Truman and Korea: The Political Culture of the Early Cold War

276 Pages·1999·1.107 MB·English

by  Paul G. Pierpaoli Jr.

TRUMAN AND KOREA

TRUMAN AND KOREA
THE POLITICAL CULTURE OF THE EARLY COLD WAR
Paul G. Pierpaoli, Jr.
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI PRESS
COLUMBIA AND LONDON
Copyright©1999by
TheCuratorsoftheUniversityofMissouri
UniversityofMissouriPress,Columbia,Missouri65201
PrintedandboundintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Allrightsreserved
5 4 3 2 1 03 02 01 00 99
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Pierpaoli,PaulG.,1962–
TrumanandKorea:thepoliticalcultureoftheearlycoldwar/
PaulG.Pierpaoli,Jr.
p. cm.
ISBN0-8262-1206-9
1.KoreanWar,1950–1953—UnitedStates. 2.UnitedStates—
Politicsandgovernment—1945–1953. 3.Truman,HarryS.,
1884–1972. I.Title.
DS919.P54 1999
951.904'2373—dc21 98-33326
CIP
V‘™Thispapermeetstherequirementsofthe
AmericanNationalStandardforPermanenceofPaper
forPrintedLibraryMaterials,Z39.48,1984.
Designer:StephanieFoley
Typesetter:Bookcomp,Inc.
PrinterandBinder:Thomson-Shore
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For my loving and understanding family and friends,
and most of all for my mom and dad

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations xi
Introduction 1
I. NSC-68andtheOutbreakoftheKoreanWar
TowardaPiecemealMobilization,April–November1950 16
II. “AnEntirelyNewWar”
TheChineseInterventionandtheInstitutionalizationof
Rearmament,December–January1951 49
III. Labor’sColdShoulder
ThePriceandWageFreezeandaCrisis-FilledSpring,
February–May1951 82
IV. ThePoliticsofRearmament
GunsorButterorGunsandButter?June–December1951 119
V. CrisesofConfidence
TheSteelCrisis,CongressionalIntransigence,andthe
EvolutionofNationalSecurity,January–June1952 160
VI. TowardaTenuousNormalcy
DecontrolandtheGeneral’sArrival,July1952–February1953 195
Conclusion 224
Bibliography 237
Index 255

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A few brief words here can hardly convey the full depth of my
gratitude to the many people and institutions who made this book
possible.Nonetheless,Ioffermysincerestthankstoallwhohavehelped
me over the last several years. Although I sense that they know how
important they have been to me, my gratitude knows no bounds. At
the Ohio State University, where I began my intellectual odyssey as
a professional historian, I wish to thank the following mentors and
friends:MichaelJ.Hogan,WilliamR.Childs,AllanR.Millett,SusanM.
Hartmann,AlbertJ.Churella,andMarianneHoldzkom.Theirinsights
and friendship sustained me and kept this project on track. Financial
supportfromvariousinstitutionswasalsointegraltotheconclusionof
thiswork,andthusIexpressmydeepestappreciationto:theOhioState
University Alumni Association for its Graduate Research Award; the
Harry S. Truman Library Institute for its very generous Dissertation
Year Fellowship; and the Department of History at the University of
Arizona for its financial support. I also wish to thank my colleagues
at the University of Arizona for their patience and collegiality, and I
want to especially thank my Department Chair Helen Nader for her
unwaveringsupportandencouragement.
TheknowledgeableandhelpfulstaffsattheNationalArchivesand
theHarryS.TrumanLibraryprovedindispensabletomyresearch.Iam
indebted to them, especially William Creech at the National Archives
andErwinMueller,DennisBilger,andElizabethSaflyattheTrumanLi-
brary.IalsowishtothankRuthDicksteinintheSocialSciences/History
Division of the University of Arizona Main Library—her expertise
and patience made the last leg of this work far more pleasant than
itotherwisewouldhavebeen.
In addition, I offer my steadfast gratitude to my old friend and
mentorAlanF.Farrell,wholongagotaughtmethatrigorousthinking,
goodwriting,andunyieldingacademicintegrityareworthfightingfor.
Further, I am indebted to my old friend Father Joseph H. Metzger Jr.,
who kept me on an even keel during a storm-tossed period in my
ix