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During 1939 to 1941 Taft was an isolationist in 1939-41 and strongly opposed American entry into World War II, while supporting military mobilization and limited aid to Britain. He strongly fully endorsed the [[America First]] Committee, arguing in January 1941 that "Hitler's defeat is not vital to us."<ref> Taft, ''Papers'' 2:218</ref>

After Pearl Harbor (Dec. 1941), however, he strongly completely supported an all-out war against Germany and Japan. The war itself, Taft always argued, was being fought to "make clear that national aggression cannot succeed in this world"<ref> Taft, ''Papers'' 2:443</ref>, and not as liberals said to advance the Four Freedoms, the Atlantic Charter, or publisher Henry Luce's "American Century."

In the late 1940s he was isolationist and Taft did not see view Stalin's [[Soviet Union]] as a major threat. Nor did he pay much attention to internal Communism. The true danger he said was big government and runaway spending. He supported the [[Truman Doctrine]], reluctantly approved the [[Marshall Plan]] but tried to cut its budget, and opposed [[NATO]] as unnecessary and provocative. In 1950-52 he took the lead condemning President [[Harry S. Truman]]'s handling of the [[Korean War]]. Taft tolerated Senator [[Joseph McCarthy]]'s attacks on Democrats, claimed President Truman was fostering a "police state," and blamed General [[George C. Marshall]] for the loss of China and the subsequent Korean War.

 Berger (1967) rejected the idea that [[liberal]] criticism of Taft was as an "isolationist." , which is a pejorative term used by the [[Left]] to smear opponents of [[globalism]]. Berger says Taft was rather a "conservative nationalist at odds with the struggling attempts of liberal American policy-makers to fashion a program in the postwar years." Taft profoundly believed in the exceptionalism of America and its people, and argued the "principal purpose of the foreign policy of the United States is to maintain the liberty of our people." Taft identified three fundamental requirements for the maintenance of American liberty-an economic system based on free enterprise, a political system based on democracy, and national independence and sovereignty. All three, he feared, might be destroyed in a war, or even by extensive preparations for war, so he did not see Stalin's [[Soviet Union]] as a major threat to American values. Nor did he pay much attention to internal Communism. The true danger he said was big government and runaway spending. He supported the [[Truman Doctrine]], reluctantly approved the [[Marshall Plan]], and opposed [[NATO]] as unnecessary and provocative. He consistently opposed the draft and took the lead condemning President [[Harry S. Truman]]'s handling of the [[Korean War]].<ref> See John Moser, "Principles Without Program: Senator Robert A. Taft and American Foreign Policy," ''Ohio History,'' (1999) 108#2 pp. 177-192. </ref>