20th Annual Student Research Conference
Interdisciplinary
The Necessity and Adoption of the Truman Doctrine
Anthony D. Dwiggins
Dr. Jay W. Self and Dr. Jeff Gall, Faculty Mentors
On March 12, 1947, President Harry S. Truman gave a speech that significantly transformed and centralized American foreign policy around one powerful principle: the United States of America would “support all free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.” Given shortly after World War II in the wake of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, the Truman Doctrine, as it came to be known, also represented the United States’ new position as a world superpower. The Truman Doctrine justified much of the United States’ actions in international politics throughout the twentieth century and it remains an important underlying principle in American foreign policy to this day. This paper examines the historical context surrounding the Truman Doctrine and rhetorically analyzes its text in order to determine the necessity of the speech and the adoption of its principle into American foreign policy.
Keywords: Truman Doctrine, Harry S. Truman, foreign policy
Topic(s):Interdisciplinary
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 38-5
Location: OP 2210
Time: 2:15 pm