Harry S. Truman - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Overview

Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

(1945–1953). As President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...

's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States

Vice President of the United States

The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...

(1945), he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his unprecedented fourth term.

During World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, Truman served in combat in France as an artillery officer in his National Guard unit.

Discussions

Legacy

How did truman become vice president?

Timeline

1947 Cold War: in an effort to fight the spread of Communism, U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs an act into law that will later be called the Truman Doctrine. The act grants $400 million in military and economic aid to Turkey and Greece, each battling an internal Communist movement.

1947 Cold War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Act of 1947 into United States law creating the Central Intelligence Agency, United States Department of Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the United States National Security Council.

1947 The first televised White House address is given by U.S. President Harry S. Truman.

1948 President Harry S. Truman signs the Marshall Plan, authorizing $5 billion in aid for 16 countries.

1948 U.S. President Harry S. Truman issues a peacetime military draft in the United States amid increasing tensions with the Soviet Union.

1948 U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs Executive Order 9981 desegregating the military of the United States.

1949 Point Four Program a program for economic aid to poor countries announced by United States President Harry S. Truman in his inaugural address for a full term as President.

1949 U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Act Amendment, streamlining the defense agencies of the United States government, and replacing the Department of War with the United States Department of Defense.

1950 President Harry S. Truman announces a program to develop the hydrogen bomb.

1950 Puerto Rican nationalists Griselio Torresola and Oscar Collazo attempt to assassinate US President Harry S. Truman at Blair House.

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Quotations

Some of my best friends never agree with me politically.

To a group of four congress freshmen on 2 July 1947. Quoted in The Memoirs of Richard Nixon, p. 44.

I sincerely wish that every member of Congress could visit the displaced person's camp in Germany and Austria and see just what is happening to 500,000 human beings through no fault of their own.

Letter to Walter F. George|Walter F. George (October 1946); as quoted in Great Jewish Quotations (1996) by Alfred J. Kolatch, p. 463

No government is perfect. One of the chief virtues of a democracy, however, is that its defects are always visible and under democratic processes can be pointed out and corrected.

s:Truman Doctrine|Speech to a joint session of the US Congress (12 March 1947), outlining what became known as Truman Doctrine|The Truman Doctrine.

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