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COLD WAR AND BLACK LIBERATION            CHENG

was not anywhere near a priority for the Congress, unless the aid was designed to thwart the evils of communism:

The U.S. administration discovered as early as 1946 through the experience in ramming a large loan to Great Britain through Congress that that body would not respond to the real and burning issue of redistributing dollars to preserve American export markets, but would fork over the money willingly if the question were posed in terms of anti-communism.6

The outbreak of civil war in Greece afforded Truman the situation he needed to launch his containment policy allegedly geared toward stopping Soviet expansion. This event in Greece was to have serious ramifications for the black struggle at home.

On March 12, 1947, Truman appeared before a joint session of Congress to address that body on the conflicts then occurring in Greece and Turkey. Speaking in grave terms, the President stated:

The gravity of the situation which confronts the world today necessitates my appearance before a joint session of Congress. The foreign policy and national security of the country are involved. ... The very existence of the Greek state is today threatened by the terrorist activities of several thousand armed men, led by Communists.... Greece must have assistance if it is to become a self-supporting and self-respecting democracy. The United States must supply that assistance. There is no other country to which democratic Greece can turn. No other nation is willing or able to provide the necessary support for a democratic Greek government.7

Richard M. Freeland, in his book The Truman Doctrine and the Origins of McCarthyism, states that Truman adopted this position because he was convinced that "popular support for extensive aid could be achieved only in the framework of an exposition of the expansionist nature of Soviet policy and the announcement of a policy of resistance to it."8 Truman's speech before Congress represented an harbinger of things to come, especially with respect to his raising the issue of the grave threat to American security and values. Freeland has pointed up the substance of the Truman message:

The heart of the speech was the President's assertion that the basic principles of America's political doctrine was being challenged 

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---------- Reopened for Editing 2024-02-26 08:42:55