page_title: Foreign policy of the Harry S. Truman administration
hierarchical_section_title: Foreign policy of the Harry S. Truman administration
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait of President Harry S. Truman (ca. 1947).
context_page_description: The foreign policy of the Harry S. Truman administration was the foreign policy of the United States from April 12, 1945 to January 20, 1953, when Harry S. Truman served as the President of the United States. The Truman administration's foreign policy primarily addressed the end of World War II, the aftermath of that war, and the beginning of the Cold War. Truman's presidency was a turning point in foreign affairs, as the United States engaged in an internationalist foreign policy and renounced isolationism.
  Truman took office upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt during the final year of World War II. Truman had not generally shown a strong interest in foreign affairs prior to taking office, and as president he relied heavily on advisers like George Marshall and Dean Acheson, both of whom served as Secretary of State under Truman. Nazi Germany surrendered shortly after Truman took office, but the Empire of Japan initially refused to surrender. In order to force Japan's surrender without resorting to an invasion of the main Japanese islands, Truman approved of the military's plans to drop atomic bombs on two Japanese cities.
context_section_description: The foreign policy of the Harry S. Truman administration was the foreign policy of the United States from April 12, 1945 to January 20, 1953, when Harry S. Truman served as the President of the United States. The Truman administration's foreign policy primarily addressed the end of World War II, the aftermath of that war, and the beginning of the Cold War. Truman's presidency was a turning point in foreign affairs, as the United States engaged in an internationalist foreign policy and renounced isolationism.
  Truman took office upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt during the final year of World War II. Truman had not generally shown a strong interest in foreign affairs prior to taking office, and as president he relied heavily on advisers like George Marshall and Dean Acheson, both of whom served as Secretary of State under Truman. Nazi Germany surrendered shortly after Truman took office, but the Empire of Japan initially refused to surrender. In order to force Japan's surrender without resorting to an invasion of the main Japanese islands, Truman approved of the military's plans to drop atomic bombs on two Japanese cities. After Japan surrendered on September 1945, the Truman administration worked with the Soviet Union, Britain, and other Allied leaders to establish post-war international institutions and agreements such as the United Nations, the International Refugee Organization, and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. The Truman administration also embarked on a policy of rebuilding Japan and West Germany, and both countries would become aligned with the United States after the war.
  Tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union escalated after 1945, and by 1947 the two countries had entered a sustained period of geopolitical tension known as the Cold War. Truman adopted a policy of containment, in which the U.S. would attempt to prevent the spread of Communism but would not actively seek to regain territory already lost to Communism. He also announced the Truman Doctrine, a policy of aiding countries in danger of falling to Communism. Pursuant to this doctrine, Truman convinced Congress to provide an unprecedented aid package to Greece and Turkey, overcoming opposition from isolationists and some on the left who favored more conciliatory policies towards the Soviet Union. The following year, Truman convinced Congress to approve the Marshall Plan, $13 billion aid package enacted to rebuild Western Europe. In 1949, the U.S., Canada, and several European countries signed the North Atlantic Treaty, establishing the NATO military alliance. Meanwhile, domestic fears of Soviet espionage led to a Red Scare and the rise of McCarthyism in the United States.
  The Truman administration attempted to mediate the Chinese Civil War, but the Communist faction under Mao Zedong took control of Mainland China in 1949. The following year, North Korea invaded South Korea in an attempt to reunify the country. Acting under the aegis of the United Nations, the U.S. intervened in the war and gained a military advantage over North Korea until Chinese forces crossed into Korea. After a long withdrawal, the U.S. launched a successful counter attack, and the war settled into a stalemate for the remainder of Truman's term. Truman left office quite unpopular, but scholars generally consider him to be an above average president, and his administration has been credited for establishing Cold War policies that ultimately proved successful.
caption: President Harry S. Truman directed U.S. foreign policy from 1945 to 1953
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