About presidents harrystruman

==== ABOUT THE WHITE HOUSE * PRESIDENTS ====
	
=== OUR PRESIDENTS ===
about_presidents_georgewashington 1. George Washington 
about_presidents_johnadams 2. John Adams 
about_presidents_thomasjefferson 3. Thomas Jefferson 
about_presidents_jamesmadison 4. James Madison 
about_presidents_jamesmonroe 5. James Monroe 
about_presidents_johnquincyadams 6. John Quincy Adams 
about_presidents_andrewjackson 7. Andrew Jackson 
about_presidents_martinvanburen 8. Martin Van Buren 
about_presidents_williamhenryharrison 9. William Henry Harrison 
about_presidents_johntyler 10. John Tyler 
about_presidents_jamespolk 11. James K. Polk 
about_presidents_zacharytaylor 12. Zachary Taylor 
about_presidents_millardfillmore 13. Millard Fillmore 
about_presidents_franklinpierce 14. Franklin Pierce 
about_presidents_jamesbuchanan 15. James Buchanan 
about_presidents_abrahamlincoln 16. Abraham Lincoln 
about_presidents_andrewjohnson 17. Andrew Johnson 
about_presidents_ulyssessgrant 18. Ulysses S. Grant 
about_presidents_rutherfordbhayes 19. Rutherford B. Hayes 
about_presidents_jamesgarfield 20. James Garfield 
about_presidents_chesterarthur 21. Chester A. Arthur 
about_presidents_grovercleveland 22. Grover Cleveland 
about_presidents_benjaminharrison 23. Benjamin Harrison 
about_presidents_grovercleveland 24. Grover Cleveland 
about_presidents_williammckinley 25. William McKinley 
about_presidents_theodoreroosevelt 26. Theodore Roosevelt 
about_presidents_williamhowardtaft 27. William Howard Taft 
about_presidents_woodrowwilson 28. Woodrow Wilson 
about_presidents_warrenharding 29. Warren G. Harding 
about_presidents_calvincoolidge 30. Calvin Coolidge 
about_presidents_herberthoover 31. Herbert Hoover 
about_presidents_franklindroosevelt 32. Franklin D. Roosevelt 
about_presidents_harrystruman 33. Harry S. Truman 
about_presidents_dwightdeisenhower 34. Dwight D. Eisenhower 
about_presidents_johnfkennedy 35. John F. Kennedy 
about_presidents_lyndonjohnson 36. Lyndon B. Johnson 
about_presidents_richardnixon 37. Richard M. Nixon 
about_presidents_geraldford 38. Gerald R. Ford 
about_presidents_jimmycarter 39. James Carter 
about_presidents_ronaldreagan 40. Ronald Reagan 
about_presidents_georgehwbush 41. George H. W. Bush 
about_presidents_williamjclinton 42. William J. Clinton 
about_presidents_georgewbush 43. George W. Bush 
administration_president_obama 44. Barack Obama 
[[[Image:33ht_header_sm.jpg|450px|Photo]] of Harry S Truman ]
== 33. HARRY S. TRUMAN 1945-1953 ==
During his few weeks as Vice President, Harry S Truman scarcely saw President Roosevelt, and received no briefing on the development of the atomic bomb or the unfolding difficulties with Soviet Russia. Suddenly these and a host of other wartime problems became Truman's to solve when, on April 12, 1945, he became President. He told reporters, "I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me."
Truman was born in Lamar, Missouri, in 1884. He grew up in Independence, and for 12 years prospered as a Missouri farmer.
He went to France during World War I as a captain in the Field Artillery. Returning, he married Elizabeth Virginia Wallace, and opened a haberdashery in Kansas City.
Active in the Democratic Party, Truman was elected a judge of the Jackson County Court (an administrative position) in 1922. He became a Senator in 1934. During World War II he headed the Senate war investigating committee, checking into waste and corruption and saving perhaps as much as 15 billion dollars.
As President, Truman made some of the most crucial decisions in history. Soon after V-E Day, the war against Japan had reached its final stage. An urgent plea to Japan to surrender was rejected. Truman, after consultations with his advisers, ordered atomic bombs dropped on cities devoted to war work. Two were Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japanese surrender quickly followed.
In June 1945 Truman witnessed the signing of the charter of the United Nations, hopefully established to preserve peace.
Thus far, he had followed his predecessor's policies, but he soon developed his own. He presented to Congress a 21-point program, proposing the expansion of Social Security, a full-employment program, a permanent Fair Employment Practices Act, and public housing and slum clearance. The program, Truman wrote, "symbolizes for me my assumption of the office of President in my own right." It became known as the Fair Deal.
Dangers and crises marked the foreign scene as Truman campaigned successfully in 1948. In foreign affairs he was already providing his most effective leadership.
In 1947 as the Soviet Union pressured Turkey and, through guerrillas, threatened to take over Greece, he asked Congress to aid the two countries, enunciating the program that bears his name--the Truman Doctrine. The Marshall Plan, named for his Secretary of State, stimulated spectacular economic recovery in war-torn western Europe.
When the Russians blockaded the western sectors of Berlin in 1948, Truman created a massive airlift to supply Berliners until the Russians backed down. Meanwhile, he was negotiating a military alliance to protect Western nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, established in 1949.
In June 1950, when the Communist government of North Korea attacked South Korea, Truman conferred promptly with his military advisers. There was, he wrote, "complete, almost unspoken acceptance on the part of everyone that whatever had to be done to meet this aggression had to be done. There was no suggestion from anyone that either the United Nations or the United States could back away from it."
A long, discouraging struggle ensued as U.N. forces held a line above the old boundary of South Korea. Truman kept the war a limited one, rather than risk a major conflict with China and perhaps Russia.
Deciding not to run again, he retired to Independence; at age 88, he died December 26, 1972, after a stubborn fight for life.
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For more information about President Truman, please visitHarry S Truman Library and Museum
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 Original URL: http://whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/harrystruman/