Chapter 46: The Achievements and Failures of Seventeen U.S. Presidents in the Struggle Against Communism (2)

VI. Truman Loses Mainland China: Berlin Airlift—Stalin’s Test of Truman’s Weakness

In early 1948, Stalin attempted to expel the United States, Britain, and France from their occupied territories in Berlin, imposing an armed blockade on all roads leading into West Berlin. West Berlin was located in East Germany, which was under Communist control. Stalin had turned his back on the US, forgetting all the aid the US had provided to the country in World War II. What could the US do? Truman (Harry Truman 1884–1972) feared that a military confrontation with the Soviet blockade would cause conflict and even trigger World War III, so he rejected the suggestion of the US artillery commander guarding the occupied territories. The artillery commander insisted on armed escort of the routes into Berlin to break the Soviet blockade, and instead opted for a weaker airlift to break the blockade. Truman then ordered food, fuel, and other supplies to be airlifted to West Berlin day and night to sustain the lives of the West Berlin military and civilians. A giant transport plane took off every 3.5 minutes, 24 hours a day. Under Truman’s orders, the US airlift lasted for over a year. The US, Britain, and France conducted 280,000 flights, airlifting 2.5 million tons of supplies. This continued until May 1949, when the Soviet Union announced the end of the blockade, and Truman declared victory by breaking the blockade through airlift.

In reality, Stalin’s blockade of Berlin was a test of Truman’s strength and weakness to influence his decision on whether to launch an attack on North Korea. The test showed Truman to be weak and easily manipulated, encouraging Stalin to approve Kim Il-sung’s attack on South Korea. Kim Il-sung launched the attack in 1950.

Truman believed the Chiang Kai-shek government was corrupt and placed his hopes on a communist coalition government, constantly courting and appeasing Mao Zedong. In 1947, he further ordered Chiang Kai-shek to cease hostilities in Northeast China for four months, allowing Mao Zedong to regroup and launch a counter-offensive, achieving successive victories and advancing all the way to the Yangtze River. However, Mao Zedong said in 1948, “If the United States openly aids Chiang Kai-shek, helping him revive, it’s hard to say whether I can achieve a complete victory.” As late as January 1949, Mao bluntly stated, “My biggest fear is American intervention; if the US and Chiang Kai-shek join forces, I will be defeated.” Stalin was also most worried about American aid to Chiang Kai-shek, but by this time Truman was preparing to stop aiding Chiang and directly contact the CCP.

On January 13, 1949, the United States, through Ambassador Stuart, indicated that the US would remain neutral in the Chinese Civil War and would not participate in mediation, relieving Mao Zedong of a major burden. Mao was most worried that at the last moment, the United States would take some action that would jeopardize his ambition to seize power. On May 28, 1949, the second day after the Communist army occupied Shanghai, Mao still issued instructions: maintain contact with Stuart, stall him, and keep the Americans from giving up on the CCP, maintaining a glimmer of hope in their hearts. Stuart became a pawn in Mao’s game. On May 13, 1949, Truman instructed Secretary of State Acheson to propose recognizing the Chinese Communist government and hoping to establish diplomatic relations.

The United States attributed the loss of China to the corruption of Chiang Kai-shek’s government, but Chiang Kai-shek lamented in his private diary that he was not defeated by the CCP, but by the United States; without American support, he lost China. Mao Zedong said, “The United States is the third party in my love affair with Stalin; Stalin is afraid that the United States will snatch me away.” Mao worried that maintaining contact with the United States would arouse Stalin’s suspicion and decided to take a “leaning to one side” anti-American stance.

Truman feared a major war in Korea, withdrew MacArthur, and spared Mao Zedong.

Under the command of General MacArthur, the US forces in the Korean War inflicted heavy losses on Kim Il-sung of North Korea. MacArthur relentlessly pursued the enemy, and Stalin was preparing to send planes to bring Kim Il-sung to Moscow to live in seclusion. Mao Zedong wanted to send troops to negotiate with Stalin, demanding that Stalin send air force troops. Stalin refused, fearing a US backlash. In the end, Mao Zedong sent troops even without air force support.

Mao Zedong’s hundreds of thousands of troops crossed the Yalu River, pushing the US forces back to the 38th parallel. MacArthur launched a surprise landing at Incheon, advancing directly to Pyongyang and nearly reaching the Yalu River, seemingly poised to defeat Kim Il-sung and the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army before Christmas. At this critical moment, Truman, terrified of Soviet intervention and a potential third world war, dismissed MacArthur and recalled him to the United States. MacArthur’s arrival in New York was met with a grand welcome from a million people, a slap in the face to Truman.

If Truman had allowed MacArthur to continue the advance to the Yalu River, cutting off Chinese support and leaving hundreds of thousands of South Korean PLA soldiers starving and freezing to death, their only option would have been surrender. If Mao Zedong had resisted, MacArthur could have pursued relentlessly, potentially all the way to Beijing. If the CCP had entered the war, there would have been no distinction between front and rear, a fight to the bitter end, forcing Mao Zedong to step down.

Truman, being cowardly, let Mao Zedong go. He feared Stalin’s involvement in the war, but Stalin was even more afraid. Stalin feared that the air force’s involvement would be exploited by the US, and that Truman would squander the promising situation in Korea. Chiang Kai-shek’s dream of “counterattacking the mainland” was also shattered, as Truman prevented Chiang’s troops from participating in the Korean War, fearing a backlash from Mao Zedong. In short, Truman lacked the resolve to fight and destroy communism, and the Korean War ultimately ended in a ceasefire, a 50-50 draw.

VII. Eisenhower’s Hardline Anti-Communist Stance Leads to a Major Mistake in Hungary

The Hungarian uprising on October 31, 1956, was decisively influenced by the US attitude. US President Dwight Eisenhower (1890-1969) reiterated Secretary of State Dulles’s statement that he would not intervene militarily. Khrushchev, reassured, decided to deploy 100,000 troops, launching “Operation Whirlwind” on November 4 to suppress the Hungarian uprising. On November 5th, Eisenhower belatedly expressed shock at the Soviet action, demanding the immediate withdrawal of Soviet troops. The Soviets disarmed 12 armored divisions and the entire air force of Hungary. In the capital, 15,000 resistance fighters fiercely resisted.

If Eisenhower had declared that “the US military will not stand idly by,” Khrushchev would not have dared to send troops to suppress the uprising, and the Hungarian revolt would have succeeded, opening a major breach in Soviet control of Eastern Europe and impacting the entire international situation. While Eisenhower had achieved success in other anti-communist efforts, his actions in Hungary were a major blunder.

The nationwide Hungarian uprising completely failed. 26,000 were arrested, 350 were executed, and 200,000 fled to Europe and America. Leader Nagy was arrested and executed in 1958.

In his farewell address in 1961, Eisenhower stated, “We face the hostile ideology of communism, with its cruel goals and insidious methods. Even at the cost of sacrifice, we must shoulder the heavy responsibility of this struggle. The ultimate goal of American leadership in the world is to eliminate the communist threat and to live and die with freedom for world peace and a better future for humanity.”

If Eisenhower had been president during Truman’s era, communism might have been eliminated from the historical stage in China much earlier.

VIII. Kennedy’s Strong Anti-Communism

In 1961, shortly after taking office, John Kennedy (1917-1963) led 1,500 American-trained anti-communist Cuban troops in an invasion of Cuba, attempting to overthrow Castro’s communist regime. The invasion failed due to a lack of US air support, and nearly 1,200 soldiers were captured. The US later exchanged $53 million for prisoners of war in the form of food and medicine.

In 1962, Castro allowed the Soviet Union to deploy 60 nuclear missiles and 50,000 troops in Cuba. Kennedy decided to prepare for a port closure. While negotiating with the Soviet Union, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles. The United States agreed to withdraw its missiles from Turkey, ending the Cuban Missile Crisis in 13 days.

Kennedy strengthened anti-communist deployments in Vietnam, increasing the number of US troops from 800 to 16,000, and declared a commitment to combating the spread of communism.

In 1963, Kennedy visited West Berlin and delivered his famous speech attacking communism. He pointed out that the construction of the Berlin Wall was a failure of communism, stating, “As long as one man is enslaved, all men are not free; and all free men, wherever they live, are Berliners.”

In the Americas, Kennedy founded the Progressive Alliance to oppose communism peacefully. He also established volunteer peacekeeping forces globally, assisting underdeveloped countries in education, healthcare, and agricultural development, using peaceful means to combat the spread of communism.

Kennedy was determined to maintain a lead over the Soviet Union in the space race, urging Congress to pass the massive $25 billion Apollo program and declaring that he would not provide weapons to communist countries. Kennedy’s fight against communism was near perfect.