They all used different types of foreign policy, yet similar methods. Foreign policy is how they dealt with other countries. The Presidents all used Economic Aid, Military Aid, and Military Use to help with their foreign policy. According to the book by William Ayers, “American Anthem: Reconstruction to the Present” the cold war was a time where the US was in an argument with communism, however no shots were fired because there was the fear of being shot with nukes. Out of the three presidents, Truman was the first to deal with the Cold War.
“Communism has never come to power in a country that was disrupted by war or internal corruption, or both.” - John F. Kennedy, July 1963. All of the Cold War Presidents had some ways of dealing with Communism. Truman and also Eisenhower had their same ways of dealing Communism.However Eisenhower was using Military Response, but Kennedy used Flexible Response. Edward Ayers stated in their book, The American Anthem, the Cold War was an time period when the US and the Soviet Union were against each other because of when they had conflicts between each other, but mostly from the Berlin Crisis (819). A Belief that all property and resources are owned by a certain person (Ayers 594).
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.
Although both Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson both were progressives, they used their powers in the federal government pretty differently from each other. Roosevelt often used the “bully pulpit” as a way to acquire his ambitions and goals as president. He was commonly known for using, and possibly overusing, his power as the president to get many laws and acts passed. Oppositely, Wilson made sure to get the approval of Congress before acting out of hand. However, both made sure that the old “invisible hand” economy was abolished by the necessary intervention of the federal government in the US economy.
Although he did approve of the bomb, Roosevelt was unconcerned about actually dropping the bomb on Japan. Instead he supported the idea that since Germany was possibly looking into the same type of destructive weapon, the U.S. needed to advance in the field in order to prevent detrimental attacks against them. He had the Great Depression on his hands as well and was less motivated during his time to destroy Japan to end the war more efficiently. On the other hand, Truman saw his opportunity of bringing the United States to the end of the war in a quick manner by releasing the bombs since Japan had no intentions of taking an easy surrender. To prevent going through an invasion, Truman made a hasty decision to drop the bombs.
America had to intervene so they decided to support the South. They stationed troops in the South and provided them weapons. Neither Johnson nor John F. Kennedy could bring an end to the war, they either did nothing or added onto what was already happening. When Nixon took office he had it set. Nixon was the president to actually have the two come to terms and sign a treaty.
President Theodore Roosevelt wished to expand the United States’ influence on the world stage. He wanted to end the isolation that began in the country around the mid-1800s and wished to create a powerful homeland. During his two terms in office from 1901 to 1909, Roosevelt used vigorous strategies to deal with outside nations and felt that it would benefit a nation to be ready for any conflict. Before Roosevelt, not a single President had left the country during their time in office, but he was the first to leave to manage foreign relations. Roosevelt was successful in building a foreign policy that helped the United States become a global power by pushing for the creation of the Panama Canal, advocating for the addition of the Roosevelt Corollary
For instance, he created the Peace Corps in 1961, and “by the end of the century, over 170,000 Peace Corp volunteers would serve in 135 countries.” He also created The Alliance for Progress to have better economic ties with Latin America, hoping to end poverty and the spread of communism in the region (biography.com). One of the greatest crises that Kennedy stopped was the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Soviet Union sent nuclear missiles to Cuba, and kennedy swore to defend the U.S. no matter
I believe that we must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way. I believe that our help should be primarily through economic and financial aid which is essential to economic stability and orderly political processes” (“Truman Doctrine”). Truman had wanted to support those nations that had been separated by Soviet communism. This shows that President Truman is ready to do whatever he can to contain the spread of communism and stop the United States former ally, the Soviet Union, since the effect of their actions would do good to them, but no harm. Humanity had evidently been affected by the United States help towards Greece and Turkey.
The week’s readings reflect the contrast between Woodrow Wilson and his predecessors, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. Unlike Roosevelt and Taft, who preferred the “big stick” and the “dollar diplomacy” approaches to build stable democracies around the world, Wilson believed that the interventionist methods previously utilized by the United States did not have a place in his administration (Herring 2008, 378). However, Wilson’s reluctance to intervene in foreign issues and his adherence to moral diplomacy were not much different than the approaches taken by Roosevelt and Taft. Ultimately, the Wilson administration supported more military interventions than Roosevelt and Taft combined (Herring 2008, 388). The Wilson administration’s failed aspirations to avoid foreign entanglements can serve as an important source of study for current politicians wanting and supporting American isolationism.