Truman:
1. Truman Doctrine
· March 12, 1947
· Greece and Turkey were both aided
· Prevented communist takeovers in both Greece and Turkey and allowed the Marshall Plan to be created to help other nations hurt by WWII
· Britain’s government announced it wouldn’t assist the Greek government in its battle against Greek communists any longer.
· The U.S. government then made the decision that they would supply aid to Greece and Turkey.
· Truman feared that if Communism took over Turkey, it would then take over the whole Middle East. He also said that the U.S. could no longer stand by and let communism threaten other countries.
· This decision moved the U.S. from isolationism to being totally involved in all worldly affairs dealing with communism. This set the stage for all presidents coming after him to also try to stop the spread of communism.
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2. Berlin Airlift
· 1948-1949
· Division of the city of Berlin caused tension between US and USSR. Stalin sealed off access to Berlin making the U.S., U.K., France leave city. The Soviet blockade meant the people of Berlin would starve.
· The U.S., U.K., and France did not want to leave Berlin and give it up to the Communists. Therefore, their only choice was to bring supplies to Berlin from the U.S.
· Truman had the U.S. airlift supplies into Berlin to keep the people from starving. The lifts operated 24 hours-a-day and dropped off supplies every 3-4 minutes. Leaving Berlin was not an option.
· Truman gained support throughout Europe for his actions
· NATO and the Warsaw Pact come out of this conflict
3. Korean Conflict
· June 24, 1950-1952
· North Korea invaded South Korea
· Truman sent U.S. troops to aid South Korea as part of a U.N. coalition to prevent the spread of Communism. The coalition was 90% American.
· Not only did Truman prevented the spread of Communism and protected another free and Democratic nation, but he also made the U.S. look strong in the world’s eye.
· Truman’s best decision was not his initial decision, but his decision not to bomb or invade China once they entered the conflict supporting North Korea. This decision prevented another world war, but kept the U.S. from a total victory.

4. MacArthur vs. Truman
· After WWII, Korea was divided into North and South Korea.
· North invaded South Korea in June 1950.
· This invasion put the U.S backed democratic government of the South in danger of falling to Communism which caused the U.N to authorize to use force.
· The U.S. found out that they were also fighting China during the Korean War, and the U.S considered using nuclear weapons against China and Korea.
· MacArthur wanted to use weapons and force against China and Korea but Truman wanted to leave it alone.
· Truman fired MacArthur for wanting to use force, and it was later found out that there would have been another world war if MacArthur was not fired.

5. Communist China
· Civil war in China between nationalist leader Chiang Kai-Shek, and communist leader Mao Zedong
· Zedong won and became the leader of China and Kai-Shek fled to Taiwan
· Truman decided to not use the military to stop the spread of communism
· The result was that China fell to communism and the U.S. does not uphold their promise to stop the spread of communism
Eisenhower:
1. Sputnik
· 1957
· October of 1957, Russia lunched Sputnik, the world’s first man-made satellite.
· This sudden action of Russia scared the U.S.
· The U.S. believed they had fallen behind the rest of the world and quickly began their own space program.
· The space race was another opportunity for the U.S. and the Soviet Union to compete against each other. Eisenhower put all his efforts into making an greater satellite than the Soviet’s had.
· In 1958 the U.S. successfully launched their first satellite which was followed by the U.S. to be the first to step on the moon.

2. “New Look” Policy
· New support for containment.
· If Soviets attempted to expand communism