STREAMING PROGRAM INFORMATION
- This program is part of our Smithsonian Associates Streaming series.
- Platform: Zoom
- Online registration is required.
- If you register multiple individuals, you will be asked to supply individual names and email addresses so they can receive a Zoom link email. Please note that if there is a change in program schedule or a cancellation, we will notify you via email, and it will be your responsibility to notify other registrants in your group.
By 1947, the Soviet Union had moved from being America’s uneasy ally in the Second World War to its most feared enemy. In the aftermath of that conflict, only America could afford to defend freedom in the West—and a president who hadn’t even been elected to that office found himself spearheading the effort. But Harry S. Truman would wage a high-stakes domestic political battle that convinced friends and foes alike to join in his crusade to defend democracy across the globe from the threat of Soviet communism.
In conversation with Pulitzer-prize winning author and presidential historian Jon Meacham, Joe Scarborough draws on his new book, Saving Freedom: Truman, the Cold War, and the Fight for Western Civilization, discussing how this untested president acted decisively to build a lasting coalition that would influence America’s foreign policy for generations to come.
He traces the political and personal struggles that brought Truman to the decisive moment in March 1947 when he delivered an address before a joint session of Congress announcing a policy of containment that would soon become known as the Truman Doctrine, which pledged that the United States would “support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.” The policy was a radical shift from 150 years of isolationism, but it would prove to guarantee Western Europe’s freedom, the rise of the American Century, and the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union.
Scarborough is a New York Times bestselling author, a Washington Post columnist, co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” and a former United States congressman.
The ticket price includes a copy of Saving Freedom (Harper) and a bookplate signed by the author. (see Book Distribution Information for added details).
Book Distribution Information
The featured book is included with the ticket price. Books will be shipped by Politics and Prose to your home address, so please review the accuracy of your name and address at the time of registration. Saving Freedom will be released on November 24; please allow 2–4 weeks after that date for book delivery.
If you do not want your personal information shared with the distributor, please email CustomerService@SmithsonianAssociates.org. Opting out from receiving the book does not reduce the registration fee.
Patron Information
- Once registered, patrons should receive an automatic email confirmation from CustomerService@SmithsonianAssociates.org.
- Separate Zoom link information will be emailed closer to the date of the program. If you do not receive your Zoom link information 24 hours prior to the start of the program, please email Customer Service for assistance.
- View Common FAQs about our Streaming Programs on Zoom.
