33. Truman was afraid of a rebirth of isolationism, which may have arguably caused him to exaggerate the Soviet threat and speak in language that suggested a rot of global holy war of the forces of good vs. evil- language that would limit the options for future policy makers as they sought to tone down their animosity.
Sometimes the whole good vs. evil thing isn't as grand a cause as it's made out to be.34. The fear that key nations of Europe were still so vulnerable that they were in danger of being taken by Communist parties from within (let alone the Soviet meddling) spurred Truman to respond with the bold policy of the Marshall Plan, which offered a financial assistance to nations that got together to “work out a joint plan for their economic recovery”. The same amount of money was offered to the USSR if it promised to accept certain controls and work towards political reform. However, the Soviets declined.
Can you believe Stalin rejected the Marshall Plan AND another 5-year contract with Cleveland?
35. Because the sum in question (12.4 billion over 4 years) was so large, Congress initially against it. A communist coup in Czechoslovakia “finally awakened the legislators to reality”.
Congress came to the realization that ol' Carl was playing one on them from the grave. Revolution of the JERKetariat!
36. In 1948, Truman made the other fateful decision of officially recognizing Israel on May 14, 1948 mostly out of sympathy for the Holocaust survivors. This strained future relations with the Arab world.
A now a long list that was probably made far more creative than this post!
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