Chapters 13-14 Summary and Analysis

Britain was beginning to let go of its colonial empire. The British could no longer fulfill the role of maintaining the balance of power in the world and it was obvious to Acheson that America must fill the void. The United States was now the strongest world power. Acheson agreed to work with Marshall.

Acheson and Marshall supported a program of aid to Greece and Turkey. They wanted to make it known that the United States would not support the spread of totalitarianism. The report that Acheson's group wrote in support of this approach became known as the Truman Doctrine, which caused a lot of dissent in the country. In spite of the problems, the Greek-Turkish aid package was approved by Congress.

Kennan became the chief planner for the State Department. He had to deal with the issue of...