Changes

In foreign affairs, Truman brought in [[Dean Acheson]] as Secretary of State, and promoted the Point Four program of aid to underdeveloped countries. The policy of containing Communism was set into operation by the 1949 creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to oversee the integration of the military forces of its member nations in Western Europe and North America. A further step was taken in 1951 with the establishment of the Mutual Security Agency to coordinate U.S. economic, technical and military aid abroad.

In foreign affairs, Truman brought in [[Dean Acheson]] as Secretary of State, and promoted the Point Four program of aid to underdeveloped countries. The policy of containing Communism was set into operation by the 1949 creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to oversee the integration of the military forces of its member nations in Western Europe and North America. A further step was taken in 1951 with the establishment of the Mutual Security Agency to coordinate U.S. economic, technical and military aid abroad.

===Agriculture===

===Agriculture===

Truman won the farm vote in 1948 by charging the GOP shoved "a pitchfork in the farmer's back", but was unable to get new farm programs passed. His second secretary of agriculture, Charles F. Brannan promoted the Brannan Plan, intended to bring widespread changes to farm policy. Brannan proposed to replace market price supports with direct income payments to farmers. His plan set ceilings on the amount a farmer could receive and limited the program to farmers who did not exceed a set production mark. The Brannan Plan was supposed to foster the "family-sized farm" while providing affordable food for consumers. While Brannan could count on support from the left, especially the National Farmers Union (which was small), labor unions (which were powerful), and consumer groups (which were weak), he was opposed by leading farm economists and the national Farm Bureau (which was large) and the national Chamber of Commerce (representing business). The head of the Farm Bureau decried the plan as intrusive, a form of "creeping socialism," and expensive. The Farm Bureau, dominated by conservatives, resisted any curbs on full agricultural production. A bloc of Midwestern Republican and southern Democratic congressmen opposed replacing market mechanisms with outright government payments to farmers and setting limits on supports to individual farms. The Brannan Plan went nowhere and instead, the conservative farm bloc passed the Agricultural Act of 1949 with high price supports.<ref> See Dean (2006)</ref>

Truman won the farm vote in 1948 by charging the GOP shoved "a pitchfork in the farmer's back", but was unable to get new farm programs passed. His second secretary of agriculture, Charles F. Brannan promoted the Brannan Plan, intended to bring widespread changes to farm policy. Brannan proposed to replace market price supports with direct income payments to farmers. His plan set ceilings on the amount a farmer could receive and limited the program to farmers who did not exceed a set production mark. The Brannan Plan was supposed to foster the "family-sized farm" while providing affordable food for consumers. While Brannan could count on support from the left, especially the National Farmers Union (which was small), labor unions (which were powerful), and consumer groups (which were weak), he was opposed by leading farm economists and the national Farm Bureau (which was large) and the national Chamber of Commerce (representing business). The head of the Farm Bureau decried the plan as intrusive, a form of "creeping socialism," and expensive. The Farm Bureau, dominated by conservatives, resisted any curbs on full agricultural production. A bloc of Midwestern Republican and southern Democratic congressmen opposed replacing market mechanisms with outright government payments to farmers and setting limits on supports to individual farms. The Brannan Plan went nowhere and instead, the conservative farm bloc passed the Agricultural Act of 1949 with high price supports.<ref> See Dean (2006)</ref>

==National Security==

==National Security==

===Truman Doctrine and origins of Cold War===

===Truman Doctrine and origins of Cold War===

In early 1947 the British government, which was socialist but anti-Communist, secretly told Washington its treasury was empty and it could no longer give military and economic aid to Greece or Turkey, requested the U.S. take over. Acheson convinced Truman to act quickly lest Greece be taken over by its communist partisans who were at the time strongly supported by the Soviet government working through the communist Bulgarian and Yugoslav governments. If Greece fell, Turkey would be helpless and soon the eastern Mediterranean would fall under Stalin’s control. In a dramatic message to Congress on March 12, 1947, President Truman said that the U. S. must take immediate and resolute action to support Greece and Turkey.<ref> Turkey did not have an insurrection, but it was such a bitter rival of Greece that it had to get money if Greece did.</ref> The Republican Congress, after extensive hearings, approved this historic change in U. S. foreign policy in a bill signed May 22, 1947. Thus was born the “Truman Doctrine.”  Greece suppressed the insurgents; both Greece and Turkey joined NATO.<ref>

In early 1947 the British government, which was [[socialist]] but [[anti-Communist]], secretly told Washington its treasury was empty and it could no longer give military and economic aid to Greece or Turkey, requested the U.S. take over. Acheson convinced Truman to act quickly lest Greece be taken over by its communist partisans who were at the time strongly supported by the Soviet government working through the communist Bulgarian and Yugoslav governments. If Greece fell, Turkey would be helpless and soon the eastern Mediterranean would fall under Stalin’s control. In a dramatic message to Congress on March 12, 1947, President Truman said that the U. S. must take immediate and resolute action to support Greece and Turkey.<ref> Turkey did not have an insurrection, but it was such a bitter rival of Greece that it had to get money if Greece did.</ref> The Republican Congress, after extensive hearings, approved this historic change in U. S. foreign policy in a bill signed May 22, 1947. Thus was born the “Truman Doctrine.”  Greece suppressed the insurgents; both Greece and Turkey joined NATO.<ref>

Joseph C. Satterthwaite, "The Truman Doctrine: Turkey," ''Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science,'' Vol. 401, (May, 1972), pp. 74-84  [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1039114 in JSTOR]</ref>

Joseph C. Satterthwaite, "The Truman Doctrine: Turkey," ''Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science,'' Vol. 401, (May, 1972), pp. 74-84  [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1039114 in JSTOR]</ref>

===Recognition of Israel===

===Recognition of Israel===

Truman became the model of the underdog who fights back and wins when the experts unanimously predict defeat.  Gerald Ford, who had bitterly denounced Truman as a young Congressman proudly proclaimed the Missourian as his hero and conspicuously displayed a bust of Truman in the oval office after Ford became president in 1974.  In the 1976 campaign both Ford and his Democratic rival, [[Jimmy Carter]], outdid one another in claiming to be cast from the Truman mold. By 1980 when the Gallup Poll asked "Of all the Presidents we've ever had, who do you wish were President?", Harry Truman finished an impressive third behind Kennedy and FDR.

Truman became the model of the underdog who fights back and wins when the experts unanimously predict defeat.  Gerald Ford, who had bitterly denounced Truman as a young Congressman proudly proclaimed the Missourian as his hero and conspicuously displayed a bust of Truman in the oval office after Ford became president in 1974.  In the 1976 campaign both Ford and his Democratic rival, [[Jimmy Carter]], outdid one another in claiming to be cast from the Truman mold. By 1980 when the Gallup Poll asked "Of all the Presidents we've ever had, who do you wish were President?", Harry Truman finished an impressive third behind Kennedy and FDR.

==Quotes==

==Quotes==

* "No man should be allowed to be President who does not understand hogs." <ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=FEnGUlTdwaUC&pg=PT52&dq=No+man+should+be+allowed+to+be+President+who+does+not+understand+hogs.&lr=&ei=qTMQTN_MIpeIzQTT38TyCg&cd=3#v=onepage&q=No%20man%20should%20be%20allowed%20to%20be%20President%20who%20does%20not%20understand%20hogs.&f=false A field guide to pigs By John Pukite]</ref>

* "No man should be allowed to be President who does not understand hogs." <ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=FEnGUlTdwaUC&pg=PT52&dq=No+man+should+be+allowed+to+be+President+who+does+not+understand+hogs.&lr=&ei=qTMQTN_MIpeIzQTT38TyCg&cd=3#v=onepage&q=No%20man%20should%20be%20allowed%20to%20be%20President%20who%20does%20not%20understand%20hogs.&f=false A field guide to pigs By John Pukite]</ref>

==Further reading: basic books and articles==

==Further reading: basic books and articles==

* Donaldson, Gary A. ''Truman Defeats Dewey'' (1998)  

* Donaldson, Gary A. ''Truman Defeats Dewey'' (1998)  

* Farhang, Sean, and Ira Katznelson. "The Southern Imposition: Congress and Labor in the New Deal and Fair Deal," ''Studies in American Political Development'' (2005), 19: 1-30; [http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=324401 online edition]

* Farhang, Sean, and Ira Katznelson. "The Southern Imposition: Congress and Labor in the New Deal and Fair Deal," ''Studies in American Political Development'' (2005), 19: 1-30; [http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=324401 online edition]

* Freeland, Richard M. ''The Truman Doctrine and the Origins of McCarthyism: Foreign Policy, Domestic Policy, and Internal Security, 1946-48'' (1989), revisionist; New left attack on Truman for being too anti-Communist  

* Freeland, Richard M. ''The Truman Doctrine and the Origins of McCarthyism: Foreign Policy, Domestic Policy, and Internal Security, 1946-48'' (1989), revisionist; New left attack on Truman for being too [[anti-Communist]]

* Fried, Richard M. ''Nightmare in Red: The McCarthy Era in Perspective.'' 1990. [http://www.questia.com/read/79027083 online complete edition]; [http://www.amazon.com/Nightmare-Red-McCarthy-Era-Perspective/dp/0195043618/ref=sr_1_11/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193514847&sr=8-11 excerpt and text search]

* Fried, Richard M. ''Nightmare in Red: The McCarthy Era in Perspective.'' 1990. [http://www.questia.com/read/79027083 online complete edition]; [http://www.amazon.com/Nightmare-Red-McCarthy-Era-Perspective/dp/0195043618/ref=sr_1_11/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193514847&sr=8-11 excerpt and text search]

* Gardner, Michael R. ''Harry Truman and Civil Rights: Moral Courage and Political Risks.'' (2002) 296 pp.[http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=105233906 online edition]

* Gardner, Michael R. ''Harry Truman and Civil Rights: Moral Courage and Political Risks.'' (2002) 296 pp.[http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=105233906 online edition]

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