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The Truman Doctrine Research Paper

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Is the most powerful man in the world defined by the amount of money he possesses, or the amount of authority he holds? In the case of the United States president, does he have the fortune or command to make decisions that not only impact our nation, but the whole world? Our government has a system of checks and balances so all of the power is evenly distributed among three branches. The executive branch is the President, the Legislative branch is comprised of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and Judicial branch is the Supreme Court. Although the president is the head of the most lucrative nation in the world, this does not mean he is then always and automatically the most powerful person on the planet. However, a President’s actions …show more content…

Truman was the 33rd American President who served his terms in office from April 12, 1945 to January 20, 1953. One of the important accomplishments during his presidency was the Truman Doctrine. At the end of WWII, Russia was coercing European countries to fall under its sphere of influence, communism. Before and during the war, the British had been moderating this force, but after WWII Britain’s strength and affluence significantly declined. As a result of this, President Truman decided the US needed to become involved in this affair. According to author Colonel George C. Woolsey, on March 12, 1947, President Truman issued “a Presidential pronouncement declaring immediate economic and military aid to the governments of Greece, threatened by Communist insurrection, and to Turkey, under pressure from Soviet expansion in the Mediterranean area” (Woolsey 2008). Consequently, Congress allocated $400 million to aid the implementation of this doctrine. The Truman Doctrine pledged to support other countries in their struggle to resist communism. The implementation of the Truman Doctrine not only affected 1940s America, it changed the scope of our national foreign policy. As reported by professor Dennis Merrill at the University of Missouri, “The administration 's concern over communism domino effect, its media-sensitive presentation of the doctrine, and its mobilization of U.S. economic and military power to modernize unstable regions, marked the advent of a modern U.S. …show more content…

He not only had to discuss the plan with Congress, he had to convince Americans to support his plan for containment. This process was rather complex and required the help of many people. After analyzing an article published by the Presidential Studies Quarterly by Dennis Merrill, a conclusion can be made that if Congress and the American people did not supply the money or support necessary for the implementation of the doctrine, then Truman would not have been able to save Europe from the invasion of communism. As stated in the article, after Congress supported his plan, Truman needed to “address the larger, global theater”, referring to the citizens of the United States (Merrill 2006). Therefore, due to the our government’s separation of powers and the necessary support of a nation, the president may not be considered solely the most powerful person in the

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