Pres. Truman, in a message to Congress, outlined the TRUMAN DOCTRINE of economic and military aid to nations threatened by communism. He specifically requested urgently needed aid for Greece and Turkey. The Greek-Turkish Aid bill went into effect on May 22.
Federal Employee Loyalty Program. Truman issued an executive order empowering the attorney general and the FBI to investigate and dismiss employees suspected of disloyalty to the U.S. All levels of government, colleges and universities, and private organizations soon followed suit.
The House Un-American Activities Committee escalated its campaign against so-called subversives in government, which led to the conviction and imprisonment of Alger Hiss (1950), a former State Department official, on the basis of flimsy evidence.
Secretary of State George Marshall, in a speech at Harvard University, called for a European recovery program, initiated by the European powers and supported by American aid (the MARSHALL PLAN).
Congress, over the president's veto, passed the Taft-Hartley Act, which prohibited the use of union funds for political purposes, introduced a 60-day notice before a strike or lockout, outlawed the closed shop, and empowered the government to serve injunctions against strikes likely to cripple the nation's economy. Labor unions were especially troubled by Section 14b, which permitted states to pass “right to work” laws and to prohibit the union shop.
Truman's Civil Rights Commission (formed in 1946) delivered a report entitledTo Secure These Rights. The report helped to sanction the expanding civil rights movement by advocating the extension of full citizenship rights to all Americans regardless of race, color, creed, or national origin.
