This dissertation analyzes the roles of the Harry Truman administration and
Congress in directing American policy regarding the Korean conflict. Using evidence
from primary sources such as Truman’s presidential papers, communications of White
House staffers, and correspondence from State Department operatives and key
congressional figures, this study suggests that the legislative branch had an important
role in Korean policy. Congress sometimes affected the war by what it did and, at other
times, by what it did not do.
Several themes are addressed in this project. One is how Truman and the
congressional Democrats failed each other during the war. The president did not
dedicate adequate attention to congressional relations early in his term, and was slow to
react to charges of corruption within his administration, weakening his party politically.
For their part, the Democrats gave HST poor advice concerning congressional
involvement in the decision to take the nation to war. A number of them allowed their
personal dislike for Secretary of State Dean Acheson to poison their support for the
administration whenever U.S. fortunes in the war soured. Another issue was Truman’s
interpretation and use of the concept of bipartisanship in foreign policy. HST generally manipulated the idea for political advantage. Ironically, had he listened to the counsel of
an administration Republican early in the war, Truman could have mitigated the
explosion over the firing of General Douglas MacArthur. A topic heretofore overlooked
by historians concerns congressional peace initiatives proposed during the first half of
the war. Analysis of the effectiveness of these resolutions, particularly during the
heyday of McCarthyism, yields surprising conclusions.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2753 |
| Date | 2008 May 1900 |
| Creators | Blomstedt, Larry Wayne |
| Contributors | Anderson, Terry H. |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis, text |
| Format | electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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