Answer: During his eight years in office, President Harry Truman faced many challenging international affairs. He led the US through World War II, which ended, as well as the Cold War, which started. He also intervened in the Korean Peninsula and supported Israel's creation.
Truman inherited a national security team that was already heavily focused on protecting Roosevelt. He would transform it into a more streamlined operation during his presidency. Truman substituted him with Gen. George Marshall. Marshall was the Army's chief of staff during the Korean War. Truman also reformed the military and national security structure through the passage of the National Defense Act in 1947. It unified the various military branches under a single military division headed by a civilian secretary of defense. The NSC grew in prestige and power during its first years due to the U.S. involvement in the Korean War. When Truman took office on April 12, 1945, the end of World War II in Europe was near. However, the war with Japan was far from over. Truman knew that there was another option. In July, while attending the Potsdam summit, he learned that a test of the atomic bomb had been successful. Truman's decision to use the bomb against Japan was made after Japanese leaders failed to agree to unconditional surrender. On August 6, 1945, a B-29 bomber known as Enola Gay, dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. It flattened the city and killed over 100,000 people.
He believed that the US and its allies could maintain a favorable relationship despite the potential conflicts that might arise between them. At the Potsdam conference, Stalin told Truman that he would not hesitate to join the war in the Pacific if asked. Despite the lack of progress, Truman still accepted Stalin's terms. Truman was able to get along with his fellow leaders, but the inability to resolve outstanding issues between Poland and Germany revealed deep divisions between the two nations. The US used diplomacy and military power to blunt Soviet intentions in Ukraine and Georgia. In January 1946, Truman told Byrnes that he was tired of babying the Soviets. Then, in February, George Kennan delivered his assessment of the Soviet Union's foreign policy. Winston Churchill warned that the Soviet Union was building an iron curtain across Europe. His words brought the public's attention to the threat posed by the Soviets. In response, the UK received a loan from the US to help it rebuild. In Germany, Byrnes committed the US to helping the country recover. Truman's decisions to dismiss Henry Wallace and appoint James Baker as commerce secretary in 1946 signaled an emerging worldview among policymakers that the US needs to protect its interests from Soviet expansion.
