Truman Harry



Harry Truman Signed Foreign Policy Speech, Warning of the Soviet Union

Foreign Policy and National Security Address of The President of the United States, Five page speech pamphlet, 5.75" x 9". Dated "March 17, 1948", and boldly signed along the lower margin by Harry Truman with a large 3.75" signature "Harry Truman". Fine condition. Accompanied by the original White House transmittal envelope, 10.5" x 6.5".

Important signed speech, with the country recently past WWII - with all eyes now turning to the Soviet Union as the next threat "…the Soviet Union and its agents have destroyed the independence and democratic character of a whole series of nations in eastern and central Europe …".

Under the presidency of Truman, the United States engaged in an internationalist foreign policy, a departure from its policy of isolationism. His tenure as President was dominated by the Cold War in which he adopted a tactics of containment of Soviet expansion. His Truman Doctrine was a de facto declaration of the Cold War. Truman's address outlined the broad parameters of U.S. Cold War foreign policy: the Soviet Union was the center of all communist activity and movements throughout the world; communism could attack through outside invasion or internal subversion; and the United States needed to provide military and economic assistance to protect nations from communist aggression.

Only the year prior to this March 17th speech, Truman made a dramatic speech to a joint session of Congress, asking for U.S. assistance for Greece and Turkey to forestall communist domination of the two nations.

Not everyone embraced Truman's logic. Some realized that the insurgency in Greece was supported not by the Soviet Union, but by Yugoslavia's Tito, who broke with the Soviet communists within a year. Additionally, the Soviets were not demanding control of the Dardanelles, but only assurances that this strategic waterway would not be used by Russia's enemies-as the Nazis had used it during World War II. And whether U.S. assistance would result in democracy in Greece or Turkey was unclear. Indeed, both nations established repressive right-wing regimes in the years following the Truman Doctrine. Yet, the Truman Doctrine successfully convinced many that the United States was locked in a life-or-death struggle with the Soviet Union, and it set the guidelines for over 40 years of U.S.-Soviet relations.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.



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