President Truman

President Truman
Name	Harry S. Truman
Caption	Harry S. Truman in 1945
Birth date	May 8, 1884
Birth place	Lamar, Missouri, United States
Death date	December 26, 1972
Death place	Kansas City, Missouri, United States
Resting place	Truman Presidential Library and Museum
Party	Democratic Party
Spouse	Bess Wallace Truman
Children	Mary Margaret Truman
Office	33rd President of the United States
Term start	April 12, 1945
Term end	January 20, 1953
Predecessor	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Successor	Dwight D. Eisenhower

President Truman Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States, assuming office in April 1945 after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt and serving until 1953. Truman guided the United States through the end of World War II and the early Cold War, making pivotal decisions on the use of atomic bomb, the Marshall Plan, and recognition of Israel. His presidency reshaped American foreign policy and influenced postwar international institutions.

Early Life and Education

Truman was born in Lamar, Missouri to John Anderson Truman and Martha Ellen Young Truman and raised on the Truman Farm near Grandview, Missouri, attending Independence High School and the Spalding's Commercial College in Kansas City, Missouri. He worked on the family farm and as a clerk at the Kansas City Northern Railroad and the Santa Fe Railway before moving into local politics and business. Influences included his maternal grandfather Solomon Young and community institutions such as the Baptist church in Independence, Missouri.

Military Service and Entry into Politics

Truman enlisted in the United States Army during World War I, receiving a commission as a captain in the Field Artillery and serving with the Missouri National Guard in training units at Camp Doniphan and later with the 35th Division. After the war he returned to Missouri and became active in the Jackson County Court and the Democratic Party (United States), leveraging connections with local political boss Tom Pendergast. He co-founded the Truman & Jacobson business and later operated his own Junction City Farm and hardware ventures before elected office.

Political Career and Rise to the Presidency

Truman won election as president of the Jackson County Court and served as a U.S. Senator from Missouri from 1935 to 1945, where he chaired the Truman Committee (formally the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program) overseeing military procurement and exposing waste in New Deal wartime contracts. He gained national prominence through oversight of War Production and clashes with figures such as Henry Morgenthau Jr. and Harold Ickes. In 1944 he was selected as the vice presidential running mate to Franklin D. Roosevelt on the Democratic National Convention ticket, winning election as Vice President of the United States and becoming vice president during Roosevelt’s fourth term.

Presidency (1945–1953)

Truman became president on April 12, 1945, following Roosevelt’s death at Warm Springs, Georgia, immediately facing the endgame of World War II, the Yalta Conference legacy, and decisions about occupation policy for Germany and Japan. He authorized the use of atomic bomb against Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 and presided over the Treaty of San Francisco-era arrangements and the occupation under Douglas MacArthur. Domestically he confronted postwar reconversion, labor strikes involving unions like the United Auto Workers and International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and economic challenges addressed by initiatives debated in the United States Congress and in dialogue with figures such as Henry Wallace and James Byrnes.

Domestic Policies and Civil Rights

Truman advanced the Fair Deal, proposing measures on national health insurance (influenced by advocates such as Frances Perkins), national housing programs, and minimum wage increases legislated under the Employment Act of 1946 and later the Fair Labor Standards Act amendments. He issued Executive Order 9981 desegregating the United States Armed Forces and took steps toward civil rights enforcement, drawing support and opposition from politicians including Earl Warren, Thurgood Marshall, and southern Democrats like Strom Thurmond. He appointed Supreme Court justices and federal judges shaping rulings on civil liberties and worked with Congress on anti-inflation and tax policy.

Foreign Policy and Cold War Decisions

Truman’s foreign policy established the framework for the Cold War through doctrines and institutions: the Truman Doctrine supporting Greece and Turkey, the Marshall Plan for European recovery, and the creation of NATO tying the United States to collective defense with allies like the United Kingdom and France. He recognized the state of Israel in 1948 and navigated relations with the Soviet Union amid crises such as the Berlin Blockade and the Greek Civil War. Truman authorized U.S. involvement in the Korean War under United Nations auspices after the North Korea invasion of South Korea in 1950, engaging commanders such as Douglas MacArthur and later relieving MacArthur to assert civilian control and manage a wider Asia strategy involving China and Taiwan.

Later Life, Legacy, and Historical Assessment

After leaving office in 1953, Truman returned to Missouri and established the Truman Presidential Library and Museum in Independence, Missouri, remaining active in public debates and publishing memoirs including Memoirs by Harry S. Truman. Historians and scholars such as Alonzo Hamby and David McCullough have reassessed his record, noting his decisive leadership on atomic energy policy, the formation of United Nations policy, and civil rights initiatives. Truman’s approval ratings were low at the end of his term but his legacy improved during the Cold War and Vietnam War era evaluations; he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and remains a central figure in studies of mid-20th-century American politics, alongside contemporaries Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin.

Category:Presidents of the United States Category:Harry S. Truman