"One of the primary objectives of the foreign policy of the United States is the creation of conditions in which we and other nations will be able to work out a way of life free from coercion. . . . We shall not realize our objectives, however, unless we are willing to help free peoples to maintain their free institutions and their national integrity against aggressive movements that seek to impose on them totalitarian regimes. . . . Great responsibilities have been placed upon us."
Thus, on March 12, 1947, the President of the United States addressed the Congress, the U.S. people—and the world.
Conforming to the peculiar rules of diplomacy, Mr. Truman named no names, but left no doubt about the identity of the aggressor. It was Soviet Russia. To some Americans his words sounded almost like a declaration of war.
The Investment. As predicted, the aid for Greece and Turkey which the President recommended was an immediate $400,000,000. In addition, he asked Congress to "authorize the detail of American civilian and military personnel" as advisers and supervisors of the fund (see below). In addition: "I recommend that authority also be provided for the instruction and training of selected Greek and Turkish personnel." He did not guarantee that his requests would stop there. On the contrary:
"If further funds, or further authority, should be needed ... I shall not hesitate to bring the situation before the Congress. . . . The United States contributed $341,000,000,000* toward winning World War II. This is an investment in world freedom and world peace. The assistance that I am recommending for Greece and Turkey amounts to little more than one tenth of 1% of this investment. It is only common sense that we should safeguard this investment. . . . If we falter in our leadership, we may endanger the peace of the world—and we shall surely endanger the welfare of this nation."
If Congress acted upon his recommendations, it would mean one of the broadest projections of U.S. foreign policy in history.
The Power of Attack. Despite the professed astonishment of some Congressmen, the road the President indicated was a logical development of U.S. diplomacy. Americans are instinctive isolationists. But U.S. foreign policy, paced by a technology and know-how which straddles the world, has followed an ever expanding, inevitable line.
The direction was indicated by Monroe in 1823 when he proclaimed that the American continents were not "subjects for future colonization." It was a misconception to consider the Monroe Doctrine, which challenged all the nations of Europe, a doctrine of isolation. The policy expanded again with John Hay's "Open Door" in China. Under Theodore Roosevelt, it landed the U.S. in the middle of the world stage. It reached a climax in 1917 when Woodrow Wilson, in words which it became fashionable to sneer at in the '30s, said:
"The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty. . . . We shall fight for . . . the rights and liberties of small nations. . . ."