11 12 13 14 15 Why was President Truman considered to be weak on communism despite the federal government’s measures to investigate communists? Fear of communism had reached a level that bordered on hysteria, and Truman’s actions did little to make it go away. Truman actions were not strong enough to demonstrate to the public that the threat from the Soviets was very real. Truman focused only on the government; he did not believe that communism had infiltrated other aspects of American life. People believed that Truman might have been a communist and was only conducting investigations to protect himself from suspicion.