Truman had to tackle these momentous challenges in the first months of his presidency presidency He came into office with great energy helping to arrange Germany’s surrender and then meeting with Allied leaders to discuss the fate of postwar Germany He also sent a final demand to Japan to surrender or face utter devastation When Japan did not surrender surrender Truman authorized the dropping of atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki More than 100,000 men women and children were killed This decision decision remains perhaps the most controversial decision ever made by a US president one that scholars continue to debate today Japan surrendered days after the bombs fell Victory and peace brought their problems too Soon after the end of World War II a new crisis emerged as the Soviet Union began to expand communism into Eastern Europe This was the start of the Cold War a tense decades-long rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United States Truman led the country through the early years of the Cold War pledging that the United States would fight the spread of communism throughout throughout the world This declaration called the Truman Doctrine was put to the test in 8 Harry S Truman
Introduction 1950 when communist North Korea invaded South Korea Truman ordered US military forces to join the United Nations effort to help South Korea The Korean War dragged on past the end of Truman’s presidency Truman was plunged into the presidency at a key moment in US history Readers of this book will understand the character intellect and politics that shaped this pivotal leader one whom many scholars now rank among the country’s best presidents 9
Harry S Truman was a plainspoken Midwesterner from Missouri For years he worked on his family’s farm near Grandview and it was this experience that cultivated one of his most enduring characteristics It was on the farm that Harry got his common sense his mother Martha Truman once said He didn’t get it in town After he began a career in public service many people noted how common sense was fundamental in even the most difficult decisions he made Truman’s Family Harry S Truman was born on May 8 1884 in Lamar Missouri He was the son of John Anderson Truman a cattle trader and farmer 10 Chapter 1 A Missouri Son
A Missouri Son A Missouri Son A Missouri Son and Martha Ellen Young Truman A younger brother John Vivian Truman called Vivian was born in 1886 and a younger sister Mary Jane Truman followed in 1889 Harry was named for his mother’s brother Harry Young He was given the middle initial initial S but no name for his grandfathers Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young Truman’s great-grandmother Nancy Tyler Holmes was a first cousin of John Tyler tenth president of the United States It is interesting to know that Tyler was the first vice president to become president by succession succession as stipulated by Article II Section Truman was born in this farmhouse in Lamar Missouri The pine tree left was planted on May 8 1884 the day Harry was born 11
