Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower were two of the presidents that were in office during the time of the Cold War. Both of these men helped the Cold War come to an end in their own special way. These men did many things with foreign polies in political, economic, and in a military way.

President Harry Truman was more of a Democrat rather than a Republican. President Truman was not really familiar with international issues. Politically Harry Truman did many things that helped the country. While only being in office for a few days Harry Truman decided to get tough with the Soviet Union. On April 23, President Truman met with Soviet foreign minister Molotov and severely reprimanded him for his violations of the Yalta accords. Truman did have some leverage against him because Russian already had forces in Poland and most of Central and Eastern Europe. President Truman also recognized the Warsaw government. In doing so he was hoping that the noncommunist forces would expand their influence there. President Truman at the Potsdam in July, in Russia’s portion of Germany. He met with Stalin and Churchill. He ended up accepting the adjustments of the Polish-German border that Stalin had longed for. President Truman also refused to permit the Russians from claiming reparations from the French, British, and American zones of Germany. Since he did this it confirmed that Germany would stay split. President Truman supported Chiang Kai-shek during the rivalry between Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong even though he knew it was a lost cause, because the United States still wanted a strong pro-Western force in Asia. Ultimately, they ended up looking to Japan for that strong force. Stalin was trying to gain control over the sea-lanes to the Mediterranean and communists were threatening the pro-Western government in Greece.

President Truman created a new policy known as the Truman Doctrine. In this Doctrine he argued for that the new policy for the United States should be that the United States should support any free people who are trying to resist armed minorities or outside pressures. He also requested that $400 million to give aid to Turkey and Greece. Congress quickly approved this. President Truman was able to reach an agreement with France and England to merge the three western zones of Germany into a new West German republic. When China fell to communism President Truman called for a review of the American foreign policy. During the Korean war President Truman lost major support. President Dwight Eisenhower was more of a Republican rather than a Democrat. Politically President Eisenhower was not as extreme as his secretary of state John Dulles. When Fadel Castro cam into power in Cuba President Eisenhower stopped all diplomatic relations in Cuba. Both President Truman and President Eisenhower opposed communism.

Economically President Truman did many things. President Truman gave aid to Greece and Turkey to help them fund the fight against communism. President Truman used the Marshall Plan to give aid to all of Western Europe to rebuild their political and economic systems. He did this because he feared that Europe would stay as an economic drain on the United States unless they could quickly rebuild. He also wanted a strong European market for American goods. The most important reason for giving Europe aid was because the United States feared that if the pro- American governments did not stay strong, they would fall to the communist governments.

President Eisenhower responded to the United Fruit Company that argued that the Guatemalan

Militarily President Truman was not prepared to give aid militarily to help Chiang Kai- shek during the rivalry in China. However, Chiang’s government was corrupt and incompetent which also stopped President Truman from supporting them with military assistance. When the Korean war began the United States immediately joined the conflict. Both the United States and the Soviet Union had troops in the Korea fighting the Japanese. When neither force would leave, they ended up dividing the nation. President Truman also sent the Berlin Airlift to help the people of Berlin get food and supplies when the Stalin put up the Berlin wall completely cutting the people in West Germany off from the outside world. When it came to the military President Eisenhower did a few things. President Eisenhower sent the CIA to help topple the new leftist government of Jacob Arbenz Guzmán in Guatemala. President Eisenhower also created the Eisenhower Doctrine that proposed that the United States send U.S. troops to secure and protect the territorial integrity and political independence of the Middle East. President Eisenhower used this to send troops to Egypt to help build the damn across the Nile river.

To conclude, President Truman and President Eisenhower were apart of two different parties President Truman being a Democrat and President Eisenhower being a Republican.

President Truman dealt with Greece, Turkey, the rebuilding of Europe economically, and the Berlin Airlift and the Korean war when it came to what he did with the military. President Eisenhower dealt with toppling the Guatemalan government and building a damn in Egypt when it came to what he did with the economy and military. Both these men handled there political power the best way they thought they should. While they did separate things for the foreign economy, political power, and how they used the military, they both were against communism and did everything they could to stop it from spreading.