Harry S. Truman
Most Americans in the 1950s did not expect that Harry Truman would become one of their most highly regarded presidents. By 1952, just before he announced his decision not to run again, only 25% of the people thought he was doing a good job. Within a decade, however, most American historians regarded him as one of the nation's greatest presidents.
Obviously, Truman was not so effective in domestic affairs as his predecessor, Franklin Roosevelt, had been in the 1930's.
Truman's record in foreign affairs, while also flawed, was more significant. He effectively developed a larger role for the nation in world affairs than it had played before World War II. Truman’s policy helped the recovery ...
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would end the war quickly, save lives, and place the United States in a position to revolutionize Japanese life. Two bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, coupled with Russia's declaration of war against Japan, brought the war to an end on August 14, 1945.
Some persons have argued that Truman used the bomb to influence the Russians rather than the Japanese, but they have demonstrated only that he and some of his aides hoped that this new evidence of American power would restrain the Russians at the same time that it accomplished American objectives in Japan. By August 1945, Truman had become more critical of the Russians than Roosevelt had been. As time passed in 1945, Russian efforts to dominate eastern Europe became more obvious and alarming to American officials, and the need for Russian help, which had influenced Roosevelt so much, significantly declined as Germany and Japan were defeated and the United Nations was established.
Given the Russian military presence and ...
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by free institutions, representative government, free elections, guaranties of individual liberty, freedom of speech and religion, and freedom from political oppression.
The second way of life is based upon the will of a minority forcibly imposed upon the majority. It relies upon terror and oppression, a controlled press and radio, fixed elections, and the suppression of personal freedoms.
Then came the dramatic sentence that set forth what was to become known as the “Truman Doctrine.” The president said, “I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.” The immediate ...
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"Harry S. Truman." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 8 Jun. 2007. Web. 22 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Harry-S-Truman/66141>
"Harry S. Truman." Essayworld.com. June 8, 2007. Accessed November 22, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Harry-S-Truman/66141.
"Harry S. Truman." Essayworld.com. June 8, 2007. Accessed November 22, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Harry-S-Truman/66141.
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