“On March 5th 1946, Winston Churchill – whose mother was an American – spoke at Westminster College in Missouri and described the position in which the United States now found itself.
“For with this primacy in power is also joined an awe-inspiring accountability to the future. As you look around you, you must feel not only the sense of duty done, but also you must feel anxiety lest you fall below the level of achievement….”
And so Churchill describes a vision of post World War II that echo his warnings about Hitler prior to the Second World War, warnings that went unheeded and were by now seen as prescient, and the consequences of ignoring them catastrophic. Churchill’s was a warning impossible to ignore given the world’s recent history.
Harry Truman picks up the gauntlet. One week after Churchill’s speech he announces “The Truman Doctrine” stating that the U.S. would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent their falling into the Soviet sphere. It would be, he said, “the policy of the United States to support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures….”
(From ETHAN RUSSELL: AN AMERICAN STORY available here.)
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