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| <table border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" align="right"> | |||
| <caption><font size="+1">'''Harry S. Truman'''</font></caption> | |||
| <tr><td style="background:#efefef;" align="center" colspan=2> | |||
| ]<br> | |||
| ''President Truman in November 1945'' | |||
| <tr><td>'''Rank:'''</td><td>33rd</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td>'''Term of Office:'''</td><td>], ] - ], ]</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td>'''Followed:'''</td><td>]</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td>'''Succeeded by:'''</td><td>]</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td>'''Date of Birth'''</td><td>], ], ]</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td>'''Place of Birth:'''</td><td>], ]</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td>'''Date of Death:'''</td><td>], ], ]</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td>'''Place of Death:'''</td><td>], ]</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td>''']:'''</td><td>]</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td>''']:'''</td><td>]</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td>''']:'''</td><td>]</td></tr> | |||
| <tr><td>''']:'''</td><td>] (]-])</td></tr> | |||
| </table> | |||
| '''Harry S. Truman''' (], ] - ], ]) was the 33rd (]-]) ] of the ]. Truman's presidency was very eventful, seeing the end of ], the beginning of the ], the formation of the ], and most of the ]. Truman was a notoriously folksy president, issuing many famous phrases including "the buck stops here". | |||
| == Early Life == | |||
| Harry S. Truman was born on ], ] in ]. When Truman was six years old, his parents moved the family to ], and it was there that Truman would spend the bulk of his formative years. After graduating high school in ], Truman worked at a series of clerical jobs before he decided to become a ] in ], an occupation in which he remained for another ten years. | |||
| With the onset of American participation in ], Truman enlisted in the ], was chosen to be an officer, and then commanded a regimental battery in ]. At the war's conclusion, Truman returned to Independence and married his long-time love interest, ], and they would have one child, Margaret, shortly thereafter. | |||
| == Political Career == | |||
| In ] Truman was elected to local office with the help of the ] Democratic machine, led by Boss Tom Pendergast, and, although he was defeated for re-election in ], he easily won in ] and then again in ]. Truman performed his duties in this office diligently, and won personal acclaim for several popular public works projects. In 1934 the Pendergast machine selected him to run for ]'s open ] seat, and he ran as a ] in support of ]. Once elected, Truman supported the president on most issues and became a popular member of the Senate "club." | |||
| Having always taken a keen interest in foreign affairs, Truman first gained national prominence in his second term when his preparedness committee made a scandal of military wastefulness by exposing fraud and mismanagement. His advocacy of common-sense cost-saving measures for the military gained him wide respect, and he emerged as a popular choice for the vice-presidential slot in 1944. Yet he was barely installed as vice president when FDR died on ], ], elevating him to the presidency. | |||
| == Presidency == | |||
| When Truman first took office, he was initially preoccupied with foreign policy: the ], the conclusion of the war in Europe, and then in August, with the decision to drop ] on ] and ], ]. | |||
| Realizing that the interests of the ] were quickly becoming incompatible with the interests of the ] in the absence of a common enemy, Truman's administration articulated an increasingly hard line against the Soviets. Nonetheless, as a ] internationalist Truman strongly supported the creation of the ], and he sent a distinguished American delegation to the UN's first General Assembly that included former First Lady ]. Although some people were distrustful of his expertise on foreign matters, Truman was able to win broad support for the ], and then for the ] which sought to contain Soviet power in ]. Truman also issued the executive order integrating the U.S. Armed Services following World War II. | |||
| As he readied for the approaching ], Truman made clear his identity as a ] in the ] tradition, advocating universal health insurance, modest ] legislation, and the repeal of the ] in a broad legislative program that he called the "]." While it was widely expected that Truman would lose, he campaigned furiously and managed to pull off one of the greatest upsets in presidential election history by defeating ] and earning a term in the White House in his own right. | |||
| Shortly after Truman's inauguration, he presented his Fair Deal program to Congress, but it was not well received and only one of its major bills was enacted. A few months later the nation's attention was focused solidly on foreign policy once again with the "fall of China" to ]'s communists. The incident would prove to be catastrophic for the administration, because it signaled the end of the Democrats' ability to manage the early Cold War in the eyes of the American public. Within a year of Nationalist China's collapse, ] had been exposed as a former communist, ] had invaded ], and Senator ] had publicly accused the ] of being riddled with communists. The Hiss case damaged the Truman White House and Senator McCarthy initially commanded broad public support, but events at home took a backseat to the ] where the vain and brilliant ] had won the imagination of the American people. MacArthur advocated extending the war into ], but when Truman disagreed with him MacArthur publicly aired his views and the president retaliated by relieving him from command. It was a deeply unpopular action that seriously wounded Truman's credibility with the American people. His unpopularity grew even more pronounced as the military situation in Korea became increasingly stalemated. On ], ] Truman announced the development of the ]. Realizing that in all probability he could not be reelected, Truman declined to run and instead retired to Independence in ] of ]. | |||
| Unlike other presidents, Truman however did not live in the White House. Structural analysis of the building early in his term had shown the White House to be in immediate danger of collapse, partly due to problems with the walls and foundation that dated back to the burning of the building by the British in the early nineteenth century. The President was moved immediately to ] nearby, which became ''his'' White House, while the White House was systematically dismantled to the foundations and rebuilt, using concrete and steel, with the interior re-inserted over the new floors and walls. A new balcony was inserted on the curved portico, now known as the ''Truman Balcony''. | |||
| == Post-presidency == | |||
| Truman's active years were hardly behind him, however. He would live until ], during which time he wrote his memoirs, remained active in politics, and occasionally commented on political and public policy issues. By the time of his death in December of 1972, Truman's presidential image had been significantly rehabilitated by the longer view of history and he had come to be regarded as a genuinely great American president. | |||
| ==Truman's Middle Initial== | |||
| Truman did not have a middle name, but only a middle initial. It was a common practice in southern states, including ], to use initials rather than names. Truman said the initial was a compromise between the names of his grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young. He once joked that the S was a name, not an initial, and it should not have a period, but all official documents, and his presidential library all use the name with a period. | |||
| == ] appointments == | |||
| * ] - 1945 | |||
| * ] - Chief Justice - 1946 | |||
| * ] - 1949 | |||
| * ] - 1949 | |||
| == Related articles == | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| * | |||
| == References == | |||
| Much of this article (as of this writing on January 25, 2003) was copied from the , material from which is in the public domain. The original authors of the article cite the following references: | |||
| * ''American National Biography''. Vol. 21. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999, 857-863. | |||
| * Black, Allida M. ''Casting Her Own Shadow: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Shaping of Postwar Liberalism''. New York: Columbia University Press, 1996, 51-85. | |||
| * Graff, Henry F., ed. ''The Presidents: A Reference History''. 2nd ed. New York: Simon and Schuster Macmillan, 1996, 443-458. | |||
| * Lash, Joseph. ''Eleanor: The Years Alone''. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1972, 23, 36-37, 142-145, 210, 214, 296. | |||