مبدأ ترومان
Lippmann incorrectly concluded that Kennan's article had inspired the Truman Doctrine, which Lippmann opposed. Kennan's article was completed in late January 1947 and Truman announced his Doctrine in a 12 March 1947 speech. Despite this chronology, Gaddis writes: "there is no evidence that it influenced the drafting of that address and abundant evidence that Kennan had sought to remove the language in it to which Lippmann later objected." For Lippmann, however, the piece was "not only an analytical interpretation of the sources of Soviet conduct. It is also a document of primary importance on the sources of American foreign policy – of at least that part of it which is known as the Truman Doctrine."