Harry Truman
| 200px | |
| Harry Truman;
33rd President of the United States | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 8, 1884 |
| Died | December 26, 1972 |
| Term | 1945-1953 |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Vice President | None (1945-1949) Alben W. Barkley (1949–1953) |
| Preceeded by | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| Succeeded by | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
Harry S Truman was the 33rd President of the United States and it was on his decision that the first atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Truman was born on May 8, 1884 in Lamar, Missouri. He attended public school in Independence, Missouri, graduating from high school in 1901. Following a few brief jobs in the Kansas City area, he returned to help run the family farm in Grandview.
During World War I, Truman went to France as a captain of artillery. After returning home from the war, he married Elizabeth "Bess" Wallace and opened a men's clothing store in Kansas City with a wartime friend.
In 1922, Truman was elected a judge in the Jackson County court, where his duties were administrative rather than judicial. He earned a reputation for being honest and efficient in managing county affairs. Defeated for reelection in 1924, Truman was elected presiding judge in 1926, and reelected in 1930.
Truman won election to the United States Senate in 1934, and during World War II gained national prominence for serving as chairman of the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program - referred to as the "Truman Committee".[1]
He became Vice President for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ("FDR") in 1944 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of FDR on April 12, 1945. Interestingly, Truman rarely met with Roosevelt during his tenure as Vice President [2].
He was elected President of the United States of America (USA) in 1948 as a Democrat. During his term as President, he presided over the conclusion of World War II in both Europe and Japan. Truman's decision to use atomic weapons against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki forced the unconditional Japanese surrender to conclude WWII. As a consequence, the United States canceled a planned invasion of the island nation which had been projected to cause 1,000,000 American and 10,000,000 Japanese casualties, and prevented the annexation of Japan's northern islands by the Soviet Union[3][4]. Prior to Japan's surrender, Nazi German troops and their Axis allies surrendered in Europe. Truman proclaimed his Truman Doctrine on March 12, 1947 that was intended to thwart the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic's designs of expansion in the Near East by committing American aid and troops to that region. Truman also committed troops to the Korean Peninsula in 1950 to halt a Communist invasion of South Korea. American troops were part of a coalition of member nations of the newly formed United Nations ("UN") in 1945. The USA had become a founding member of the newly established UN during Truman's presidency.
Truman retired from politics at the conclusion of his presidential term and died on December 26, 1972 in his Independence, Missouri home. His Presidential library is located in Independence.
Middle Initial
There is no period after his middle initial, because it doesn't stand for anything. He was named with an "S" so that both his grandfathers could claim him as their namesake. [5]
Links
References
- ↑ http://www.trumanlibrary.org/hst-bio.htm
- ↑ http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/ht33.html
- ↑ http://www.afsc.org/newengland/pesp/DecisionToUseABomb.htm
- ↑ http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/web/20050902-atom-bomb-hiroshima-nagasaki-enola.shtml
- ↑ Encyclopedia of Presidents, Harry S. Truman, by Jim Hargrove, Children's Press, 1987.
