The mother of all epic lies begun by Truman and taken to another level by Edward Bernays was the "Red Menace". More to come.. For Truman's attitude towards Stalin, see for example, Robert H. Ferrell, ed., Dear Bess: the Letters from Harry to Bess Truman, 1910-1959, New York: Norton, 1983. In letters to his wife, Truman wrote (pp. 520-522): Robert H. Ferrell, ed., Off the Record: The Private Papers of Harry S. Truman, New York: Penguin, 1980. Similarly, in his private papers, Truman wrote (pp. 44, 53): For discussion of the attitudes of Truman and other Washington officials towards Stalin and his regime, see for example, Melvyn Leffler, A Preponderance of Power: National Security, the Truman Administration, and the Cold War, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1992. An excerpt (pp. 15, 52-53):
The letter was composed before the onset of the Cold War and Truman was still trying to get along with Stalin to ensure the Soviet Union's participation in the war against Japan and his predecessor was also a close friend of "Uncle Joe". The Soviet troops played a crucial role in defeating the Axis powers and even Churchill dropped his life-long anti-socialist bias while he was in charge of Britain's wartime foreign policy as a part of the Big Three. But everything changed after Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech and Truman readjusted America's foreign policy accordingly to contain Soviet expansionism as he declared the Truman Doctrine in 1947.
I am not sure what your point is. Truman, when he met Stalin, was completely inexperienced in dealing with world leaders, and had been President for a very short time. He personally liked when he met him. As he got to know Stalin, and negotiated with him after the war in Berlin, he realized more and more that he couldn't trust Stalin or the USSR. Then as the cold war progressed and intesified, Truman was ready to face off- both the Berlin Airlift, and in Korea. So again- what is your point?
Internally, Truman said "A common everyday citizen [in Russia] has about as much say about his government as a stock holder in the Standard Oil of New Jersey has about his Company. But I don't care what they do. They evidently like their government or they wouldn't die for it."- Which is the exact opposite of what he said publicly. Seems like something a sociopath would say. Read the Melvyn Leffler quote on this issue.
