Harry S. Truman

===Foreign policy===
{{Main|Foreign policy of the Harry S. Truman administration}}

From 1947 until 1989, world affairs were dominated by the [[Cold War]], in which the U.S. and its allies faced the Soviet Union and its allies. There was no large-scale fighting but instead several local civil wars as well as the ever-present threat of a catastrophic nuclear war.<ref>Ralph B. Levering, ''[[iarchive:coldwar1945198700leve|The cold war, 1945–1987]]'' (1988)</ref><ref>Martin McCauley, ''[[iarchive:russiaamericacol00mcca|Russia, America, and the Cold War, 1949–1991]]'' (1998), A British perspective</ref>

Unlike Roosevelt, Truman distrusted Stalin and the Soviet Union, and did not have FDR's faith in the UN to soften major tensions. Nevertheless, he cooperated in terms of dividing control over Germany. Soviet efforts to use its army to control politics in Eastern Europe and Iran angered Washington. The final break came in 1947 when the Labour government in London could no longer afford to help Greece fight communism and asked Washington to assume responsibility for suppressing the Communist uprising there.<ref>Robert Frazier, "[http://www.jstor.org/stable/2639276 Did Britain Start the Cold War? Bevin and the Truman Doctrine]". ''Historical Journal'' 27.3 (1984): 715–727.</ref><ref>Peter Weiler, "[http://www.jstor.org/stable/175554 British Labour and the Cold War: The Foreign Policy of the Labour Governments, 1945–1951]". ''Journal of British Studies'' 26#1(1987): 54–82.</ref> The result was the [[Truman Doctrine]] of 1947–48 which made it national policy to [[Containment|contain]] Communist expansion.<ref>John Lewis Gaddis, "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/20038055 Was the Truman Doctrine a Real Turning Point?]". ''Foreign Affairs'' 52.2 (1974): 386–402.</ref>

Truman was supported by the great majority of Democrats, after he forced out the [[Henry A. Wallace|Henry Wallace]] faction that wanted good terms with Moscow.<ref>Alonzo L. Hamby. "Henry A. Wallace, the liberals, and Soviet-American relations". ''Review of Politics'' 30.2 (1968): 153–169 [ online].</ref> Truman's policy had the strong support of most Republicans, who led by Senator [[Arthur Vandenberg]] overcame the isolationist Republicans led by Senator [[Robert A. Taft]].<ref>Lawrence J. Haas, '' Harry & Arthur: Truman, Vandenberg, and the Partnership That Created the Free World'' (Potomac Books, 2016).</ref>

In 1948, Truman signed the [[Marshall Plan]], which supplied Western Europe—including Germany—with US$13&nbsp;billion in reconstruction aid. Stalin vetoed any participation by East European nations. A similar program was operated by the United States to restore the Japanese economy. The U.S. actively sought allies, which it subsidized with military and economic "foreign aid", as well as diplomatic support. The main diplomatic initiative was the establishment of the [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]] (NATO) in 1949, committing the United States to nuclear defense of Western Europe. The result was a peace in Europe, coupled with the fear of Soviet invasion and a reliance on American protection.<ref>Mark J. Smith, ''NATO Enlargement During the Cold War: Strategy and System in the Western Alliance'' (2000).</ref> The United States operated a worldwide network of bases for its Army, Navy and Air Force, with large contingents stationed in Germany, Japan and South Korea.<ref>Kent E. Calder, ''Embattled garrisons: Comparative base politics and American globalism'' (2010).</ref> Washington had a weak intelligence community before 1942, and the Soviets had a very effective network of spies. The solution was to create the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) in 1947.<ref>{{Cite journal | url=https://doi.org/10.1080/02684529708432397 | doi=10.1080/02684529708432397 | title=Why was the CIA established in 1947? | year=1997 | last1=Jeffreys-Jones | first1=Rhodri | journal=Intelligence and National Security | volume=12 | pages=21–40 }}</ref> Economic and propaganda warfare against the communist world became part of the American toolbox.<ref>Shu Guang Zhang, ''Economic Cold War: America's Embargo Against China and the Sino-Soviet Alliance, 1949–1963'' (2002),</ref>

The containment policy was developed by State Department official [[George F. Kennan|George Kennan]] in 1947.<ref>John O. Iatrides, "George F. Kennan and the birth of containment: the Greek test case". ''World Policy Journal'' 22.3 (2005): 126–145 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/40209983 online].</ref> Kennan characterized the [[Soviet Union]] as an aggressive, anti-Western power that necessitated containment, a characterization which would shape US foreign policy for decades to come. The idea of containment was to match Soviet aggression with force wherever it occurred while not using [[nuclear weapon]]s. The policy of containment created a bipolar, zero-sum world where the ideological conflicts between the Soviet Union and the United States dominated geopolitics. Due to the antagonism on both sides and each countries' search for security, a tense worldwide contest developed between the two states as the two nations' governments vied for global supremacy militarily, culturally, and politically.<ref>John Lewis Gaddis, ''Russia, the Soviet Union, and the United States'' (1990) pp 175–206. [https://archive.org/details/russiasovietunio00gadd online]</ref>

The Cold War was characterized by a lack of global hot wars Instead there were [[proxy war]]s, fought by client states and proxies of the United States and Soviet Union. The most important was [[Korean War]] (1950–1953), a stalemate that drained away Truman's base of support. Truman made five international trips during his presidency.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/travels/president/truman-harry-s|title= Travels of President Harry S. Truman|publisher= U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian}}</ref>