http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-american-leaders From 1945 until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, U.S. presidents and politicians developed strategies to limit the spread of communism. en Copyright 2013, History.com Sun, 19 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT History.com 2013-05-19T04:00:00Z en Copyright 2013, History.com http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-american-leaders/photo1 Harry Truman had only been vice president for three months before assuming the presidency. During his nearly eight years in office, he attempted to contain the spread of communism as the Cold War heated up. http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-american-leaders/photo1 http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-american-leaders/photo2 Acheson played a central role in defining American foreign policy during the Cold War. As Truman's secretary of state, he encouraged U.S. involvement in the Korean War. In the 1960s, he counseled John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson on the Cuban Missile Crisis and Vietnam. http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-american-leaders/photo2 http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-american-leaders/photo3 General George Marshall oversaw the Allied victory in World War II before serving as both secretary of state and secretary of defense. He was instrumental in developing the "Marshall Plan," aimed at rebuilding postwar Europe, stabilizing the region and preventing the spread of communism. http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-american-leaders/photo3 http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-american-leaders/photo4 In the 1940s, George Kennan developed the "containment” strategy to isolate the Soviet Union and limit the spread of communism. Containment would become the prevailing American foreign policy for decades, influencing U.S. involvement in Korea, Vietnam and Eastern Europe. http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-american-leaders/photo4 http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-american-leaders/photo5 After a successful military career in both World Wars, Gen. Douglas MacArthur commanded U.N. forces during the Korean War until his controversial dismissal by President Harry S. Truman in April 1951. http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-american-leaders/photo5 http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-american-leaders/photo6 As President Eisenhower's secretary of state, John Foster Dulles developed an aggressive policy towards the Soviet Union, which included expanding American alliances in Europe and Southeast Asia and supporting U.S. actions to overthrow leftist governments in Iran and Guatemala. http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-american-leaders/photo6 http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-american-leaders/photo7 Conceived by the Eisenhower Administration and carried out by the Kennedy White House, the failed 1961 invasion of Cuba's Bay of Pigs heightened U.S.-Soviet tensions and contributed to the Cuban Missile Crisis the following year. http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-american-leaders/photo7 http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-american-leaders/photo8 Robert McNamara served eight years as secretary of defense to Presidents Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. He was a key architect and supporter of U.S. strategy in Vietnam, though he would later admit the policy's failures. http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-american-leaders/photo8 http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-american-leaders/photo9 In 1972, Richard Nixon travelled to the Soviet Union to meet with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. The meeting resulted in two landmark weapons treaties and eased tensions, ushering in a new policy known as détente. http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-american-leaders/photo9 http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-american-leaders/photo10 National security advisor and secretary of state to Presidents Nixon and Ford, Kissinger helped ease relations with the Soviet Union and China, and negotiated an end to the Vietnam War. He remains a controversial figure for his role in American actions in Cambodia, Latin America and elsewhere. http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-american-leaders/photo10 http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-american-leaders/photo11 Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev and President Jimmy Carter meet in Vienna to negotiate the strategic arms limitation treaty (SALT II) on June 18, 1979. http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-american-leaders/photo11 http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-american-leaders/photo12 In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev worked together to diffuse U.S.-Soviet tensions, and lay the groundwork for the end of the Cold War. http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-american-leaders/photo12 http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-american-leaders/photo13 President George H.W. Bush's decades of foreign policy experience made him uniquely suited to oversee the U.S. reaction to the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-american-leaders/photo13