(see Researcher's Note)

born May 8, 1884, Lamar, Missouri, U.S.

died December 26, 1972, Kansas City, Missouri

33rd president of the United States (1945–53), who led his nation through the final stages of World War II and through the early years of the Cold War, vigorously opposing Soviet expansionism in Europe and sending U.S. forces to turn back a communist invasion of South Korea. (For a discussion of the history and nature of the presidency, see presidency of the United States of America.)

Truman was sworn in as president on the same day as Roosevelt's death, which was just weeks away from Truman's 61st birthday. He began his presidency with great energy, making final arrangements for the San Francisco meeting to draft a charter for the United Nations, helping to arrange Germany's unconditional surrender on May 8, and traveling to Potsdam (Potsdam Conference) in July for a meeting with Allied leaders to discuss the fate of postwar Germany. While in Potsdam Truman received word of the successful test of an atomic bomb at Los Alamos, New Mexico, and it was from Potsdam that Truman sent an ultimatum to Japan to surrender or face “utter devastation.” When Japan did not surrender and his advisers estimated that up to 500,000 Americans might be killed in an invasion of Japan, Truman authorized the dropping of atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9), killing more than 100,000 men, women, and children. This remains perhaps the most controversial decision ever taken by a U.S. president, one which scholars continue to debate today. (See Sidebar: The decision to use the atomic bomb. See also primary source document: Announcement of the Dropping of an Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima (Harry S. Truman: Announcement of the Dropping of an Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima).) Japan surrendered August 14, the Pacific war ending officially on September 2, 1945.

Scarcely had the guns of World War II been silenced than Truman faced the threat of Soviet expansionism in eastern Europe. Early in 1946, Truman brought Winston Churchill to Missouri to sound the alarm with his “ Iron Curtain” address. The following year, Truman put the world on notice through his Truman Doctrine (see original text (Harry S. Truman: The Truman Doctrine)) that the United States would oppose communist aggression everywhere; specifically, he called for economic aid to Greece and Turkey to help those countries resist communist takeover. Later in 1947, the president backed Secretary of State George Marshall (Marshall, George Catlett)'s strategy for undercutting communism's appeal in western Europe by sending enormous amounts of financial aid (ultimately about $13 billion) to rebuild devastated European economies. Both the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program) achieved their objectives, but they also contributed to the global polarization that characterized five decades of Cold War hostility between East and West.

As the presidential election of 1948 approached, the odds against Truman's winning the presidency seemed enormous. The Republicans had triumphed in the congressional elections of 1946, running against Truman as the symbol of the New Deal. That electoral triumph seemed to indicate that the American people were weary of reform and of the Democratic Party. Worsening Truman's chances for reelection was the defection of liberal Democrats, breaking with the president over his hard-line opposition to the Soviet Union; many of these liberals supported the candidacy of Henry A. Wallace, who was running as the Progressive Party candidate for president. At the Democratic National Convention, Southern delegates bolted as well, angry at the president for his strong civil rights initiatives; these Southern Democrats supported Strom Thurmond (Thurmond, Strom), the States' Rights (“Dixiecrat”) presidential candidate. But Truman surprised everyone. He launched a cross-country whistle-stop campaign, blasting the “do-nothing, good-for-nothing Republican Congress.” As he hammered away at Republican support for the antilabour Taft-Hartley Act (Taft–Hartley Act) (passed over Truman's veto) and other conservative policies, crowds responded with “Give 'em hell, Harry!” The excitement generated by Truman's vigorous campaigning contrasted sharply with the lacklustre speeches of Republican candidate Thomas E. Dewey (Dewey, Thomas E.), and Truman won by a comfortable margin, 49 percent to 45 percent; Wallace and Thurmond had little impact on the outcome. (See primary source document: Inaugural Address (Harry S. Truman: Inaugural Address).)

In part, the Fair Deal fell victim to rising Cold War tensions that absorbed attention and resources. In 1949 Chinese Communists finally won their long civil war, seizing control of the mainland. Almost simultaneously, the Soviet Union successfully tested a nuclear bomb (nuclear weapon), ending the nuclear monopoly enjoyed by the United States since 1945. Truman, who had faced down the Soviet threat to Berlin in 1948 with a massive airlift of food and supplies (Berlin blockade and airlift) to sustain the noncommunist sectors of the city, led the United States into a collective security agreement with noncommunist European nations—the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)—to resist Soviet expansionism. In 1950 he authorized development of the hydrogen bomb (thermonuclear bomb) in order to maintain an arms lead over the Soviets. By the end of the decade, the wartime alliance linking the United States and Soviet Union had been completely severed and the two nations had embarked on an arms race of potentially world-destroying dimensions.

In June 1950 military forces of communist North Korea suddenly plunged southward across the 38th parallel boundary in an attempt to seize noncommunist South Korea. Outraged, Truman reportedly responded, “By God, I'm going to let them 【North Korea】 have it!” Truman did not ask Congress for a declaration of war (Korean War), and he was later criticized for this decision. Instead, he sent to South Korea, with UN sanction, U.S. forces under General Douglas MacArthur (MacArthur, Douglas) to repel the invasion. Ill-prepared for combat, the Americans were pushed back to the southern tip of the Korean peninsula before MacArthur's brilliant Inchon offensive drove the communists north of the 38th parallel. South Korea was liberated, but MacArthur wanted a victory over the communists, not merely restoration of the status quo. U.S. forces drove northward, nearly to the Yalu River boundary with Manchuria. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops then poured into North Korea, pushing the fighting once again down to the 38th parallel. When MacArthur insisted on extending the war to China and using nuclear weapons to defeat the communists, Truman removed him from command—a courageous assertion of civilian control over the military. The administration was devoted to its policy of containment. The war, however, dragged on inconclusively past the end of Truman's presidency, eventually claiming the lives of more than 33,000 Americans and leaving a residual bitterness at home.

His life in retirement was modest but active, perhaps epitomized by his habit of taking a brisk morning walk, or “constitutional,” along the sidewalks of Independence, Missouri. He enjoyed joking with reporters, and he seems to have initiated a controversy over the period after his middle initial. (See Researcher's Note.) He remained in good health, spending his days reading voraciously, until the mid-1960s, when he declined rapidly. On Christmas Day 1972, Truman lapsed into unconsciousness and died the next morning.

Cabinet of President Harry S. Truman Cabinet of President Harry S. TrumanThe table provides a list of cabinet members in the administration of President Harry S. Truman.

Harry S. Truman, Memoirs, 2 vol. (1955–56, reprinted 1986–87), and Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Harry S. Truman, 8 vol. (1961–66), are among the best collections of source materials. Robert H. Ferrell (ed.), Off the Record: The Private Papers of Harry S. Truman (1980), and Dear Bess: The Letters from Harry to Bess Truman, 1910–1959 (1983), offer collections of Truman's personal writing. Monte M. Poen (ed.), Strictly Personal and Confidential: The Letters Harry Truman Never Mailed (1982), comprising letters composed by Truman between 1945 and 1972, emphasizes the broad difference between the public figure and the private man.Biographies of Truman include Jonathan Daniels, The Man of Independence (1950, reprinted 1971), a good account of Truman's early career; William Hillman, Mr. President (1952), which includes letters and excerpts from Truman's diaries; Alfred Steinberg, The Man from Missouri (1962), covering Truman's life and activities through his presidency; Margaret Truman, Harry S. Truman (1973, reprinted 1993), a candid, readable account written by his daughter; Harold F. Gosnell, Truman's Crises (1980, reissued 1996), tracing his political career; Richard Lawrence Miller, Truman: The Rise to Power (1986), reinterpreting Truman's experiences in local Missouri politics and national politics before acceding to the presidency; William E. Pemberton, Harry S. Truman: Fair Dealer and Cold Warrior (1989); David McCullough, Truman (1992), a sweeping narrative; Robert H. Ferrell, Harry S. Truman (1994); and Alonzo L. Hamby, Man of the People (1995), an analytical assessment of the foundations of Truman's thoughts and actions. Robert H. Ferrell, Choosing Truman: The Democratic Convention of 1944 (1994), chronicles the events that led to the Democratic Party's nomination of Truman as the vice presidential candidate and, consequently, his selection as the recognized successor to the then-failing Roosevelt. Irwin Ross, The Loneliest Campaign: The Truman Victory of 1948 (1968, reprinted 1977), offers an account of the 1948 presidential election campaign.Assessments of Truman's administration may be found in Bert Cochran, Harry Truman and the Crisis Presidency (1973); Robert J. Donovan, Conflict and Crisis (1977, reissued 1996), and Tumultuous Years (1982), on Truman's first and second terms, respectively; Donald R. McCoy, The Presidency of Harry S. Truman (1984); and Michael J. Lacey (ed.), The Truman Presidency (1989). Alonzo L. Hamby, Beyond the New Deal: Harry S. Truman and American Liberalism (1973), explores the evolving aspects of liberal philosophy and action during the Truman presidency. Gar Alperovitz et al., The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth (1995); and Ronald Takaki, Hiroshima: Why America Dropped the Atomic Bomb (1995), provide a critical assessment of Truman's actions in the closing months of World War II; Stanley Weintraub, The Last Great Victory (1995); and J. Robert Moskin, Mr. Truman's War (1996), are more positive in their evaluation. Richard J. Walton, Henry Wallace, Harry Truman, and the Cold War (1976), chronicles Vice President Wallace's split with Truman over the administration's foreign policy and Wallace's subsequent challenge to Truman's candidacy for the 1948 presidential election. Works on Truman's foreign policy and the origins of the Cold War are numerous. Melvyn P. Leffler, A Preponderance of Power: National Security, the Truman Administration, and the Cold War (1992), is the leading modern interpretation and has an extensive bibliography; also important is Martin J. Sherwin, A World Destroyed (1975, reprinted 1987). Robert James Maddox, From War to Cold War: The Education of Harry S. Truman (1988), examines the shift in U.S. foreign policy toward the Soviet Union between the last months of the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration and the first months of Truman's.Margaret Truman, Bess W. Truman (1986), is a biography of the first lady by her daughter.Alfred Steinberg Ed.