Why Did Truman Enter The American War

On September 2nd 1949, the Imperial Japanese Army surrendered to General Douglas MacArthur and the Allied Forces, bringing an end to the war that shook the earth, World War II. While the Allied Forces were fighting against the Nazi threat in western Europe, another part of the war was being fought in eastern Asia against the Japanese. This part of the war was known as the Pacific Ocean theater, and was mainly fought by the US, led by General MacArthur, against the Imperial Japanese Army. MacArthur’s victory in the Pacific Ocean theater would cause him to be hailed as a war hero by the American people, although he would not be greeted as such until he returned home after being discharged from the Korean War on April 11th, 1951. After World War
With the new and potent threat of nuclear warfare, the two superpowers had the world captivated in horror, as they edged towards global destruction. The man tasked with preventing such a catastrophe was the 33rd President of the United States, Harry S. Truman. In creating legislation such as the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, President Truman attempted to contain the spread of communism from reaching the rest of the world. In addition to these attempts Truman also supported the formation of two anti-communist groups, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the South East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). In response to these newly formed groups, the Soviet Union created the Warsaw Pact, a group of Russia’s satellite nations, many of which were already in the Iron Curtain, in order to protect themselves from the “evils” of democracy. While Truman and the world were focusing their efforts on eastern Europe, unbeknownst to them, one of the many ramifications of China’s recent civil war was the rise of communist party leader Mao Zedong. When the Chinese had “fallen victim to” the spread of communism, Truman was convinced that he would have no other choice but to protect South Korea in their struggle against the Soviet-backed North Korea by entering into the Korean
By giving press conferences, and writing letters to congressmen who were hostile towards the Truman Administration, MacArthur let the nation know his feelings on the president. This would, however, reach a breaking point when MacArthur openly responded and congratulated a congressman who had written to him about all that was wrong with Truman, by commenting and saying the man had lots of insight. It was at this point that Truman had decided to put an end to this, and fired MacArthur on April 11th 1951. This was, however, a very controversial decision by Truman as explained by Professor Brands, “So, when Truman saw this, he said ‘O.K. the end has come, and I’ve got to fire MacArthur.’ It was a bold move, because, as I say, MacArthur, in popular perceptions dramatically outranked Harry Truman” (35:52-36:07). This difference in popularity was evident by the fact that Truman’s approval ratings dropped immediately, and MacArthur was greeted by parties and