Question

explain the evolution of the Cold War

Answer 1

Harry Truman was president when FDR (Democrat), who was quite friendly with Stalin, died, and the chaos of the post-war world fell to him to handle. When he took office, the USSR, after liberating Poland from the Nazis, proceeded to break the agreements they had made with FDR, in particular their promise to allow the Poles free and fair elections. Truman was barely in office before he summoned Molotov to the Oval Office and read him the riot act, accusing the Soviets of bad faith. Molotov, indignant, told Truman: "I have never been talked to like that before." Truman looked him in the eye and replied: "Well, if you live up to your agreements, you won't get talked to like that."

The USSR then proceeded to break every other war-time agreement, a process that culminated in the building of the Berlin Wall. Truman maintained a tough stance against them, and against others in the Congress and the military who wanted the US to go to war against the Soviets. Instead of nuking them, Truman adopted a policy called 'Containment,' which simply put means he would surround the USSR with anti-Communist Alliances--NATO, SEATO, etc.--and counter any moves they made to expand their empire short of an all-out war with them. This led to countering their aggression in Korea, the Berlin Airlift, and many other things.

When Eisenhower (Republican) was elected after Truman’s two terms, he continued the policy of Containment, ended the Korean war without allowing the Soviets to gain any advantage, and began deploying intercontinental ballistic missiles---ICBM's--with nuclear warheads to keep the Kremlin in line.

When JFK (Democrat) was elected after Ike’s two terms, he also continued Truman’s policy of Containment. When the Soviets secretly deployed medium range missiles in Cuba--a mere 65 miles from the US--Kennedy surrounded Cuba (The Cuban Missile Crisis) with warships and threatened to bomb them until the Soviets removed thier missiles. Johnson (Democrat) continued these anti-Soviet policies when he took office, doing the same thing Truman did in Korea in Vietnam to stop the USSR from making any gains there.

When Nixon (Republican) took over, he escalated the Vietnam War while continuing the same anti-Soviet policies begun by Truman and kept in place ever since. He also made the first arms limitation agreements with the Soviets, reducing the total number of nuclear weapons, while maintaining Americas superiority. Ford (Republican), who wasn’t actually elected but became president when Nixon resigned, was president when Vietnam was lost, and was a very weak fellow. The USSR gained more under this Republican than any other president.

Answer 2

When Carter (Democrat) was president, the Soviets tried it again by invading Afghanistan. Carter, one of our weaker presidents, responded by having the CIA secretly arm the anti-Soviet forces in Afghanistan--a group called the Taliban--to counter them, and boycotted the Moscow Olympics. While he continued Containment, he was an indecisive leader who made us look weak, even though, in reality, we were still the worlds strongest power.

When Reagan (Republican) replaced Carter, he continued the policies begun by Truman, but upped the ante with the so-called 'Star Wars' program, a massive increase in military spending on state-of-the-art weapons systems, while at the same time negotiating with the Soviets to reduce arms, with a long-range goal of eliminating nukes altogether. This proved to be a winning strategy because the USSR's economy was not strong enough to compete in Star Wars type weaponry, and the Soviet people were clamoring for a better standard of living. Reagan befriended the Soviet leader, tensions were reduced between the two powers, and by the time Reagan had served out his two terms, the Cold War was practically over. Bush Sr. (Republican), Reagan’s successor, witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Soviet empire.

The point is that every one of those presidents were anti-Soviet, and would not have been elected by the American people to begin with, if they had not been. They all supported and continued Truman's successful strategy of Containment. It is this strategy that won the Cold War for the West. What Reagan did was to not only continue the policies begun by Harry Truman, but provide that final push that led to the end of the Cold War.

The big lesson to be derived from this is that Containment is a superior policy to invasion, as Iraq and Afghanistan have recently demonstrated. It is a policy that continues to be in operation against Iran, North Korea, and Cuba. Given the long-term will to stick with Containment and disallow leaders ill-versed in history--Bush, Cheney, etc.--to pervert this winning strategy, Containment will work in these areas too. It just requires consistent leadership and much patience.
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Answer 3

can i get a medal?