How U.S. Policy of Containment was used by Presidents from President Truman to L.B. Johnson

THE USE OF THE US CONTAINMENT POLICY BY DIFFERENT PRESIDENTS
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Introduction
The cold started in 1947 after the end of the Second World War. It was political tension between the eastern and western bloc powers. Any good leader will acknowledge that war requires a strategy for one to win especially when the enemies are strong. George F. Kennan, a diplomat, was the man who rose up to the occasion and formulated the containment policy to help the United States win the war. The system which was first expressed through the journal of the time known as foreign affairs was received negatively by the majority with Kennan being criticized over and over. Time would later change the view of the people and make this the main strategy to win the cold war.
The policy was a combination of varying strategies that the United States would apply to curb the spread of the then unwanted communism in the United States. This move was initiated by the Soviet Union’s move try to increase its communist’s circle. It was introduced in the reign of Harry Truman who fully accepted and used it. This policy was received differently by different presidents. Some saw it as the perfect tool while others saw it an instrument of failure. Some like Jimmy Carter found themselves in both sides. He first at first was against the policy claiming that human rights were better observed but he later praised it when the Soviets attacked Afghanistan in 1979. Richard Reagan opted for friendliness an act that saw him expand trade and ties in an expense of the policy which he did not approve its method of action.

This research paper is aimed at discussing to detail how four particular presidents of the United States: Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson used the policy. These presidents were the first four to encounter the policy which was formulated during the leadership of Harry S. Truman. They applied the policy differently to what they thought would be their benefit. With the escalation of the cold war, their decisions were crucial if they were to be successful. Some had very expert legal advisers to them in evaluating different legal actions and making critical national decisions.
President Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd president of the United States. Born in 1884, he took office in 1945 and ruled till 1953. The cold war which is estimated to have started in 1947 was one of his greatest challenges in his position. His leadership prowess can be attributed to way back when he served as the senator for Missouri and later as the vice president in 1945. He had also confronted the final years of the World War II with which he was faced with big decisions. It was under his instructions that the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing were carried out.
Truman formulated the Truman Doctrine from the containment policy presented by Kennan. According to Truman, though the United States armed forces did not participate physically, the United States had an obligation to aid the countries that were under threat from the Soviet Union. The principal beneficiaries of this move were Turkey and Greece. The Congress agreed with him and gave out financial aid to the threatened nations. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949 was an outcome of Truman’s doctrine. The organization is aimed at inter-governmental defense against attacks to any member state.
Greece which was initially supported by Britain was close to losing to the Soviet Union. Britain was exhausted and depleted of resources. In a formal was Britain requested the United States to take over. Truman saw the danger of Greece losing to the Soviet Union and to curb this he had to chip in help. He acknowledged that the downfall of Greece would bring severe consequences to the United States as well. This resulted to the conclusion that his government sent help to Greece. The Congress, which was formed majorly by Republicans, just like the president, backed him up and agreed on $400 million US dollars as the help that the Greece military would receive. The decision also excluded the US military members being part of the aid.
Turkey, on the hand, benefited from the mere fact that Greece was a beneficiary of the containment project. There had been a historical rivalry between Turkey and Greece and both were in struggles with the Soviet Union. Truman knew if the Soviet overpowered either of the two its powers would increase posing a threat to the United States itself. He, therefore, sought to prevent that rather than wait till it was too late. Later on, both Greece and Turkey joined the NATO making it even stronger for the Soviet Union to overpower. These also offered them guaranteed security against any attack.
Truman’s doctrine set the presence of the containment policy and is acknowledged as the first president to implement the system and the formation of NATO. His success in office was largely contributed by enforcement of the containment policy.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Born in 1890, he became the 34th president to assume power in 1953 and left office in 1961. He succeeded Harry S. Truman. He was a very successful soldier responsible for leading many successful war invasions. This saw him become a supreme commander of the NATO. Soviet Union Invasion was a major challenge at the time. Just like his predecessor, had sought to secure the US from the Union. He chose to employ the rollback doctrine and came up with his methods of keeping the Union under control. He intended to mount maximum pressure on the Union by all means.
Among the countries, he offered support were France and the new Vietnam. The doctrine of rollback advocated for the withdrawal of military support to other nations. He argued that huge military spending was inappropriate and out of order. However, he contraindicated himself by sending troops to Lebanon and the formulation of the Formosa revolution which meant that the US offer military support to Taiwan. These acts seem to be in line with the containment policy. In 1956 he took no action during the Hungarian revolution but only condemned the Union.
Eisenhower sometimes negotiated for peace with the Union. When the Union tested its first hydrogen bomb, he wrote to them requesting for its withdrawal citing safety reasons, but hi plea fell on deaf ears. This was again brought up when Russia who had initially declined inspection opened up but to their surprise the door was already closed and they were met by new demands: open skies for both countries which Russia refused.
In efforts to keep up with the Union, he saw the establishment of NASA after the Soviet Union set up the Sputnik. NASA was aimed at keeping the US ahead of the Unions regarding space exploration to prevent any blind takeover. He concentrated on nuclear weapons which he opted would be his primary defense against the Union. He used the nuclear weapons to threaten other countries into doing what he wanted. He forced out Israel among others during the Egyptian invasion.
Even though Eisenhower did not directly agree and use the containment policy as his predecessor, his policies to some extent can be argued to have been based on the containment policy even if indirectly. The fact that he tackled the problems slightly different cannot lead to a complete conclusion that he was against the containment system. Critics argue that he consolidated the containment policy.
President John F. Kennedy
Born in 1917, he became the 35th president of the United States in 1961. He did not live to complete his term in office but rather was assassinated in 1963. With only less than three years in office, Kennedy proved his leadership by the much he had achieved: his achievements ranged from trade expansion to continued development of the space race and later the Peace Corps program. His government was faced with failure too. The creation of the Berlin wall which he opposed by the Soviets was a major failure. Critics argue that Kennedy was never ready for the international scene and always appeared inadequately prepared as compared to his predecessors who made very stern decisions. The greatest challenge of the day was increased pressure from communist nations. The Soviet Union was also growing, and this made even a bigger threat day by day. Kennedy embarked on a mission to propagate the containment policy against the Soviet Union.
Kennedy’s government right from his speech was out to pay any price for the liberty of the people. His doctrine called for union against communism. He believed that the country should live to its ability which given its powers was control the world. He believed in alliances to make him even more powerful. His effort to “liberate” Cuba from the dictatorship of Fidel Castro failed terribly. The mission which was an initiative of Eisenhower was poorly executed. The Bay of Pigs mission was aimed at making Cuba an anti-communism nation which would, in turn, support the United States.
The Soviet Union defied Kennedy by the construction of the Berlin wall, and this forced the American government to resume nuclear weapon tests together with increasing their military strength in readiness for any move by the union. Cuba was now getting to be a point of interest for both powers. Khrushchev the then The Unions leader in collaboration with Fidel Castrol in preparation for any future attack sought to have a nuclear weapon store active enough to fight back if the US attacked again. Kennedy’s government didn’t take this lightly. Kennedy saw the move as a step for the Soviets attack the US through the Cuba Island. He, therefore, ordered the immediate destruction of any component of the project. Khrushchev, in fear of a nuclear war, accepted the move in return for an agreement with Kennedy not to attack Cuba which was a communist.
By 1963, Vietnam was under increasing threat from the communists. Kennedy increased the American personnel by a factor of 18 to what his predecessor had offered. Having failed to win Cuba to his side, Kennedy could not afford to lose Vietnam to Khrushchev. He was ready to offer any support but believed the people of Vietnam had the responsibility for the war. It was up to them to decide their fate. Win or lose. Kennedy feared that if The Union had taken over Vietnam, it would become adamant to overpower.
Kennedys rule is a combination of success and failures. He managed to keep the Soviet at check even though he lost some of the battles to them including the Cuba failed takeover. He also successfully sought to unite the States and other allies, and this led to the creation of better trade terms between the countries. From his actions, it is evident that Kennedy upheld the doctrine of containment.
President Lyndon B. Johnson
Born in 1907, Johnson assumed office after the unexpected assassination of the then president John F. Kennedy. He later won the election to retain the seat. He was for his charisma towards achieving his goals. He sought for the poverty eradication in the United States and also the upholding of human rights. During his term in office, though not under direct threat from the Soviet, the Vietnam War was still on and posed a significant challenge. Just as his predecessors had chipped in the war in an effort to help contain the Union so did he.
He significantly increased the US troops participating in the war from 16000 to 550000 troops to help win the war which was escalating. If Vietnam fell in the hand of the communists, it being among the strongest song Asian countries, other countries would fall prey to the Soviet Union, and soon everyone would become communist. Johnson upheld the doctrine of containment right from the start. With the new power vested in him by Congress to deploy military assistance to Vietnam without the declaration of war Johnson initiated many agencies all aimed at backing up Vietnam to victory.
His over concentration on the Vietnam War saw him fail in matters of national value. The crime scene status escalated. Riots sprang up, and the people demanded policies that upheld law and order. This led to the death of his reelection bid and Reagan Nixon succeeded Him.
Johnson’s tenure was not a more successful one with him concentrating majorly on the communist’s war. Even though he upheld the containment doctrine, he failed in many other ways. He did not respond to the needs of the people, and the active participation of the US army led to the death of over 35000 soldiers.
Conclusion
The war against the Soviet Union was a major challenge to all the four presidents. Even though they all applied and upheld the containment policy, their methods in achieving success varied. The most important thing in war is the result, and therefore the choice of implementation of the policy lied on their ideologies. It is evident that the policy was an essential tool in the war against the Union. Its contribution cannot be over emphasized.

Notes
William J Duiker, U.S. Containment Policy And The Conflict In Indochina, 1st ed. (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1994).
Chalmers M. Roberts et al., “How Containment Worked”, Foreign Policy, no. 7 (1972): 41.
Carl Cavanagh Hodge and Cathal J Nolan, U.S. Presidents And Foreign Policy, 1st ed. (Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2007), 266.
S. Pons, “Stalin And The European Communists After World War Two (1943-1948)”, Past & Present 210, no. 6 (2011): 121-138.
Carl Cavanagh Hodge and Cathal J Nolan, U.S. Presidents And Foreign Policy, 1st ed. (Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2007), 277.
Ibid., 280.
Anthony Hartley, “John Kennedy’s Foreign Policy”, Foreign Policy, no. 4 (1971): 77.
Carl Cavanagh Hodge and Cathal J Nolan, U.S. Presidents And Foreign Policy, 1st ed. (Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2007), 288.
S.C. Tiwari, “US Involvement In Vietnam”, International Studies 10, no. 1-2 (1968): 35-47.
Anthony Hartley, “John Kennedy’s Foreign Policy”, Foreign Policy, no. 4 (1971): 77.
Christopher C. Lovett and Bruce Palmer, “The 25-Year War: America’s Military Role In Vietnam.”, Military Affairs 50, no. 3 (1986): 156.
Stuart Murray, Vietnam War, 1st ed. (New York: DK Publishing, 2005).
Bibliography
Duiker, William J. U.S. Containment Policy And The Conflict In Indochina. 1st ed. Stanford, Calif.: StanfordUniversity Press, 1994.
Hartley, Anthony. “John Kennedy’s Foreign Policy”. Foreign Policy, no. 4 (1971): 77.
Hodge, Carl Cavanagh and Cathal J Nolan. U.S. Presidents And Foreign Policy. 1st ed. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2007.
Lovett, Christopher C. and Bruce Palmer. “The 25-Year War: America’s Military Role In Vietnam.”.Military Affairs 50, no. 3 (1986): 156.
Roberts, Chalmers M., W. Averell Harriman, Arthur Krock, and Dean Acheson. “How Containment Worked”. Foreign Policy, no. 7 (1972): 41.
Pons, S. “Stalin And The European Communists After World War Two (1943-1948)”. Past & Present 210, no. Supplement 6 (2011): 121-138.
Tiwari, S.C. “US Involvement In Vietnam”. International Studies 10, no. 1-2 (1968): 35-47.