Truman vs. Eisenhower

Red Scare

The Red Scare

The Red Scare led the people of the U.S. to become increasingly paranoid about possible infiltration of communists in the American government. Truman wanted to contain communism as much as possible, and to calm the citizens of the U.S., he passed the Executive Order 9835. This order stated that “it is of vital importance that persons employed in the Federal service be of complete and unswerving loyalty to the U.S.” (Archives). Through this process, Truman along with the public could relax a bit at knowing the Federal service must pass a loyalty test before he/she can even qualify for a government position. The fear of not only the people, but the government as well led to the suspicion of ordinary people for small ‘suspicious’ acts. As a result, some lost their jobs, some were isolated and shunned, etc. The extent to which Truman is willing to go ensure communism is not present in the U.S. is interesting because he does not care about the aftermath. Some people were in trouble despite having no evidence against them. Everyone was being influenced by fear and others reaped the consequences. Truman saw it as a victory because he could ensure those, he worked with were loyal. The Cold War brought on the Red Scare because the people were petrified of a communist takeover. Once again, Truman found an alternative to in an effort to uncover those who lie about now being communist.

Marshall Plan

Marshall Plan

After WWII, Europe was in shambles. Their economy and land destroyed and the people faced famine. The U.S. saw it was necessary to provide aid for economic recovery to avoid the spread of communism. The circumstances the people of Berlin found themselves in were probably enough to make them desperate to find the quickest solution: Communism. The Truman Administration feared this was the case, so they proposed the Marshall Plan. Essentially, the Marshall Plan was almost like an investment in rebuilding Western Europe. In exchange for aid, the U.S. received economic, political, and social royalties. The Marshall Plan was successful and the "communist threat" went away because Western Europe became stable. Also, it was designed to "prevent communist uprisings or infiltration in vulnerable nations" (Winchell). In regards to the Cold War, Western Europe was almost in the hands of the USSR, but was taken away due to quick acting by the U.S. This confrontation between the U.S. and USSR is said to be one of the starting points for the Cold War.

Berlin Airlift

As a response to the Truman Doctrine declaring that any nation threatened by communism would receive U.S. aid, the Soviets placed a blockade on West Berlin. Because of this, no trucks carrying supplies or even trains for that matter could reach the people of Berlin. The Truman Administration was faced with whether they would give up on Berlin and allow Soviet takeover or they’d have to find another way. The administration chose the latter, they’d attempt to deliver the supplies by flight. So, from 1948-1949, “the U.S., along with allies, launch an aerial campaign” (Churchill). It would drop off food and fuel to the people and the airlift was successful. Eventually, the Soviets lifted the blockade and proved the plan to be a success. The choice of the latter shows how important it is to the Truman administration to prevent the spread of communism and contain it. Communism was contained because the U.S. helped provide all the necessary resources Berlin needed.

Berlin Blockade

Interstate Highway Act

Prior to the development of highways by Eisenhower, people with cars were driving on dangerous roads, inefficient routes, traffic jams, etc. (History). Once in office, Eisenhower took inspiration from Germany's high speed roads to build the highways. The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 was a law that allowed the construction of the 41,000 mile network of interstate highways. 26 billion was allocated to cover the cost of its construction which was taken from a raise in gasoline tax from 2 cents to 3 cents. These highways would allow for fast, safe, and easy transportation. These highways had 4 lanes and were designed for high speed driving. It would also relieve it of heavy traffic. They brought some comforting thought to the public when it was said that in case of a nuclear attack, the highways made it easy to evacuate big cities. In regards to the actual war, the highway system helped the military move supplies efficiently. These two outcomes prove to be important with the current state of the war. Especially with the practice of massive retaliation that could one day result in war between the US and Russia.

Federal Highway Act

Sputnik and the Space Race

On October 4, 1957, the USSR launched Sputnik, the "world's first artificial satellite" (History). This sent a rush of panic throughout the people of the U.S. because if the Soviets were ahead of America technologically, then that could mean they were more powerful. The same thought ran through Eisenhower's mind because the USA didn't have a satellite of its own just yet, so it was assumed that the USSR could have superior nuclear weapons out of having quicker technological developments. Naturally, the public became increasingly scared and wanted to make technological advancements to not let the Soviets get too far ahead. As a result, Eisenhower signed a public order and created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (History). This was so people could dedicate time to making advancements in space exploration. With the creation of NASA, it can be assumed that the population of the U.S. calmed down. Eisenhower made the right call in developing a focus solely on space exploration so the U.S. couldn't fall behind and could catch up rather quickly. This event created more tension between the US and the USSR by having them compete to be the best and being highly suspicious of the other nations strength.

NASA

U-2 spy plane

In 1960, the tension between the U.S. and the USSR grew after the USSR spotted and shot down an American U-2 spy plane. Eisenhower wanted information on the military strength of the USSR along with the nuclear capabilities they had. This was to figure out what Eisenhower was dealing with in terms of strength. He would use this to plan out his strategies. He was worried because the Soviet Leader made claims boasting their military and nuclear strength, but through the spying, Eisenhower finds this was not the case. Eisenhower felt it was necessary to do this in order to gather as much information as possible to avoid risking many lives and making mistakes, should war occur. The US could better prepare with the new knowledge. Eisenhower shows his unwillingness to mess up while confronting the USSR to avoid a war and is well prepared in case it comes to that. The risk Eisenhower took in being caught shows how far he's willing to go to "beat communism". It's ironic because not long after, the US and USSR, were scheduled to discuss their differences and find peace.

U-2 Spy

Jacobo Arbenz Guzman

Covert Operations

Like Truman, Eisenhower didn't pay much mind to the economy of Latin America. This made those countries all the more susceptible to communist ideals because of the circumstances they faced. Eisenhower wanted to make sure any hint of communism was erased altogether to prevent its spread. One example of this was when Jacobo Arbenz Guzman, the president of Guatemala was under suspicion of being communist. He gave expropriated, unused land from United Fruit to poor peasants which was deemed a communist act by the CIA chief who owned shares in United Fruit. Guzman presented a threat to the containment of communism because he was a person in power that had influence over the people. To contain communism, Eisenhower wanted to overthrow him and have someone else lead. Guzman fled Guatemala after losing most support which made way for Castillo Armas, a dictator. Although it was never declared that Gomez was communist, Eisenhower was in desperate need to contain it and prevent its spread to the U.S. He felt its control was necessary because of the close proximity between Guatemala and the U.S. Unfortunately, a dictatorship government was left in Guatemala, but Eisenhower didn't care. So long as he "contained" communism, all was fine.