Harry S Truman

Harry S. Truman was the 33rd president of the United States. Most well known as the man who decided to drop the atomic bomb on Japan to end World War II, many other important historical events took place during his term, such as the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 and the Korean War.

He was born on May 8, 1884, in Lamar, Missouri, the son of a livestock trader, John Anderson Truman, and his mother was Martha Ellen Young Truman. His father was an active Democrat. Harry was born with poor eyesight but he loved to read as a child. He finished high school 1901, worked at various jobs for several years, and later had two years of law school.

He was a veteran from World War I, having fought with his artillery unit in the battles of Vosges, Saint Mihiel, and Meuse-Argonne. In 1919 after the war, he married Bess Wallace, whom he had known since childhood. He was 35 and she was 34. They had one child, Margaret, who was a singer and a writer of biographies of her parents and mystery novels.

He was in charge of a men's clothing store in Kansas City from 1919 to 1922. The recession after the war was difficult for that business. From 1922-1934, he was a judge in Jackson County. He was a U. S. Senator from Missouri (1935-1945) before he was nominated for the vice-presidency by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

The end of World War II. Truman took over the Presidential office after FDR died on April 12, 1945 of a cerebral hemorrhage. http://docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/psf/box20/t901ay01.html In the first two months of his Presidency, he saw the end of the war in Europe. In July after extensive incendiary bombing of the Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, and Kobe, the Japanese refused to accept the unconditional surrender terms of the Potsdam Declaration made in Germany. Although an invasion had already been planned for August, Truman decided that it was best end the war by dropping the atomic bomb. On August 6th, Hiroshima was bombed and on August 9th, Nagasaki was bombed. The Japanese Emperor issued a broadcast surrender message on August 14th and Japan formally surrendered on September 2 on the USS Missouri. After the war, Truman agreed to the Marshall Plan for the rebuilding of Europe. http://www.trumanlibrary.org/teacher/abomb.htm http://worldwar2database.com/html/japansurrender.htm

Re-election to Office. Truman campaigned for an elected term in 1948 against Thomas Dewey and was narrowly voted into office. One of the reasons for his narrow win margin was that there was staunch opposition to the President's proposal to guarantee the rights of blacks. Contributing to his win was a lackluster campaign with many gaffs by Dewey, but the polls and the media believed he would win. http://www.kennesaw.edu/pols/3380/pres/1948.html

The Truman Doctrine. Outlined in more detail below, Truman established what was called the Truman doctrine to support free people in countries threatened by other countries by armed or other force, a policy that was in reaction to the growing influence and expansion of the Soviet Union.

Truman's Domestic Accomplishments. The domestic agenda of his administration surpassed the accomplishments of Roosevelt's New Deal in the enactment of civil rights legislation. The Congress at the time limited Truman's desired goals, but through executive orders he desegregated the armed forces and forbid racial discrimination in Federal employment. The Committee on Civil Rights was also created by Truman. His Justice Department also fought on the behalf of plaintiffs in segregation cases before the Supreme Court.

Harry S. Truman died on December 26, 1972, and his wife, Bess, died almost 10 years later on October 18, 1982. They are buried at each other's side on the grounds of the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri. http://americanhistory.about.com/od/harrystruman/p/ptruman.htm http://www.trumanlibrary.org/hst-bio.htm

On March 12, 1947, President Harry Truman presented a speech that contained the Truman Doctrine to a joint session of Congress. As a part of this speech, he requested $400 million in aid for Greece and Turkey. The impetus that caused Truman to give this speech was a believed support of Greek Communists by the Soviet Union (which didn't turn out to be true). The gist of the doctrine was that the U. S. Government would, in the case of threats due to other nations or internal authority, democratic nations would be provided political, military and economic assistance.

Harry Truman believed that the withdrawal of British aid to Greece and Turkey would cause instability in the region, and that it was in the best interests of the United States to provide aid to prevent Soviet aggression. Other factors which influenced this decision was the unwillingness of the Soviet Union to withdraw from Iran territory, its pressure on the Iranian government for granting oil concessions, and forceful attempts to cause Turkey to grant them transit rights through the Dardanelle Straits. On top of that, in June of 1946, the Soviets refused to sign the Baruch plan for international control over nuclear energy and weapons.

The law for assistance to Greece and Turkey was signed by the President on May 22, 1947. Thus, as the Monroe doctrine covered the Western Hemisphere earlier, the Truman Doctrine would apply to U.S. interests around the world. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1947truman.html http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/cwr/82210.htm http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/doctrine/large/index.php