are violent in their ways. He was as most presidents of America, against the communism and a believer that all efforts made by previous presidents to bring peace between America and Vietnam were an advantage to the Vietnamese to see their country as weak. So he decided to reverse the détente with Vietnam and made possible a Reagan doctrine to support the anti communist movements in different countries. He also invaded different communist countries such as Grenada in which he made possible a coup d’état without a Leninist government. He also was responsible for different attacks that were pure impulsivity which proved mostly that he wasn’t the best in foreign affairs. As a conclusion, in my opinion most of these presidents cannot be divided politically, especially after a good look at the history that follows them. There are different examples that prove the theory of democrats being “doves”, diplomats and peace bringers, while there are cases of republicans showing “hawk” tendencies and going towards their prey with precision but resulting in violence and blood. Nevertheless most of these presidents were their own person, with their own beliefs when they claimed their position, making their own mistakes and their own development possible, without any relation to their political view and the party to which they belonged. Some people have the tendency to resolve issues with violence and blood while others choose diplomatic ways to help those around them. The same way these presidents chose their own way to resolve problems, no matter how big or unimportant they were. They chose their own way to deal with foreign affairs and people outside their country, and some caused war and terror, while others brought peace and development towards a better world. As Karl Marx said “Men make their own history” and these presidents decided their own path, based on their beliefs and not the influences of their political parties.
Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower shared many similarities yet still many differences when it came to Cold War foreign policies. Truman’s foreign policies revolved around the Truman Doctrine, which stated that the United States would financially support Greece and Turkey . Despite Truman’s and Eisenhower’s differing political parties, the foreign policies of the presidents shared several similarities. The main differences between the two presidents can be attributed to differing circumstances during their years in office. Both Truman and Eisenhower sought to eliminate communism and support civil rights, but Truman emphasized international relations and the American economy while Eisenhower dealt more with domestic issues around civil rights.
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.
1. In what ways were President Kennedy 's foreign policy decisions shaped by Cold War ideology?
“Truman, Harry S.” The Concise Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. Columbia: Columbia, 1994. Online. Internet. Available at HTTP: http://www.historychannel.com/. 24 Sept. 2001.
The alliance formed between the US and USSR during the second world war was not strong enough to overcome the decades of uneasiness which existed between the two ideologically polar opposite countries. With their German enemy defeated, the two emerging nuclear superpowers no longer had any common ground on which to base a political, economical, or any other type of relationship. Tensions ran high as the USSR sought to expand Soviet influence throughout Europe while the US and other Western European nations made their opposition to such actions well known. The Eastern countries already under Soviet rule yearned for their independence, while the Western countries were willing to go to great lengths to limit Soviet expansion. "Containment of 'world revolution' became the watchword of American foreign policy throughout the 1950s a...
The major factor that led to the true end of the Cold War was the ongoing personal and diplomatic relationship between Presidents George H. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev. This resulted in the reduction of the Russian military and favorable arms agreements. Key indicators of the substance behind this relationship were the Soviet troop withdrawals from Czechoslovakia, Afghanistan, and Hungary (lifting the Hungarian/Austrian “Iron Curtain” along the border). Subsequently the opening of the Berl...
For instance, Nixon cut back and opposed federal welfare services, proposed antibusing legislation, and used wage-and-price controls to fight inflation. Clinton on the other hand, proposed more moderate health-care and welfare-reform measures and advocated plans that would reduce taxes less and more gradually eliminate the federal debt. As well as crime and great strategies of cutting down the taxes and eliminating federal dept, both the Presidents made historic marks in history. For example, in February 1972 Nixon made a historic trip to Beijing (Peking)--where he was received by Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung)--thus reversing the U.
Truman’s accomplishments in his domestic policy were impressive, considering the hardships the nation was experiencing as World War II came to an end, and the resistance of Congress (which was greatly made up of Republicans and conservatives) to liberalism. The president was able to pas...
When WWII ended, Americans were left in the hands of Harry Truman. Known as an aggressive Cold War fighter, he led Americans against...
During the 1960’s, it was all about the new revolution, creating equal rights and peace; while also being a time of horrible violence. Richard Nixon ended up facing all these problems head on as the President of the United States. Richard was a great student in school. He always had high grades in school, was constantly being elected in school elections, and excelled in school debate. After he graduated from college, he went to work at a law firm, where he met the people who would help him score a seat in the Senate, then as Vice President, and finally as President of the United States. Richard Nixon is an agent of change for achievements such as opening the doors to foreign affairs with China, his achievements in health reform, and his work in environmental protection that is still being used in todays society.
Offner, Arnold A. Another Such Victory: President Truman and the Cold War, 1945-1953. 1st September 2002. New Article. 11th March 2014.
Offner, Arnold. “‘Another Such Victory’: President Truman, American Foreign Policy, and the Cold War.” Taking Sides: Clashing Views On Controversial Issues in United States History. Ed. Larry Madaras and James M. SoRelle. 14th Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011. 291-301.
With this book, a major element of American history was analyzed. The Cold War is rampant with American foreign policy and influential in shaping the modern world. Strategies of Containment outlines American policy from the end of World War II until present day. Gaddis outlines the policies of presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon, including policies influenced by others such as George Kennan, John Dulles, and Henry Kissinger. The author, John Lewis Gaddis has written many books on the Cold War and is an avid researcher in the field.
in the hands of the new president, Harry S. Truman. On July 25, 1945, President
(1993), The Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations, Volume Four, America in the Age of Soviet Power, 1945 – 1991, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press · Froman, M.B. (1991) The Development of the Détente, Coming to Terms, London, Macmillan Academic and Professional LTD · Kent, J. and Young, J.W. (2004) International Relations Since 1945, Oxford, Oxford University Press · www.oed.com (Oxford English Dictionary online)