On March 12, 1947 Harry Truman gave a speech to a joint session of Congress which has gone down in history as the Truman Doctrine Speech. Alarmed by the Soviet imposition of Communist regimes throughout Eastern Europe and Soviet support for Communist guerillas in Greece, Truman recognized that the United States was in a new type of conflict with the Soviet regime and he was determined that the US would prevail. This speech set the policy which would lead to the creation of the Marshall Plan later in the year, and culminate with the creation of Nato in 1949. Harry Truman, machine politician from Missouri, laid the ground work for eventual US victory in the Cold War forty years later, and it all began with this speech. Here is the text of President Truman’s address to Congress: (more…)
Donald R. McClarey
Paul Zummo
