From Roosevelt to Truman: Potsdam, Hiroshima, and the Cold War

ISBN-13: 9780521862448 / Angielski / Twarda / 2006 / 414 str.

Wilson D. Miscamble

Opis

On April 12, 1945, Franklin Roosevelt died and Harry Truman took his place in the White House. Historians have been arguing ever since about the implications of this transition for American foreign policy in general and relations with the Soviet Union in particular. Was there essential continuity in policy or did Truman's arrival in the Oval Office prompt a sharp reversal away from the approach of his illustrious predecessor? This study explores this controversial issue and in the process casts important light on the outbreak of the Cold War. From Roosevelt to Truman investigates Truman's foreign policy background and examines the legacy that FDR bequeathed to him. After Potsdam and the American use of the atomic bomb, both which occurred under Truman s presidency, the U.S. floundered between collaboration and confrontation with the Soviets, which represents a turning point in the transformation of American foreign policy. This work reveals that the real departure in American policy came only after the Truman administration had exhausted the legitimate possibilities of the Rooseveltian approach of collaboration with the Soviet Union."

Recenzje

'Wilson D. Miscamble has explored this transition to good effect in a meticulously researched and forcefully argued work of diplomatic history. … From Roosevelt to Truman provides a vigorous, detailed and orthodox account of a pivotal period in US foreign policy and world history, and demonstrates that even a well-trodden area of research can be re-enlivened to stimulate further thought and debate.' Contemporary Review

Spis treści

1. Preparation: the making of an (American) internationalist; 2. Inheritance: Franklin Roosevelt's uncertain legacy; 3. Initiation: tactical reversal, strategic continuity; 4. Instruction: Truman's advisers and their conflicting advice; 5. Negotiation: Truman and Byrnes at Potsdam; 6. Intimidation: Hiroshima, the Japanese and the Soviets; 7. Indecision: floundering between collaboration and confrontation; 8. Transformation: Truman's foreign policy.