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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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
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.
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
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...
(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)
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.
“Truman, Harry S.” The Concise Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. Columbia: Columbia, 1994. Online. Internet. Available at HTTP: http://www.historychannel.com/. 24 Sept. 2001.
1. In what ways were President Kennedy 's foreign policy decisions shaped by Cold War ideology?
When WWII ended, Americans were left in the hands of Harry Truman. Known as an aggressive Cold War fighter, he led Americans against...
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.