LAD 36 - Truman Doctrine

On March 12 1947, President Harry Truman addressed Congress on behalf of the raising tensions of communism. He states the economic help needed from Greece and Turkey and it is the utmost importance to help them in order to contain the threat of communism. He states how they, especialy Greece is troubled by the economic conditions from World War II. He explains how the Greek government is not strong enough to defend themselves from communism and America is the only democratic nation that can help them. The nations that are falling and are close to Soviet Russia need our attention desperatly, and it is very important for America to turn our attension to the Greeks immediatly. He asks congress for  $400,000,000 in order to assist Greece and Turkey, he also asks for resources in which he can help them as swiftly as possible. Truman ends his address by saying "The free peoples of the world look to us for support in maintaining their freedoms". Thus although he never says the word "containment", this is the start of America's new foreign policy of containing the threat of communism.