Serious ideological differences—the United States supported democratic institutions and market principles, while Soviet leaders were totalitarian and ran a command economy—separated the two countries. But it was the diverging interests of the emerging superpowers in Europe and Asia which sharpened their differences. In response to what it viewed as Soviet threats, the Truman administration constructed foreign policies to contain the Soviet Union's political power and counter its military strength.
By , Soviet and American policies had divided Europe into a Soviet-controlled bloc in the east and an American-supported grouping in the west. That same year, a communist government sympathetic to the Soviet Union came to power in China, the world's most populous nation.
At home, President Truman presided over the difficult transition from a war-time to a peace-time economy. During World War II, the American government had intervened in the nation's economy to an unprecedented degree, controlling prices, wages, and production. Truman lobbied for a continuing government role in the immediate post-war economy and also for an expansive liberal agenda that built on the New Deal.
Republicans and conservative Democrats attacked this strategy and the President mercilessly. An immediate postwar economy characterized by high inflation and consumer shortages further eroded Truman's support and contributed to the Democrats losing control of Congress in the midterm elections.
Newly empowered Republicans and conservative Democrats stymied Truman's liberal proposals and began rolling back some New Deal gains, especially through the Taft-Hartley labor law moderately restricting union activity.
Truman's political fortunes reached their low point in and , a nadir from which few observers believed the President could recover to win a second term. Freed from shouldering primary responsibility for the nation's economy which began to stabilize and the nearly impossible burden of uniting the disparate Democratic party behind a progressive agenda, Truman let the Republicans try to govern. When they faltered or pushed conservative programs, Truman counterattacked with skill, fire, and wit.
The President also took steps to energize his liberal Democratic base, especially blacks, unions, and urban dwellers, issuing executive orders that pushed forward the cause of African-American civil rights and vetoing unsuccessfully the Taft-Hartley bill.
Truman won the presidential nomination of a severely divided Democratic party in the summer of and faced New York's Republican governor Thomas Dewey in the general election. Few expected him to win, but the President waged a vigorous campaign that excoriated Republicans in Congress as much as it attacked Dewey. Truman defeated Dewey in November , capping one of the most stunning political comebacks in American history.
Truman viewed his reelection as a mandate for a liberal agenda, which he presented under the name "The Fair Deal. He did win passage of some important liberal legislation that raised the minimum wage and expanded Social Security. Moreover, the American economy began a period of sustained growth in the early s that lasted for nearly two decades. Increasingly, though, his administration was buffeted by charges of corruption and being "soft on communism.
Some of the most virulent and irresponsible anti-communists, like Wisconsin's Republican senator Joseph McCarthy, lambasted the administration and the State Department, in particular. Significant foreign policy challenges persisted into Truman's second term. The President committed the United States to the defense of South Korea in the summer of after that nation, an American ally, was invaded by its communist neighbor, North Korea.
The American military launched a counterattack that pushed the North Koreans back to the Chinese border, whereupon the Chinese entered the war in the fall of On December 26, , Harry S.
Truman died in Kansas City, MO at the age of In the year , a C-Span Poll ranking of all U. Presidents was conducted by 58 presidential historians and scholars.
Truman ranked 5th behind Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Washington and Theodore Roosevelt. Have you ever heard of the famous one-man play about Harry Truman? But things were different in the s after Truman left office. On one occasion, Truman and his wife Bess decided they would take a drive across the country.
Their plan, to enjoy a leisurely day trip around the USA was not as relaxing as they envisioned. Everywhere they went, rest stops, diners and shops, they were greeted by folks who immediately recognized them and were curious about what they were doing and where they were going. The 33rd president even got pulled over for driving 55 in the fast lane on the ride home—luckily, no ticket was issued! Children Mary Margaret — Inauguration Date April 12, Date Ended January 20, President Number Featured Insights.
President Johnson talked with former President Truman about the strains of being president. Speeches View His Speeches. April 16, First Speech to Congress audio icon transcript icon. In , Truman was elected to the U. Commonly known as the Truman Committee, it saved American taxpayers millions of dollars and propelled Truman into the national spotlight. In , as Roosevelt sought an unprecedented fourth term as president, Truman was selected as his running mate, replacing Vice President Henry Wallace , a divisive figure in the Democratic Party.
Less than three months later, on April 12, , the president died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage at age Upon assuming the presidency, Harry Truman, who had met privately with Roosevelt only a few times before his death and had never been informed by the president about the construction of the atomic bomb, faced a series of monumental challenges and decisions.
In an effort to end the war in the Pacific and prevent the massive U. In the aftermath of the war, the Truman administration had to contend with deteriorating U. The president adopted a policy of containment toward Soviet expansion and the spread of communism. In , he introduced the Truman Doctrine to provide aid to Greece and Turkey in an effort to protect them from communist aggression.
That same year, Truman also instituted the Marshall Plan , which gave billions of dollars in aid to help stimulate economic recovery in European nations. The president defended the plan by stating that communism would thrive in economically depressed regions. In , Truman initiated an airlift of food and other supplies to the Western-held sectors of Berlin, Germany, that were blockaded by the Soviets.
He also recognized the new state of Israel. On the home front, Truman was faced with the challenge of transitioning America to a peacetime economy. Amid labor disputes, a shortage of consumer goods and a national railroad strike, he saw his approval ratings plummet. He ran for reelection in and was widely expected to lose to Republican challenger Thomas Dewey. However, Truman conducted a vigorous whistle-stop campaign in which he traveled by train around the country, giving hundreds of speeches.
The president and his running mate Alben Barkley , a U. Dixiecrat candidate Strom Thurmond earned 39 electoral votes and 2. Harry Truman was sworn in for his second term in January ; his inauguration was the first to be nationally televised. The president set forth an ambitious social reform agenda, known as the Fair Deal, which included national medical insurance, federal housing programs, a higher minimum wage, assistance for farmers, repeal of the Taft-Hartley labor act, increases in Social Security and civil rights reforms.
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