Dbq Nsc 68

During a time of immense hostility and fear, Secretary of State Dean Acheson requested “a comprehensive review of U. S. national security strategy” (Office of the Historian). From this request, a report to the National Security Council was written to gather all the details of the Cold War. This report, titled the United States Objectives and Programs for National Security, referred to as NSC 68, was “built upon the conclusions of an earlier National Security Council paper (NSC-20/4)”. In this report, Soviet Union tactics and motives were put under the microscope to study their mission of expansion and complete destruction of any opposing forces. These motives were then compared to the values of the “free world” and the United States.
The NSC 68 report begins by mentioning that “the United States was facing a completely changed world” (President Truman Receives NSC- 68). It describes World Wars I and II causing countries around the globe to witness revolution in Russia and China; the collapse of five empires, including the Ottoman Empire, …show more content…
According to This Day in History, he was taken aback at the costs associated with the increase of the defense budget. Such an increase would bring hesitation from any elected official to openly support a program that would heavily increase taxes, especially since the money would be spent on defensive measures for the United States during a time of peace. However, outbreak of the Korean War allegedly prompted President Truman to sign the report into policy in September of that year (President Truman Receives NSC- 68). Although this information comes from a secondary source, it can still be treated as a reliable resource because it was written by gathering information from primary sources. Secondary resources are often found in documentaries, textbooks, and online articles similar to “President Truman Receives NSC-