Why Did the United States Adopt a Policy of Containment?

The term containment, introduced by the Truman Administration, describes the foreign policy pursued by the United States after the Second World War. The policy itself was an attempt to 'contain' the Soviet Union within its current borders and frustrate any attempts of expansion. George F. Kennan, a diplomat and US State department advisor on Soviet affairs, introduced the term in his famous Anonymous X - article. Keenan suggested a
' Long term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies'
This would lead to the inevitable break up of the Soviet Union. Since the defeat of the Nazi's the Soviets because of their communist ideology and history were considered to be the largest threat to the Western World. Arguably all of the United States foreign policies after the Second World War were in one way or another directed towards that of the Soviet Union and therefore examples of containment.
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