They won the election and Truman became the Vice President. In 1944, Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for Presidency for the 4th time. When he returned from war, he again had to struggle to find a secure job. His leadership during the final stages of World War II, the beginning of the Cold War, and the Korean War reflects his commitment to U.S. interests and international stability.

Post-War Challenges and the Beginning of the Cold War: 1945-1947

It was long believed that Truman's retirement years were financially difficult, resulting in Congress establishing a pension for former presidents. He was eligible for reelection in 1952 but he chose not to run due to poor polling. Congress refused, so Truman issued Executive Order 9980 and Executive Order 9981, which prohibited discrimination in agencies of the federal government and desegregated the United States Armed Forces. Domestically, the postwar economic challenges such as strikes and inflation created a mixed reaction over the effectiveness of his administration. Truman's administration engaged in an internationalist foreign policy by working closely with Britain. Truman authorized the first and only use of nuclear weapons in war against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

  • On November 1, 1950, Puerto Rican nationalists Griselio Torresola and Oscar Collazo attempted to assassinate Truman at Blair House.
  • In 1951, the United States ratified the 22nd Amendment, making a president ineligible for election to a third term or for election to a second full term after serving more than two remaining years of a term of a previously elected president.
  • President Harry S Truman took America from its traditional isolationism into the age of international involvement.
  • He was eligible for reelection in 1952 but he chose not to run due to poor polling.
  • They won the election and Truman became the Vice President.
  • In one of his first acts as vice president, Truman created some controversy when he attended the disgraced Pendergast’s funeral.
  • Also in 1926, he became president of the National Old Trails Road Association, and during his term he oversaw dedication of 12 Madonna of the Trail monuments to honor pioneer women.

What was Harry S. Truman’s reaction to communist North Korea’s attempt to seize noncommunist South Korea in 1950?

As Secretary of State Acheson increased his pressure on Truman, the president stood alone in his administration as his own top appointees wanted to normalize relations. Navy's Seventh Fleet into the Taiwan Strait to prevent further conflict between the communist government on the China mainland and the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan. NATO's goals were to contain Soviet expansion in Europe and to send a clear message to communist leaders that the world's democracies were willing and able to build new security structures in support of democratic ideals. The war remained a frustrating stalemate for two years, with over 30,000 Americans killed, until an armistice ended the fighting in 1953.citation needed Truman and his generals considered the use of nuclear weapons against the Chinese army, but ultimately chose not to escalate the war to a nuclear level.

Military awards and decorations

Following a tough Democratic primary victory in 1940, he won a second term in the Senate, and it was during this term that he gained national recognition for leading an investigation into fraud and waste in the U.S. military. He won the primary with a 40,000-vote plurality, assuring his election in solidly Democratic Missouri. He lost his bid for reelection in 1924, but he was elected presiding judge of the county court in 1926, again with Pendergast’s support.

First term (1945–

Campaign manager William J. Bray said Truman took this advice, and spoke personally and passionately, sometimes even setting aside his notes to talk to Americans "of everything that is in my heart and soul." They are strong for labor—but they are stronger for restricting labor's rights. Truman delivered an aggressive acceptance speech attacking the 80th Congress, which Truman called the "Do Nothing Congress", and promising to win the election and "make these Republicans like it". We must ensure that these rights – on equal terms – are enjoyed by every citizen.
These included a lead and zinc mine near Commerce, Oklahoma, a company that bought land and leased the oil drilling rights to prospectors, and speculation in Kansas City real estate. As president, he solicited political as well as personal advice from her. Rather, it honors both his grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young, a somewhat common practice in the American South at the time.c A brother, John Vivian, was born soon after Harry, followed by sister Mary Jane. In addition, critical reassessments of his presidency have improved his reputation among historians and the general population. Despite this controversy, scholars rank Truman in the first quartile of U.S. presidents. However, evidence eventually emerged that he amassed considerable wealth, some of it during his presidency.
South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond, a segregationist, declared his candidacy for the presidency on a Dixiecrat ticket and led a full-scale revolt of Southern "states' rights" proponents. Truman took a considerable political risk in backing civil rights, and many seasoned Democrats were concerned the loss of Dixiecrat support might seriously weaken the party. A sharp address given by Mayor Hubert Humphrey of Minneapolis—as well as the local political interests of a number of urban bosses—convinced the convention to adopt a stronger civil rights plank, which Truman approved wholeheartedly. At the 1948 Democratic National Convention, Truman attempted to unify the party with a vague civil rights plank in the party platform. In the spring of 1948, Truman's public approval rating stood at 36 percent, and the president was nearly universally regarded as incapable of winning the general election.

  • Truman’s presidency was marked by important foreign policy initiatives.
  • We must ensure that these rights – on equal terms – are enjoyed by every citizen.
  • The Roosevelt-Truman ticket garnered 53 percent of the vote to 46 percent for their Republican rivals, and Truman took the oath of office as vice president on January 20, 1945.
  • Truman’s initiative convinced Senate leaders of the necessity for the committee, which reflected his demands for honest and efficient administration and his distrust of big business and Wall Street.
  • The end of World War II was followed by an uneasy transition from war to a peacetime economy.

When he was serving as a county judge, Truman borrowed $31,000 (equivalent to $364,327 in 2024) by mortgaging the farm to the county school fund, which was legal at the time. Truman, behind the scenes, lobbied for a pension, writing to congressional leaders that he had been near penury but for the sale of family farmlands. In 1953, however, there was no such benefit package for former presidents, and Congressional pensions were not approved until 1946, after Truman had left the Senate, so he received no pension for his Senate service. Former members of Congress and the federal courts received a federal retirement package; President Truman himself ensured that former servants of the executive branch of government received similar support. Upon leaving the presidency, Truman returned to Independence, Missouri, to live at the Wallace home, which he and Bess had shared for years with her mother.

He participated in a conference at Potsdam, Germany and worked to lay groundwork for the final stage of the war against Japan. As President, Truman oversaw the ending of the war in Europe. This committee, which came to be called the Truman Committee, sought with considerable success to ensure that defense contractors delivered to the nation quality goods at fair prices. Truman gained national prominence as chairman of the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program.
Truman submitted a reorganization plan to reform the IRB; Congress passed it, betory casino registration but corruption was a major issue in the 1952 presidential election. The 1948 presidential election is remembered for Truman's stunning come-from-behind victory. Truman managed the committee "with extraordinary skill" and usually achieved consensus, generating heavy media publicity that gave him a national reputation. This was payback to Pendergast for delivering the Kansas City vote to Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1932 presidential election. Investigations revealed corruption in parts of the Truman administration, and this became a major campaign issue in the 1952 presidential election, although they did not implicate Truman himself. He energized the New Deal coalition during the 1948 presidential election, despite a divided Democratic Party, and won a surprise victory against the Republican Party's nominee, Thomas E. Dewey.

Harry S. Truman’s presidency was a period of significant transition and challenge. Truman left the presidency and retired to Independence in January 1953. Truman's presidency was marked by important foreign policy initiatives.
Marshall believed the paramount threat to the United States was the Soviet Union and feared Arab oil would be lost to the United States in the event of war; he warned Truman the United States was "playing with fire with nothing to put it out". Secretary of Defense James Forrestal warned Truman of the importance of Saudi Arabian oil in another war; Truman replied he would decide his policy on the basis of justice, not oil. The Berlin Airlift was one of Truman's great foreign policy successes; it significantly aided his election campaign in 1948. On November 4, 1952, Truman authorized the official, though at the time, confidential creation of the National Security Agency (NSA). He won bipartisan support for both the Truman Doctrine, which formalized a policy of Soviet containment, and the Marshall Plan, which aimed to help rebuild postwar Europe. As a Wilsonian internationalist, Truman supported Roosevelt's policy in favor of the creation of the United Nations and included Eleanor Roosevelt on the delegation to the first UN General Assembly.
Roosevelt's advisors knew that Roosevelt might not live out a fourth term and that his vice president would very likely become the next president. The committee reportedly saved as much as $15 billion (equivalent to $260 billion in 2024), and its activities put Truman on the cover of Time magazine. Truman's initiative convinced Senate leaders of the necessity for the committee, which reflected his demands for honest and efficient administration and his distrust of big business and Wall Street. A new special committee was set up under Truman to conduct a formal investigation; the White House supported this plan rather than weather a more hostile probe by the House of Representatives.