Truman Presidency: Cold War Policies

When studying Truman's doctrine and foreign policies, students should be able to understand containment and what it entails. Using a spider map, students will define and explain the major principles of containment, a foreign policy that lay at the heart of Truman’s doctrine that intended to limit Soviet influence.

Through completing this activity, students will be able to connect ideas to not only what defines containment, but how containment was used to limit Soviet influence in America and around the globe. Suggested terms include base terms such as socialism, capitalism, democracy, communism, the “iron curtain”, and the Truman Doctrine. Teachers may pre-select any terms or ideas they would like students to research and connect to containment.

Extended Activity

Have students use containment as a central term to history and current events today. Events or ideas could center around the United States attempts to contain terrorism, radical Islam, or even other hostile nations like North Korea and Russia. Students should continue to connect base terms and ideas to how containment is seen today.