Harry S. Truman's Loyalty Review Boards
Loyalty Review Boards
On March 22, 1949 President Harry S. Truman signed an executive order, often referred to as the “Loyalty Order” that established Loyalty Review Boards as a way to protect the government from communist influence. The order gave the government the power to test Federal employees loyalty to the United States.
It all started during the cold war and was put in place to keep America safe from communism. President Truman wanted to make sure that the United States was not going to be taken over by communist ideas. Any Federal employees that were suspected of being communist sympathizers were investigated and brought in front of a Loyalty Review Board. There was a Cold War going on between the Soviet Union and the United States …show more content…
The Cold War described the relationship between the US and the Soviet Union and began shortly after World War II and was mainly caused by the differing views of capitalism vs. communism and a distrust the two countries had for each other. A big reason for the distrust was because the Soviets had developed atomic bombs. Bombs kept by both countries kept each other on edge. The cold war lasted roughly 45 years beginning in 1945 and ending in 1991 after the falling of the berlin …show more content…
He feared spies, sabotage, and the overthrowing of the American government. Not only the idea of communism was a problem but also loyalty to America. This led to people within the federal government being investigated and interrogated on their beliefs towards the United States government as well as their opinion on communism. Whoever was caught favoring or supporting communism would be charged with treason. Throughout this process only 212 government officials were dismissed due to the ruling of being suspicious. One of the main trials dealing with the Loyalty Review Boards and treason was the Rosenberg trial. Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were suspected of spying on the United States and selling nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union. Rosenberg’s brother in-law, David Greenglass, at the time worked at the nuclear plant that made the atomic bomb in America. Julius Rosenberg was laid off during the red scare and probably thought that the best way to avenge himself was to obtain information about the atomic bomb and share what he discovered with the Soviets. “The Soviets exploded their first atomic bomb (and effectively started the Cold War) in September 1949 based on information, including that from Greenglass, they had obtained from spies.” (http://www.history.com ) Greenglass had told
On March 22, 1949 President Harry S. Truman signed an executive order, often referred to as the “Loyalty Order” that established Loyalty Review Boards as a way to protect the government from communist influence. The order gave the government the power to test Federal employees loyalty to the United States.
It all started during the cold war and was put in place to keep America safe from communism. President Truman wanted to make sure that the United States was not going to be taken over by communist ideas. Any Federal employees that were suspected of being communist sympathizers were investigated and brought in front of a Loyalty Review Board. There was a Cold War going on between the Soviet Union and the United States …show more content…
The Cold War described the relationship between the US and the Soviet Union and began shortly after World War II and was mainly caused by the differing views of capitalism vs. communism and a distrust the two countries had for each other. A big reason for the distrust was because the Soviets had developed atomic bombs. Bombs kept by both countries kept each other on edge. The cold war lasted roughly 45 years beginning in 1945 and ending in 1991 after the falling of the berlin …show more content…
He feared spies, sabotage, and the overthrowing of the American government. Not only the idea of communism was a problem but also loyalty to America. This led to people within the federal government being investigated and interrogated on their beliefs towards the United States government as well as their opinion on communism. Whoever was caught favoring or supporting communism would be charged with treason. Throughout this process only 212 government officials were dismissed due to the ruling of being suspicious. One of the main trials dealing with the Loyalty Review Boards and treason was the Rosenberg trial. Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were suspected of spying on the United States and selling nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union. Rosenberg’s brother in-law, David Greenglass, at the time worked at the nuclear plant that made the atomic bomb in America. Julius Rosenberg was laid off during the red scare and probably thought that the best way to avenge himself was to obtain information about the atomic bomb and share what he discovered with the Soviets. “The Soviets exploded their first atomic bomb (and effectively started the Cold War) in September 1949 based on information, including that from Greenglass, they had obtained from spies.” (http://www.history.com ) Greenglass had told