<http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/~ucalhist/archives_exhibits/loyaltyoath/ timeline1940_1948.html>
1947
American President Harry Truman establishes the "Truman Doctrine" stating as policy worldwide American opposition to communism. The policy is coupled with Congressional action to send military and economic aid to Turkey and Greece, where civil wars are underway.
George Kennan, writing under a pseudonym in Foreign Affairs, promulgates the goal of "containment" of the Soviet Union, which becomes a cornerstone of American foreign policy.
President Truman initiates loyalty oaths for Federal employees, and the use of such oaths spreads rapidly through public and private agencies. Many Americans, fearful of the spread of communism, start or support what are later called "witch hunts" for suspected communists in American society.
The Marshall Plan is instituted, providing massive American economic and military aid to western Europe to rebuild war damaged countries and strengthen anti-communist governments.
Civil war continues in Greece, but American and British aid, including military advisers, starts to erode the advance of communist forces. The Chinese Communists make military gains against the Nationalists. In Hungary, a short-lived democratic government ends as Soviet occupation forces install a one-party communist government.
The Central Intelligence Agency is created in the United States.
[text of Truman loyalty executive order: <http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst203/documents/loyal.html>]