- Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 – December 26, 1972) was the 33rd [[President of the United States | president of the United States]], serving from 1945 to 1953. A member of the [[History of the Democratic Party (United States) | Democratic Party]], he previously served as a [[United States Senate | United States senator]] from [[Missouri]] from 1935 to 1945 and briefly as the 34th [[Vice President of the United States | vice president]] in 1945 under [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]. Assuming the presidency after Roosevelt's death, Truman implemented the [[Marshall Plan]] in the wake of [[World War II]] to rebuild the economy of Western Europe and established both the [[Truman Doctrine]] and [[NATO]] to contain the expansion of [[Ideology of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union | Soviet communism]]. He proposed numerous liberal domestic reforms, but few were enacted by the [[Conservative coalition | conservative coalition]] that dominated the [[United States Congress | Congress]]. - Truman was raised in [[Independence, Missouri]], and during [[World War I]] fought in France as a captain in the Field Artillery. Returning home, he opened a [[Haberdasher | haberdashery]] in [[Kansas City, Missouri]], and was elected as a judge of [[Jackson County, Missouri | Jackson County]] in 1922. Truman was elected to the United States Senate from Missouri in 1934. Between 1940 and 1944, he gained national prominence as chairman of the [[Truman Committee]], which was aimed at reducing waste and inefficiency in wartime contracts. - Truman was elected vice president in the [[1944 United States presidential election | 1944 presidential election]] and assumed the presidency upon Roosevelt's death in April 1945. It was only when Truman assumed the presidency that he was informed about the ongoing [[Manhattan Project]] and the [[Nuclear weapon | atomic bomb]]. Truman authorized the [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | first and only use of nuclear weapons in war]] against the [[Empire of Japan | Japanese]] cities of [[Hiroshima]] and [[Nagasaki]]. [[Presidency of Harry S. Truman | Truman's administration]] engaged in an [[Internationalism (politics) | internationalist]] foreign policy by [[Special Relationship | working closely with Britain]]. Truman staunchly denounced [[Isolationism | isolationism]]. He energized the [[New Deal coalition]] during the [[1948 United States presidential election | 1948 presidential election]], despite a [[Dixiecrat | divided Democratic Party]], and won a surprise victory against [[Republican Party (United States) | Republican Party]] nominee [[Thomas E. Dewey]] that secured his own presidential term. - Truman presided over the onset of the [[Cold War]] in 1947. He oversaw the [[Berlin Blockade | Berlin Airlift]] and Marshall Plan in 1948. With the involvement of the US in the [[Korean War]] of 1950–1953, [[South Korea]] repelled the invasion by [[North Korea]]. Domestically, the postwar economic challenges such as strikes and inflation created a mixed reaction over the effectiveness of his administration. In 1948, he proposed Congress pass comprehensive civil rights legislation. Congress refused, so Truman issued Executive Order 9980 and [[Executive Order 9981]], which prohibited discrimination in federal agencies and desegregated the [[United States Armed Forces | U.S. Armed Forces]]. - Investigations revealed [[Corruption in the United States | corruption]] in parts of the Truman administration, and this became a major campaign issue in the [[1952 United States presidential election | 1952 presidential election]], although they did not implicate Truman himself. He was eligible for reelection in 1952 but, with poor polling, he chose not to run. Truman went into a retirement marked by the founding of [[Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum | his presidential library]] and the publication of his memoirs. It was long thought that his retirement years were financially difficult for Truman, resulting in Congress establishing a pension for former presidents, but evidence eventually emerged that he amassed considerable wealth, some of it while still president. When he left office, Truman's administration was heavily criticized. Despite this controversy, scholars [[Historical rankings of presidents of the United States | rank]] Truman in the first quartile of American presidents. In addition, critical reassessment of his presidency has improved his reputation among historians and the general population. ## Sources - [wikipedia_page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_S._Truman)