The Cold War AS/A Level- example essay- Eisenhower's policies
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Course
The Cold War
Institution
AQA
This is an essay I wrote as exam practice and I received 23/25, which is an A-A* grade.
Hopefully this will help anyone struggling with exam technique and so you can see how to structure your essay in an exam.
‘Eisehower’s New Look strategy marked a fundamental shift in US Cold War policy
away from Truman’s approach’ Assess the validity of this view.
Eisenhower’s New Look policies and strategies can be renowned for marking significant
changes throughout the course of the Cold War. Due to Eisenhower’s assumption of
Presidency and his differing views to Truman, Eisenhower’s ideologies were reflected in his
‘New Look’ policy. Therefore, fundamentally, Eisenhower’s new approach can be seen as a
critical shift in Cold War policy, away from Truman.
The most compelling argument that shows Eisenhower’s policy marked significant changes,
away from Truman, was his approach and ideas about nuclear diplomacy. Eisenhower
believed that the US should invest in nuclear weapons in order to deter the Soviet Union and
any other Communist threat. This was not just a breakthrough in Cold War policy, but a
global turning-point as atomic weapons were being more heavily introduced and
experimented with. This idea built the foundation of ‘brinkmanship’, another feature of
Eisenhower’s New Look policy. Brinkmanship was designed in an attempt to intimidate
Communist opponents into forcibly signing agreements and treaties that favoured US
interests up to the ‘brink’ where it would be perceived that the threat of nuclear war was at its
highest. Eisenhower’s Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, was convinced that the only
way of achieving an effective foreign policy was by pushing the enemy to the verge of war.
This can be seen as a huge shift from Truman’s attitude towards foreign policy as Truman
was a huge supporter of containment and mainly focused on issues of containment with his
policies.
Another important factor that insinuates Eisenhower’s foreign policy signified massive
changes since Truman’s presidency was Eisenhower’s reduction of funding for the military. It
was in the national interest and Eisenhower’s to revitalise the US economy and maintain
American authority throughout Western Europe and Asia. Eisenhower disagreed with
Truman on the spending of conventional military forces as he believed that containment had
its limits and effective foreign policy would need to do more to prevent the expansion of
communism. It can be perceived that Truman’s hostile approach to communism and the
USSR was much more ‘hawkish’ than Eisenhower’s approach. This can be seen with
Truman’s Doctrine which constantly undermined Soviet power and was made with the
intention of threatening and intimidating the USSR whereas Eisenhower appeared to believe
that global stability and liberation could only be endeavoured through much more peaceful
settlements. Essentially, this shows that the new US leadership under Eisenhower led to a
much less hostile policy towards communism which massively impacted attitudes towards
Cold War policy , as up until this point, tensions had been at a peak and any hopes of
camaraderie had been diminished.
Furthermore, another critical point that suggests Eisenhower’s policy marked a fundamental
change away from Truman’s approach was Eisenhower’s advertent use of the CIA and his
initiative to form alliances. Eisenhower was an avid supporter of NATP and believed strongly
in the importance of alliances in order to diminish any sparks of communist domination.
Additionally, Eisenhower’s utilisation of the CIA and Secret Services was a critical feature of
his New Look strategy. Due to President Eisenhower’s prevailing policies on nuclear
diplomacy and brinkmanship, he needed a way of administering the enemy’s nuclear
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