History Question

Question

Both President Truman and President Eisenhower perceived a grave threat in the Soviet Union and the spread of socialism around the world. How did these two presidents approach foreign policy in the Cold War?

Answer 1

Both Truman and Eisenhower relied on nuclear weapons, or as Gar Alperovitz coined as “atomic bomb diplomacy.” He and other historians argue that the use of nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki had more to do with demonstrating the power of the bomb and the United States willingness to use it on civilian populations to the Soviet Union. Most historians believe that use of atomic weapons at the end WWII was is in fact is an indelible part of Early Cold War history. Though Eisenhower, nor any president since, has used nuclear weapons, he continued Truman’s policy of nuclear détente which through time generated an ongoing arms race between the two super powers.

Truman was the fist president to implement aggressive anti-Soviet foreign policy. In fact, his policies in many ways, contradicted FDR’s more accommodating posture, reflecting instead the anti-communist worldview of Winston Churchill. Truman also relied on a policy of “containment” developed by George F. Kennan to keep perceived Soviet military and ideological expansionism at bay. Eisenhower was more aggressive and instituted a policy called “rollback” that sought not just to contain Soviet expansionism but to diminish it.

Both Truman and Eisenhower refused to recognize the People's Republic of China, instituted covert actions to overthrow communist and left leaning countries, and they both helped Britain and France to regain and maintain their colonial footing in Asia after WWII.