Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 – December 26, 1972) was the 33rd <a href="/facts/President_of_the_United_States/oMsfmLb1">president of the United States</a>, serving from 1945 to 1953. Serving as the 34th <a href="/facts/Vice_president_of_the_United_States/tYWUGv0A">vice president</a> in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of <a href="/facts/Franklin_D._Roosevelt/HtG9vMQv">Franklin D. Roosevelt</a>. Truman implemented the <a href="/facts/Marshall_Plan/tzYxovlM">Marshall Plan</a> in the <a href="/facts/Aftermath_of_World_War_II/htgyL1tJ">Aftermath of World War II</a> to rebuild the economy of Western Europe, and established both the <a href="/facts/Truman_Doctrine/afV1znQz">Truman Doctrine</a> and <a href="/facts/NATO/dCeTddMY">NATO</a> to contain the expansion of <a href="/facts/Ideology_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union/D2SLaJGA">Soviet communism</a>. A member of the <a href="/facts/Democratic_Party_(United_States)/MNe3nDrL">Democratic Party</a>, he proposed numerous <a href="/facts/New_Deal_coalition/pnDjKwmu">New Deal coalition</a> liberal domestic reforms, but few were enacted by the <a href="/facts/Conservative_coalition/abfnPq10">conservative coalition</a> that dominated the <a href="/facts/United_States_Congress/mJlU46K7">United States Congress</a>.
Truman was raised in <a href="/facts/Independence%2c_Missouri/dJ4zj1af">Independence, Missouri</a>, and during <a href="/facts/World_War_I/vITTUanQ">World War I</a> fought in France as a captain in the Field Artillery. Returning home, he opened a <a href="/facts/Haberdasher/UJsJKLrN">haberdashery</a> in <a href="/facts/Kansas_City%2c_Missouri/N8GxbWWR">Kansas City, Missouri</a>, and was elected as a judge of <a href="/facts/Jackson_County%2c_Missouri/kcfnrmV9">Jackson County</a> in 1922. Truman was elected to the <a href="/facts/U.S._Senate/VyzXHE01">U.S. Senate</a> for Missouri in 1934. Between 1940 and 1944, he gained national prominence as the chairman of the <a href="/facts/Truman_Committee/ENtjbL2q">Truman Committee</a>, which aimed to reduce waste and inefficiency in wartime contracts.
Truman was elected vice president in the <a href="/facts/1944_United_States_presidential_election/r6m9avqz">1944 presidential election</a> and became president upon Roosevelt's death in April 1945. Only then was he told about the ongoing <a href="/facts/Manhattan_Project/gtg8yRK2">Manhattan Project</a> and the <a href="/facts/Atomic_bomb/QVdBcMdm">atomic bomb</a>. Truman authorized the <a href="/facts/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki/fRpj8aJA">first and only use of nuclear weapons in war</a> against the Japanese cities of <a href="/facts/Hiroshima/WuFDhz14">Hiroshima</a> and <a href="/facts/Nagasaki/5HMR4mnp">Nagasaki</a>. <a href="/facts/Presidency_of_Harry_S._Truman/SlNGkwLK">Truman's administration</a> engaged in an <a href="/facts/Internationalism_(politics)/fMQg0U6T">internationalist</a> foreign policy by <a href="/facts/Special_Relationship/xbKT1veR">working closely with Britain</a>. Truman staunchly denounced <a href="/facts/Isolationism/sQUIHlja">isolationism</a>. He energized the <a href="/facts/New_Deal_coalition/pnDjKwmu">New Deal coalition</a> during the <a href="/facts/1948_United_States_presidential_election/Y3gPMaQ3">1948 presidential election</a>, despite a <a href="/facts/Dixiecrats/MxWdNYGA">divided Democratic Party</a>, and won a surprise victory against the <a href="/facts/Republican_Party_(United_States)/XXM1EVPr">Republican Party</a>'s nominee, <a href="/facts/Thomas_E._Dewey/7y5XurJs">Thomas E. Dewey</a>.
Truman presided over the onset of the <a href="/facts/Cold_War/spJdJQ3q">Cold War</a> in 1947. He oversaw the <a href="/facts/Berlin_Airlift/ELYxq0mu">Berlin Airlift</a> and the Marshall Plan in 1948. With America's involvement in the <a href="/facts/Korean_War/Qo93pNhE">Korean War</a> (1950–1953), <a href="/facts/South_Korea/pCobAaVw">South Korea</a> repelled the invasion by <a href="/facts/North_Korea/Q41laakP">North Korea</a>. Domestically, the postwar economic challenges such as strikes and inflation created a mixed reaction over the effectiveness of his administration. In 1948, he proposed that Congress should pass comprehensive civil rights legislation. Congress refused, so Truman issued Executive Order 9980 and <a href="/facts/Executive_Order_9981/YXLLekFK">Executive Order 9981</a>, which prohibited discrimination in agencies of <a href="/facts/Federal_government_of_the_United_States/VJCxUaf7">the federal government</a> and desegregated the <a href="/facts/United_States_Armed_Forces/NHVsU9Id">United States Armed Forces</a>.
Investigations revealed <a href="/facts/Corruption_in_the_United_States/P4NctVD6">corruption</a> in parts of the Truman administration, and this became a major campaign issue in the <a href="/facts/1952_United_States_presidential_election/Fs487584">1952 presidential election</a>, although they did not implicate Truman himself. He was eligible for reelection in 1952 but, with poor polling, he chose not to run. Truman went into a retirement marked by the founding of <a href="/facts/Harry_S._Truman_Presidential_Library_and_Museum/KhctLh2d">his presidential library</a> and the publication of his memoirs. It was long-believed that Truman’s retirement years were financially difficult, resulting in Congress establishing a pension for former presidents, but evidence eventually emerged that he amassed considerable wealth, some of it during his presidency. When Truman left office, his administration was heavily criticized. Despite this controversy, scholars <a href="/facts/Historical_rankings_of_presidents_of_the_United_States/SzRz5GwT">rank</a> Truman in the first quartile of U.S. presidents. In addition, critical reassessments of his presidency have improved his reputation among historians and the general population.

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Harry S. Truman