Welcome back to SNAFUBAR. This week, we are diving into the topic of military lingo, a way of speaking that is embedded into everyday life for former and current military personnel as well as for civilians.
In today’s episode, we’re going to focus our attention on President Harry Truman: we’re going to look a little bit at his pre-presidential life of military service, and then we’re going to turn to his presidency, highlighting the moral urgency that he brought to questions of global responsibility and interventionism. We’ll introduce the Truman Doctrine and then we’ll spend some time digging into his State of the Union addresses. We'll also look at the work of American Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr and how his philosophy provides alternative approaches and ways of thinking to Truman's own thoughts on America's role in the world.
Today's episode is co-hosted by Sara and our writer/researcher Roman Sotomayor, an alum of Cal Poly Humboldt who has worked closely with Sara on different research projects and on engaging with the local veterans community here in Humboldt.
SNAFUBAR is regularly hosted by Sara Hart, who teaches Religious Studies at Cal Poly Humboldt, and Jeff Crane who is an Environmental Historian and Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt.
Research and writing for the show is done by Liam Salcuni and Roman Sotomayor (who also hosted today's episode)
SNAFUBAR is produced by Abigail Smithson and brought to you by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt.
Works Cited:
National Parks Service, Harry S Truman and the Influences of his Service in World War I
National Archives, Truman Doctrine (1947)
Allierten Museum, “Cold War” - The (Pre)History of a Term
Linen for Project Gutenberg, State of the Union Addresses of Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman Library & Museum, President Truman’s Remarks, Syracuse, NY
The American Presidency Project, Harry S. Truman Public Approval
Daily News, Daily News from New York 217
Reinhold Niebuhr, The Irony of American History
Reinhold Niebuhr, The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness
