HARRY YES. TRUMAN: BIOGRAPHY, PRESIDENCY, EVENTS, DEATH - ARTE - 2025

Harry S. Truman (1884 - 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States of America, a position he held between 1945 and 1953. He became the first national magistrate as a result of the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Truman showed an international approach to politics since the circumstances demanded it. The growth of Russian communism was a global threat that challenged American influence.

President Truman in the Oval Office of the White House, by National Archives and Records Administration, via Wikimedia Commons

His rise to the presidency came on the eve of the Allied victory over the Nazi in World War II. Germany's surrender came shortly after Truman's inauguration.

However, what ended the conflict on all fronts was one of the actions most criticized by Truman: Japan was not interested in surrendering its arms and the US president gave the order to drop two nuclear bombs on the Japanese.

That, together with the declaration of war by the Soviet Union, had a relevant role in the Japanese surrender of August 15, 1945 and the signing of the agreement on September 2 of the same year.

The new era posed new challenges for the world. The Cold War had begun and the Allies demonstrated their might from the start with the Berlin Airlift. Also for the purpose of constraining Soviet influence, two of President Truman's milestones emerged, the doctrine that bore his name and the Marshall Plan.

Harry Truman also pushed for the creation of NATO as a defensive alliance system against surprise attacks. During his presidency the Korean War happened and, in addition, he had to deal with the transition from a war economy to one of peace in his country.

Early years

Harry S. Truman was born on May 8, 1884, in Lamar, Missouri. He was the son of John Anderson Truman, who was involved in agriculture, as well as the cattle trade, with his wife Martha Ellen Young Truman.

The letter "S" in his name was a controversial issue, since it was not an initial but when his parents registered it they only wrote that letter in the hope of satisfying both of the boy's grandparents, named Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young.

He had two brothers named John Vivian and Mary Jane, both younger than Truman.

At ten months old, his parents decided to move to Harrisonville and from there they went to Belton. Finally, in 1887 they moved to Truman's grandparents' farm in Grandview, but they were only there for three years before moving to Independence, Missouri.

From the time they arrived at his residence in Independence, Harry began attending the Sunday presbyteran school and was studying there until he was eight years old and was sent to regular school.

He showed interest in areas such as literature, history and music, in the latter he had a special taste for the piano, which he practiced several times a week. All these hobbies were encouraged by his mother.

Youth

Politics also aroused the curiosity of young Harry S. Truman, who, thanks to certain friends of his father, managed to participate in the 1900 Democratic Convention in Kansas City as one of the pages.

In 1901 Truman received his bachelor's degree. He then spent a year at Spalding Commercial College, where he studied accounting, shorthand, and typing. Thanks to that he got a job as a timekeeper in the railway service.

Truman later had some banking jobs, including the National Bank of Commerce in Kansas City. There he met a partner, who also lived in the same pension as him: Arthur Eisenhower, brother of Dwight and Milton.

Military service

Between 1905 and 1911 he served in the Missouri National Guard, although he had trouble getting accepted due to his severe vision problems. In 1917 he returned to the army to serve as part of the American soldiers who were in the Great War.

Truman was sent to France in 1918 and after his promotion to captain took over Battery D.

He saw action at different times, one of them in the Vosges mountain range and another in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. Although their unit was difficult to control at first, they later came to admire Truman for his abilities and bravery in battle.

It is believed that his time in the army served Harry S. Truman to strengthen his qualities as a leader and, in addition, made him the only American president to see action during the Great War.

Back to america

In 1919 he returned to the United States, then he married Elizabeth Wallace the same day that the Treaty of Versailles was signed, that is, June 28, 1919. He had tried to marry her before, but felt that he should have better income than a farmer's.

With the same intention of improving his financial prospects, Truman started a business together with a fellow army officer: the two men opened a haberdashery. They had to face failure when the American economy collapsed in 1921.

After that Truman met Thomas Pendergast, head of the Democratic Party in Kansas City. It was this who provided support for his early political adventures, which led to his election as a Jackson County judge in 1922.

The court he took over dealt primarily with administrative matters. Truman failed to win reelection two years later. Also in 1924 Margaret was born the first and only daughter of the Truman couple.

After his defeat in the election, Truman spent a short time selling car club memberships, but soon realized his calling was at work as a civil servant.

Missouri Senator

In 1926 Harry S. Truman was elected President of the Court of the Jackson Court. In 1930 he returned to the post of county judge and from that position he coordinated the well-known "Ten Year Plan."

In 1933 he served as the Missouri director of the Federal Re-employment Program. His political career was yet to take off, but his appetites had already emerged.

Truman went to Pendergast to propose that he endorse him as a candidate for governor or congressman.

However, the Democratic leader did not heed his request and it was after the rejection of three other candidates that he proposed to Truman that he go for a Senate position. Without hesitation he accepted the nomination.

As Missouri was a largely Democratic state, it had no problem winning over its Republican counterpart by a good margin.

Many claimed that he was going to be nothing more than a Pendergast puppet, but they soon realized their mistake. During this time President Roosevelt paid no attention to him, since Truman was not yet a national figure.

National fame

In 1940 Harry Truman won the primaries within the Democratic party despite the fact that his old ally, Pendergast, had been in prison for tax evasion for a year and that weakened the senator's base.

He also managed to re-secure his seat in the Senate in the elections and since then began to build a name outside his state with several actions of great relevance to the political landscape of the nation.

During this time he defended a position in which he attacked communists and sympathizers of the Nazi Party alike.

Truman Committee

However, what stood out most of his second term was his leadership within the Senate Special Committee to investigate the National Defense Program, which later became known as the "Truman Committee."

The Democratic senator had noticed that many resources were being wasted, in addition to that there was a group of people getting rich thanks to the war.

That sparked the need to open this bipartisan investigation that suited Roosevelt more than one made up only of Republicans. Some thought that the committee could demoralize citizens, but the opposite happened:

The work of the Truman-led group saved the country approximately $ 15 billion at the time, equivalent to about $ 210 billion today.

In addition, the media admired Truman's efficiency and moral solidity, which increased his fame throughout the United States of America. It even appeared on the cover of Times magazine.

vice presidency

The country admired the work Harry S. Truman had done from the Senate, which is why Franklin Delano Roosevelt decided to include him in the formula for his presidential re-election in 1945 as vice president.

At that time Truman replaced Henry A. Wallace. The success of the Democratic duo was overwhelming, Roosevelt obtained 53% of the vote in 1944. The new president of the United States of America presented his oath on January 20, 1945.

During his vice-presidency, the office that Truman headed did not have a very close relationship with the prime minister.

At the time that Roosevelt passed away, Truman had not received clear information about the course he was taking in different fields. Truman's vice presidency only lasted until April 12, 1945, for a total of 82 days.

Thirty-third president

A stroke was the fatal motive for the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Then Harry S. Truman, who was second in line to the presidential succession, assumed office and became president until the end of the newly inaugurated term of office.

One of his best known phrases was when he referred to the circumstances that suddenly led him to the presidency of the nation was when he expressed that at that moment "the moon, the stars and all the planets fell on me."

He asked members of the former president's cabinet to remain in office. He assured that he was open to all their suggestions and that with their help he could be able to make the necessary decisions for the country.

On April 25, the minors participated in the development of a new weapon that was in the hands of the Allies: the atomic bomb. The person in charge of informing Truman about it was Secretary of War Henry Stimson.

On May 7, 1945 Germany surrendered and the following day was declared "Victory in Europe Day" and great celebrations were held in the United States. Harry Truman dedicated that date to the memory of President FD Roosevelt.

Atomic bomb

In July 1945 Truman traveled to Potsdam for a meeting of those who had won the victory during World War II, namely the Allies and the Soviet Union. On that occasion they decided the fate that Germany would have.

From there, the president of the United States sent a warning to Japan in which he recommended that they surrender or face the consequences of their insistence, since they had discovered a novel weapon.

The Japanese paid no attention to Truman's words and continued to carry out military acts in the Pacific.

Harry S. Truman was told that an invasion of Japan could cost approximately 500,000 American lives and that it would take several years to accomplish its mission.

It was with this in mind that the president ordered two nuclear bombs to be dropped to end the conflict. The first was called Little Boy and its target was the city of Hiroshima. The following video shows the announcement by the United States of the Hiroshima bomb:

The Japanese persisted and on the 9th of the same month a second launch was ordered, this time over Nagasaki and the name assigned to the bomb was Fat Man.

More than 100,000 deaths of all sexes and ages who lived in the vicinity of the impact site were registered.

End of World War II

Truman had expressly forbidden the targeting of Kyoto or Tokyo, which were cities of great importance to the Japanese nation and where most of its population was concentrated.

The Soviet Union also assisted in the Japanese surrender by declaring war on them on August 8, 1945 and proceeding with the invasion of Manchuria.

Japan decided to surrender its arms on August 14. However, the use of atomic bombs generated one of the deepest ethical debates of the century and was one of the most criticized decisions of the Harry Truman government.

Since then, nuclear weapons have not been used in any armed conflict.

The challenges of peace

Truman knew that the transition from the economy for war to one in the new peace setting would not be a simple matter.

With the new economic measures many industries were destabilized. Union strikes began to take place, inflation grew, problems arose in finding housing and supplying the necessary goods to the entire nation.

A railroad strike brought the country to a standstill in 1946, so Truman assumed control of the railroad system.

The president threatened in a harsh speech from Congress to handle the matter through the National Guard, addressing in particular union leaders and "Russian senators and representatives." Then someone interrupted him to inform him that the strike had ended.

With his intervention he had compared leftist politicians and trade unionists with communists trying to gain approval, but on the contrary it had a negative effect on his popularity which fell from 82% to 52% in a short time.

Important events

- Support for the creation of the UN

Despite the fact that the United Nations was an idea that had arisen during Roosevelt's life, Truman gave him all the possible support since he considered that it was a way to stop Russian expansionism.

- Truman Doctrine

With this, the president of the United States proposed that the country should collaborate with countries that suffered external pressure or from internal armed groups to abandon the path of democracy.

It was especially evoked by Turkey and Greece, but it gave rise to many other cases. It was backed by Democrats and Republicans, it was considered necessary to preserve the democracies of the world.

- Marshall Plan

The project presented by Secretary of State George Marshall suggested that communism would become less palatable when compared to the progress and abundance of the capital system.

For this reason, he proposed a plan that prioritized the reconstruction of European cities that had been devastated during the war, as well as the recovery and modernization of local industries.

More than 12,000 million were invested in the Marshall Plan, the resources were approved by Congress since they were aware that the communist ideal is more prosperous in poor areas.

- Berlin Airlift

In the same context of the Marshall Plan the Allies decided to assist their controlled part of the German capital with goods and food. Since access to it had been hijacked by the Soviets, they created an "air bridge."

The city of Berlin received 200,000 planes a year with tons of food and other resources.

- Recognition of the State of Israel

Just 11 minutes after Israel declared itself an independent state on May 14, 1948, it was recognized by the Truman government.

Second term

Shortly before the 1948 election, Harry S. Truman had only 36% approval for his government, so no one thought he could win.

The president displayed an aggressive civil rights plan that he would implement in his second term. He started this with an executive order that racially integrated both the Armed Forces and federal agencies.

Finally, in the election in which he faced Republican candidate Thomas Dewey, Truman obtained 303 electoral votes and his opponent only 189.

Truman's campaign proposal was dubbed the Fair Deal. In addition to civil rights, the focus was on creating social housing plans, as well as public education, increasing income, and creating social insurance.

Although Truman could not carry out much of what he proposed, he laid the foundation for the Democratic agenda for the next several years.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization also emerged, created on April 4, 1949. The pillar of this agreement was that if any of the member states was attacked by surprise, the others should come to their aid.

Korean war

The border between the two Koreas had been designated at the 38th parallel. The northern part was under Soviet influence and the southern part was protected by Western arbitration and was invaded by its northern counterpart on June 25, 1950.

Truman called for the UN to take action on the matter and they succeeded. The situation was stabilized by American troops who carried the flag of this organization in August 1950, but they decided to continue the advance towards the north.

In November, Chinese forces detained them and withdrew to the south. After signing an agreement in 1953, hostilities ceased.

End of government

Before the end of the second term, President Truman had to deal with rumors that the federal offices could be infested with Communist spies.

Those rumors came especially after statements by Whittaker Chambers, a former Times reporter and former spy. On a list he provided was the name of Alger Hiss from the State Department, but he denied any such links.

At that time McCarthy gained fame who claimed that there were indeed Soviet infiltrators and that Truman was deliberately standing by.

During November 1950, Truman was the victim of an assassination attempt at the hands of two nationalists from Puerto Rico, one of them named Griselio Torresola, who died at the time, and another named Oscar Collazo.

Harry Truman did not participate in the 1952 elections in which Eisenhower was victorious over Stevenson and brought the Republican party to the White House.

Last years

The final years of Truman were marked by the great economic difficulties to which he had to face. He returned to Missouri with his wife and did not want to take jobs in the private sector because he felt that he would be profiting from his position.

He had no savings so for a time he had to live on the army pension and the sale of some properties from his inheritance.

When he published his autobiographical book he had a small financial relief because he received $ 670,000, of which he kept $ 37,000 after taxes and personnel involved with the creation of the book.

Congress, probably moved by the Truman situation, created a pension for former presidents that consisted of US $ 25,000 a year years later.

As for the creation of his presidential library, he had to get donations to finance it since, unlike Franklin Delano Roosevelt, he did not have the means. Then he donated it to the State for its maintenance.

Death

Harry S. Truman passed away on December 26, 1972 in Kansas City. He was hospitalized for 11 days for pneumonia from which he did not recover.

Little by little his organs began to collapse until he fell into a coma and then died. She was then 88 years old. A private funeral was arranged for him at the request of his wife in his presidential library and he was buried there.

A week later he was honored in the capital and representatives of different nations came to pay their respects.

References

1. En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Harry S. Truman. Available at: en.wikipedia.org.
2. Steinberg, A. (2019). Harry S. Truman - US President & History. Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at: britannica.com.
3. The White House. (2019). Harry S. Truman - The White House. Available at: whitehouse.gov.
4. Senate.gov. (2019). US Senate: Harry S. Truman, 34th Vice President (1945). Available at: senate.gov.
5. Trumanlibrary.gov. (2019). Biographical Sketch: Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States - Harry S. Truman. Available at: trumanlibrary.gov.