Harry S. Truman Journey

Franklin D. Roosevelt passed away on April 12, 1945, and a large majority of the population mourned the death of the one of the best president's the nation had seen in decades, and the only one to serve more than two terms in history. Immediately following Roosevelt's death, vice president Harry S Truman was sworn in as the 33rd President of the United States, facing several challenges. First, the general public was not sure if Truman could hold office as well as Roosevelt had, especially given the situation; domestically, the economy was looking like it was headed for trouble while in regards to foreign affairs, Truman took office at the peak of what is today known as World War I. While Truman's two terms in office contained several positive points, most of Truman's decisions ended up being second guessed and at the end of each term, Truman had less than half the nation's approval in his actions.

John Anderson Truman and Martha Ellen Young Truman gave birth to their second child, Harry, on May 8, 1884. Growing up, Truman helped his father on the farm and eventually followed his dad's footsteps and became a farmer. At the age of 21, Truman decided he wanted to enlist in the Missouri National Guard, and did so until up until age 27. At the end of the 1910s, World War I started up and Truman reenlisted in the National Guard, fought in France, and due to his stellar leadership was eventually made Lieutenant Colonel.

After returning home from the way, Truman started to get into politics. In 1922, Truman became a judge in Kansas City, where he met a variety of political contacts and eventually decided to run for a spot on the United States Senate in 1934. A decade later, President Franklin Roosevelt had to find a replacement for Henry Wallace, a Vice President who had become too liberal. Eventually, Truman was offered and position and quickly accepted.

In 1944, Roosevelt was elected to serve a fourth time in office, and by his side was Harry Truman. Within months, Roosevelt passed away and Truman was forced to take the reigns of the United States. At this point, Truman found himself in a tough situation. One of the nation's most beloved presidents had just died and Truman was expected to fill his shoes. The minimal communication between Roosevelt and Truman because of their short partnership due to Roosevelt's untimely death was also working against Truman. A good majority of the nation were unsure about the future without Roosevelt.

Within months of taking office, Truman had to make an important decision, regarding the use of the atomic bomb against Japan. After being informed about the Manhattan Project, Truman weighed his options and decided to use the bomb against Japan, despite knowing little about its effects. Although the atomic bombs that hit Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended up killing over 200,000 people, Truman defended his actions which many described as crimes against humanity, by saying that if the United States had chosen to invade on the ground, the alternative to the bombs, more lives would have been lost on both sides.
No more than half a year into his presidency, Truman had put an end to World War II but now had a domestic problem; the economy was in very poor shape. Workers set up strikes throughout the nation, but Truman's response to these workers did virtually nothing. When strikes started becoming bigger, Truman put his foot down and said that workers who went on strike would be drafted into the military. This was effective, although many of the workers felt like they were being treated poorly by Truman, thus leading to the disproval of the president a legitimately-sized portion of the population.

In regards to foreign policy, just because World War II had ended, did not mean Truman was off the hook yet. The looming threat of Communism became more and more apparent in Russia and parts of Europe. Truman reacted quickly and efficiently by passing the Truman Doctrine, which was simply a policy of containment of Communism, as well as the Marshall Plan, which was to help restore a battered post-war Europe. Truman's goal was to ensure that European nations would be strong enough to maintain their democracy and not begin implementing Communist ideas.

Going into the 1948 election, things were not looking promising for Harry Truman. With many people second guessing his decision regarding the atom bomb use, and with many workers upset with the way strikes were handled, it appeared clear that Republican Thomas Dewey would defeat the incumbent Truman. However, the votes were counted and Truman pulled off the upset, one of the biggest presidential upsets of the 20th century.

Excited for a second term and a chance to make himself more popular among the general public, Truman continued to try and pass laws that would contain Communism, keeping it out of democratic European countries as well as the United States. However, popular figures such as Joseph McCarthy were not helping his cause, by falsely but adamantly declaring that he had insider information that linked Truman to Russian spies in the United States, as a part of the Red Scare era.

On the foreign front, Truman now found himself in the middle of the Korean War, in which communist North Korea was overpowering the democratic South Korea. In full support of democracy, Truman sent American troops to Korea to fight against the North. However, unprepared, unfunded and fighting on unfamiliar turf, many American soliders lost their lives and Truman found himself being second guessed again, especially after relieving well-known war veteran Douglas MacArthur of his duties.

Harry Truman was dealt a tough hand of cards when Roosevelt died and Truman was sworn in as the president of a nation. Suffering a post-war depression and an escalating Cold War, Truman had to make unpopular and sometimes criticized decisions in a desperate attempt to prevent a Third World War. Truman had one of the most eventful presidencies and despite some lack of preparation and mistakes he survived.