Abstract
On March 12th 1947, President Truman spoke before the Congress to convince them to approve of his doctrine. The latter is one of the most important speeches in American foreign policy since it represents the beginning of the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union. Harry Truman was elected in 1945 after the death of Franklin Roosevelt. This was considered a fluke, since he was elected by accident as a vice president. Therefore, he had virtually no experience in foreign affairs when he took office. After the end of the Second World War, Harry Truman was highly influenced by a telegram written by the Secretary of State in Moscow, George Kennan. In this eight-thousand word telegram, George Kennan warned the US authorities that the Soviet Union was threatening peace in the world and declared that the world was divided into two parts. He advocated a "containment policy" against communism so as to stop the Soviet regime's expansionism.
