Cold War Essay

I believe President Eisenhower agreed with most of Truman's foreign policy, but really did not continue using it. Eisenhower agreed and strongly believed in a policy to actively contain communism. He also agreed that the greatest great to the free world was the spread of communism. Even though he agreed with most of this, he also believed the foreign policy is what dragged the United States into an endless series of conflicts begun by the Soviet Union. He felt the conflicts threatened to drain the contras resource.

Containment was a strategic U.S. foreign policy of the late 1940s and early 1950s intended to check the expansionist designs of the Soviet Union through economic, military, diplomatic, and political means. It aimed at stopping the spread of Communism and keeping it contained and isolated within its current borders. The doctrine was expanded to cover the world, leading to US involvement in Korea, Vietnam and elsewhere.

When Truman was in office he spent billions of dollars on conventional forces. These forces were things like troops, ships, tanks, and artillery. Eisenhower opposed of this, instead he focused on stockpiling nuclear weapons and building the planes, missiles, and submarines needed to transport the forces. He believed that if there was to be a major war, it should be a nuclear one. By Eisenhower doing this, he saved money by providing "bigger bang for the buck."

In 1957 President Eisenhower started his own doctrine. This became known as the Eisenhower Doctrine. It was created in response to Soviet influence in the Middle East and elsewhere. He announced that the United States would use force to help any Middle Eastern nation threatened by communism. He even justified his doctrine in 1958 sending troops to Lebanon to put down a revolt against its pro-American government.

Unlike President Truman, Eisenhower administration used a system called Central Intelligence Agency, also known as the CIA. This system was created in response to struggle against communism. The CIA was created as an intelligence-gathering organization. Eisenhower approved secret CIA operations to protect American interests. It created long term resentment against the United States.

Overall my personal opinion is Eisenhower did not continue on with Truman's foreign policy. He may have used some of Truman's ideas, but at the end of the day Eisenhower used what he thought was best. He felt Truman's policy was a failure in the United Stated national interest so he changed it up a bit to better America. I feel Eisenhower did a good job but only when he was in office. He did not formerly prepare what was in store for the next president.