Harry Truman: The First Cold War President
Text Version

[Visual Description – Large text – Harry Truman: The First Cold War President displayed with portrait of President Truman and image of President Truman standing giving a speech] President Truman intentionally uses specific language and vocabulary to announce his purpose and show his point of view.

[Visual Description - excerpt text from speech] In the second paragraph of this excerpt, Truman identifies a “regime with contrary aims,” a reference to the Soviet Union, a country directly opposed to the spread of democracy.

Truman intentionally does not name the “Soviet Union.” Why would he have done this?

[Visual Description – image of Soviet Union Communist symbol with American flag and text excerpt “in pursuit of these aims, the United States and other like-minded nations and themselves directly opposed by a regime with contrary aims and a totally different concept of life.] Most likely Truman did not identify the Soviet Union by name to avoid increasing tension with Soviet leaders. However, one purpose of his speech was to identify the opposition, which he did using language that carries a strong meaning.

[Visual Description – portrait of President Truman] After identifying the enemy “regime,” Truman then spends time discussing the false philosophy of communism in the Soviet Union.

[Visual Description – excerpt of speech highlighted on screen – That false philosophy of communism. Communism is based on the belief that man is so weak and inadequate that he is unable to govern himself, and therefore requires the rule of strong masters.”

[Visual Description – text on screen – Can you identify any of these terms?]Truman uses several terms and vocabulary to criticize communism. Can you identify any of these terms?

1. [Visual Description – image of two Soviet soldiers and an excerpt of speech highlighted on screen – That false philosophy of communism. Communism is based on the belief that man is so weak and inadequate that he is unable to govern himself, and therefore requires the rule of strong masters.”] The passage begins with Truman identifying communism as “false” – a clear criticism of this philosophy.

Next, he describes communism as being based on a weak society that can be controlled by “masters.”  These masters are the Soviet government, a dictatorship that rules without democracy or individual rights.

[Visual Description – portrait of Truman] Finally, Truman also identifies the Soviets as “human oppressors,” people who prevent people from enjoying freedom and individual rights.

This language shows Truman’s point of view: Communism oppresses people by preventing them from enjoying their freedom, and the United States and its allies oppose communism and its spread.

[Visual description - Image of Truman giving a speech] Next, we have to consider the audience that Truman was speaking to, and the reason why he was using the language and information we discussed.

Who was the audience for this speech, and how did this impact Truman’s choice of words?

[Visual description - Image of Truman giving a speech with two more images of large audiences] The audience for Truman’s speech was large – in addition to the American people, the audience was likely the leaders and governments of the most powerful nations in the world. Thus, in this era of tension, Truman chose his words carefully.

[Visual Description – portrait of Truman and text excerpt “in pursuit of these aims, the United States and other like-minded nations and themselves directly opposed by a regime with contrary aims and a totally different concept of life.] Remember, Truman intentionally did not name the Soviet Union, instead, referring to it as a “regime.”  This was likely to avoid tension with the Soviets, but may have also been to limit the tension felt by many Americans who were still trying to return to a normal life after World War II.