Prompt: In its effort to protect national security, did the Truman administration violate the rights and freedoms of Americans? (at least 7 sentences)

The Truman Administration was not generally known for intrusions against the rights of Americans. If anything, his administration had a reputation among his political opponents (the Republicans) of being "soft" on the threat of communism. However, to offset such criticisms against his administration, Truman did issue an executive order in March, 1947, that set up the Federal Employee Loyalty Program. This program was aimed at confirming loyalty to US democratic ideals by all federal employees, as a check against the perceived threat of communist infiltration of the government. Under that program, only a small number of employees were uncovered whose loyalty to American government could reasonably be doubted.

It was during the days of the Truman administration that the Red Scare and much violation of civil rights occurred due to the efforts of Joseph McCarthy, Republican Senator from Wisconsin. But those tactics were not the doing of the Truman administration itself.