Center for American Institutions: Leadership Academy for Adult Learners

In partnership with the Truman Presidential Library’s White House Decision Center, the ASU Center for American Institutions is pleased to offer adult learners an opportunity to join us on the ASU Tempe campus on Tuesday, July 30, 2024 for the CAI Leadership Academy. 

The topic of the July 30 academy is ‘Responding to the Communist Invasion of South Korea’

Prompted by the immediate threat of communism in Turkey and Greece, President Harry S. Truman issued a statement that came to be known as the Truman Doctrine, which pledged the United States to contain Soviet expansion and “support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation.”  In June 1950, a Soviet-backed Communist army from North Korea invaded South Korea. With communism on the march on several fronts worldwide, President Truman had to decide whether to intervene in the Korean War.

The academy will challenge participants to step into the roles of President Truman and his advisors to make decisions about the role of the United States in the Korean War. Participants will choose which cabinet role they would like to explore in the simulation.

Participants will learn about world history during the Truman presidency by reading de-classified primary documents and the decision making processes that went into Truman's policies. 

The fee to attend is $50, which is subsidized by funding from the Apgar Foundation, the Bradley Foundation, the Palo Verde Republican Women, Fountain Hills Republican Club and community donors to the ASU Center for American Institutions.