PRESIDENT TRUMAN, AN AMERICAN PERICLES
By Dr. Vassilios Damiras *
President Truman ended the Second World War and immediately faced the communist menace. Stalin wanted to dominate Western Europe, and his first targets were Greece and Turkey. The Truman Doctrine arose from a speech delivered by President Truman before a joint session of Congress on March 12, 1947. The immediate cause for the speech was a recent announcement by the British Government that, as of March 31, it would no longer provide military and economic assistance to the Greek Government in its civil war against the Greek Communist Party. Truman asked Congress to support the Greek Government against the Communists. He also asked Congress to assist Turkey since that nation had previously depended on British aid.
At the time, the U.S. Government believed that the...