President Joe Biden faces an aggressive Russia waging war to expand its borders. He has rallied Americans to support Ukraine as it resists a devastating Russian attack. But Biden has also been careful not to intensify enthusiasm for entering that conflict, which could have horrific consequences, including nuclear war.
He’s not the first U.S. president to face the challenge of mobilizing a nation to support – but not join – a war about democracy that carried the potential for wider conflict. In 1947, President Harry Truman was in a remarkably similar position. And he handled it in a remarkably similar way: with plain words and a direct appeal to Americans to support another nation’s independence, while simultaneously avoiding language that could spark further conflict.
