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NSC 68 was a policy paper written by the National Security Council for President Harry Truman providing a comprehensive analysis of the capabilities of the Soviet Union and of the United States of America from military, economic, political and psychological standpoints. Produced on April 14, 1950, NSC 68 would shape government actions in the Cold War for the next 20 years and has subsequently been labeled the “blueprint” for the Cold War.
NSC 68 called for a massive buildup and an increase in funding for the armed forces in an effort to contain the Soviets. NSC 68 outlined a drastic foreign policy shift from defensive containment to aggressive military preparedness and declared in powerful rhetoric Soviet intention to risk war. NSC 68’s principal thesis was that the Soviet Union intended to become the single dominant world power and remake international society through communist expansion of Soviet authority.
While the writers of NSC 68 provided no financial recommendations on how to implement policy, the policy paper encouraged peacetime military spending.
Truman left NSC 68 unsigned on his desk for more than 6 months. But with North Korean forces attacking South Korea on June 25, 1950 to start the Korean War, NSC 68’s assessment appeared correct and the military buildup began.
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