Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt in April 1945 after only a few months as vice president. A former Missouri senator, he confronted the final defeat of Germany, the continuing war against Japan, and the construction of a postwar order. His administration authorized the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and oversaw Japan’s surrender and the beginning of the American occupation. ^{1, 2}

Truman supported the United Nations, but cooperation with the Soviet Union deteriorated over security and political control in Europe. The Truman Doctrine in 1947 promised assistance to governments resisting subjugation, initially through aid to Greece and Turkey. The Marshall Plan supplied economic assistance for European recovery, while the Berlin airlift opposed the Soviet blockade. NATO, established in 1949, committed the United States to a lasting security alliance with Western Europe and Canada. ²

In Asia, communist victory in China and North Korea’s invasion of South Korea intensified the Cold War. Truman committed American forces to Korea in 1950 under a United Nations command. Chinese intervention transformed the conflict, and Truman dismissed General Douglas MacArthur after their dispute over its conduct. His administration also recognized Israel in 1948 and negotiated a peace settlement and security arrangements with Japan. ²

At home, Truman managed demobilization, labor conflict, inflation, and the transition to peacetime production. His Fair Deal proposed national health insurance and other social measures, with mixed legislative results. He ordered desegregation of the armed forces and supported civil rights, while federal loyalty investigations contributed to an expanding domestic anticommunist campaign. The Korean War and political controversy left him deeply unpopular when he departed office in 1953. ³