How Did The Truman Address To Congress

In the spring of 1947, President Harry S. Truman gave a speech to a joint session of congress, where he declared his new foreign policy approach for the United States in the post war era. This approach would become known as the Truman Doctrine, in it the U.S. would as Truman said, “support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures” . Effectively Truman’s speech indicated that the U.S. would act to stop the spread of communism whether it be from the actions of the Soviet Union and other communist states, or by communists within democratic states. Truman’s speech to congress largely focused on the need for greater U.S. commitment to aiding the governments of Greece and Turkey, both of which
military to be better prepared for dealing with communist aggression in the post-war world. Congress backed Truman’s suggestions and passed the National Security Act of 1947, which restructured the U.S. armed forces, and established new departments and agencies for the purpose of national defense. Among the new bureaucratic bodies created were the National Security Council (NSC) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The NSC was intended to advice the President on matters of national security and aid in coordinating government departments relating to national security. The CIA was established under the NSC, with the stated goals of (1) to advise the NSC on intelligence activities relating to national security; (2) to make recommendations to the NSC on the coordination of intelligence within the government; (3) to preside over intelligence gathering and the dissemination of intelligence throughout the government; (4) to perform intelligence activities of existing departments if the NSC deems such actions necessary; (5) to perform additional activities “relating to intelligence affecting the national security as the National Security Council may from time to time direct. ” According to F. Mark Wyatt, when the Director of Intelligence, Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter, asked the CIA general council, Lawrence Houston, if the agency had the authority to conduct covet operations abroad. Houston responded saying “the language is not precise enough. You do not have the authority.” Houston eventually found a loophole allowing the CIA to act in Italy. Given that the NSA was preceded over by the President, Houston determined that if Truman were to specifically ask the CIA to carry out clandestine operations in Italy, and if Congress approves the budget to support the operation, then the agency has the authority to