BIOGRAPHY:

Harry Truman, the 33rd President of the United States of America (ruling from 1945 to 1953), was ahead of his time in matters of domestic policy, but ultimately failed. The politician initiated the Cold War with the Soviet Union; Truman went down in history as the creator of NATO and an ardent fighter against communism.

Childhood and youth:

The future US president was born on May 8, 1884 in Lamar (Missouri). Harry is the eldest of three children of farmer and cattle dealer John Anderson Truman. The family traveled around America for several years until they settled in Independence, where little Harry went to school. The boy was fascinated by reading books, history and music – he got up at 5 o’clock in the morning to learn the next part on the piano.

After school, Harry entered a business college, where, among other things, he studied accounting, but a year later he was forced to leave the educational institution – by that time his father went bankrupt, he had to earn money. The young man managed to gain experience working at a railway station, in an editorial office, at the National Commercial Bank, and before the First World War he worked with his father and brother on his grandmother’s farm. During the war he rose to the rank of captain.

After his father’s death, Truman took control of the farm and improved it by introducing crop rotation and raising cattle. At the same time, Harry tried his hand at business – he invested in lead-zinc mines in Oklahoma, invested in the development of oil fields and speculated in real estate in Kansas City. However, business projects turned out to be unsuccessful.

Beginning of a political career:

Truman decided on his political affiliation in his youth – he considered himself a supporter of the Democrats. Thanks to the support of this powerful party of the South, led by Tom Pendergast, as well as war veterans, Harry was elected to the post of judge of Jackson County in 1922. It was more of an administrative than a judicial position. The main areas of work covered economic needs: road maintenance, management of a nursing home, wastewater disposal. The chairman of the court received citizens with pressing questions.

Truman presided over the court for two terms, proved himself an excellent official, and in 1934, again with the help of Pendergast, he was elected to the US Senate. A staunch supporter of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, he threw himself into his work and even earned an appointment to one of the committees. He achieved popularity for uncovering fraud on the railway, and participated in the preparation of the law on transport and regulation of air traffic.

In 1940, Truman barely, but still achieved re-election to the Senate. The politician was entrusted with the leadership of a committee to investigate the implementation of the national defense program; ineffective use of public funds and corruption in the conclusion of military contracts were revealed. During World War II, the country quoted Truman’s saying:

“If we see that Germany is winning, then we should help Russia, and if Russia is winning, then we should help Germany, and thus let them kill as many as possible, although I do not want to see Hitler under any circumstances winners.”

In 1944, Roosevelt appointed Truman as vice president instead of Henry Wallace, who began to be distinguished by liberal habits, which caused discontent among representatives of the Democratic Party. In this position, Harry supervised American military activities. Harry Truman lasted 82 days as vice president. In April 1945, Roosevelt died unexpectedly, and, according to the American Constitution, Truman assumed the presidency.

As President:

Despite the positive aspects of his activities, the politician was not popular with the people, as population surveys prove. In 1951, only 23% of Americans agreed with the course of government; two years after leaving office, 31% of the population gave positive assessments of Truman’s work.

However, by the beginning of the 80s, history was revised, and the 33rd President of the United States was elevated to bronze place in the ranking of American rulers. He was second only to Franklin Roosevelt and John Kennedy, essentially becoming a folk hero.

Truman inherited a household with difficult problems: the war was ending, the conflict over the division of Eastern Europe was flaring up, relations with the Soviet Union were deteriorating, and some holes needed to be patched up in his own country.

Domestic policy:

Harry Truman’s reign was associated with the mitigation of racial tensions; he tried to abandon policies and laws that divided the population along racial lines. A committee to oversee the status of African Americans arose – a structure that monitored the equality of all citizens.

Truman paid great attention to economic and social problems, proposing new laws. The president’s most famous program was called the “Fair Deal.” In essence, the project was an expansion of Roosevelt’s New Deal.

Increasing costs for social support, controlling prices and loans, increasing wages, building public housing, ensuring full employment of the population, introducing state health insurance, assistance to education – the politician saw these as points of growth for the country.

But, unfortunately, Harry Truman did not find support in Congress. The bill was not passed, so over time voters became disillusioned with the policy. In 1952, he abandoned his candidacy for the presidency. Only 15 years later would other leaders return to Truman’s initiatives.

Foreign policy:

The president went down in world history as the instigator of the Cold War. At the end of World War II, relations between America and the USSR deteriorated during the division of zones of influence in liberated Europe. Truman was outraged by the Yalta agreement between Roosevelt and Stalin – he believed that his predecessor had conceded too much to the Soviet leader.

Wanting to intimidate and gain more weight in foreign policy, America announced the creation of an atomic bomb, and in order to put an end to the war with Japan, they decided to drop weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In tandem with Great Britain, the United States created a plan limiting the influence of the USSR in Europe. This is how the Cold War started.

In 1947, Truman demonstrates the doctrine of “containment” – a series of measures aimed at preventing the spread of communism. The idea, in exchange for financial assistance, is supported by Turkey and Greece. The US leader adopted the Marshall Plan, which implied the injection of billions of dollars into the war-ravaged economies of European countries, thereby guaranteeing America enormous influence on its territory. And in 1949, NATO was born, a bloc that would protect against communist expansion.

The United States in the late 40s and early 50s supported France in colonial activities in Vietnam and became involved in the Korean War. An aggressive foreign policy and participation in hostilities were another reason why his compatriots lost confidence in Truman.

Personal life:

The politician’s biography also included a place for his personal life. In 1911, young Truman, after a long courtship, proposed marriage to a fellow villager from Independence, Elizabeth Wallace Ferman. However, the girl refused the fan. Harry promised to return to the issue when he earned more money – that is why the farmer got into business.

In April 1919, Truman married his chosen one. The wife always remained in the shadow of her husband’s political career and took little part in the public life of Washington. Although, according to researchers, Harry consulted with Elizabeth in matters of politics, especially when it came to important government decisions.

The only daughter of the marriage was Mary Margaret Truman, and after the marriage, Margaret Truman Daniel. In her youth, the girl dreamed of becoming a singer, even performing with a symphony orchestra, but after marrying the editor of The New York Times, she buried her dream. However, the woman still became popular – in the field of writing. Margaret’s pen includes 32 books in the detective genre, each of which became a bestseller. Truman’s daughter also released a biography of her parents and a collection of memories from her childhood spent in the White House. The books contain an abundance of photographs from the Truman family archives. Margaret gave the famous father four grandchildren and died in 2008.

Truman Doctrine:

By late 1945 and early 1946, concerns were already being expressed about the position and actions of the Soviet Union in Europe, Iran and Turkey. In response to a request from the State Department in February 1946, George Kennan (1904–2005), head of the US Embassy in Moscow, sent a telegram explaining the Soviet actions. His analysis and recommendations, quickly called the Long Telegram, together with the version published by Kennan in Foreign Affairs magazine under the pseudonym “Mr. the end of the Cold War.

Kennan pointed out that the answer to the Soviet advance was long-term containment, patient but firm and vigilant. He believed that the Soviet Union would be patient, slowly moving forward through a variety of geopolitical and ideological breakthroughs. The answer was that the United States was holding them back and hindering their ability to do so.

A year after Kennan sent his response to Washington, on February 19, 1947, British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin instructed the British Ambassador to the United States, Lord Inverchapel, to contact the State Department, as they needed to send him communication of great importance.

These were two notes that came to the United States saying that the British government, which had been providing economic and military assistance to Greece and Turkey, could no longer afford to help both countries in this way.

British support for the Greeks was due to end on 1 April that year. It also describes the rapidly deteriorating state of Greece’s economy and security.

In addition, they reported that the British could no longer continue their assistance to Turkey, that it was fighting communist insurgencies and that it maintained a large army that required Soviet pressure, and that the Turks would not be able to cope with the financing of both modernization and their army and economic development of the country. The British government hoped that the United States could assume this responsibility in both countries.

What happened to the British economy? In the spring of 1947, Britain faced a severe financial crisis that damaged its global obligations and worsened its balance of payments. The country could not produce enough for its own consumption or for export and was forced to rely on dollar imports while US prices rose.

As if that weren’t enough, extreme weather in January and February, the worst since the late 19th century, paralyzed the country. Electricity for industry was completely cut off on February 10, domestic supplies were sharply reduced, and transport services were reduced.

Now Loy Henderson, director of the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern and African Affairs, expressed his opinion to President Truman that if the British withdrew their troops from Greece and the United States did not intervene, the Bulgarian-backed Greek communist guerrillas and Yugoslavia would be destroyed. confidently gain control of Greece. If this happened, the free world would lose the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East to the communists.

While Turkey, with a weak government but being the only country in the area with an army strong enough – 500,000 soldiers – to make the Russians doubtful, found itself in an untenable position. The Soviet Union laid claims to the border areas of Kars and Ardahan, and also demanded a new regime for the management of the straits (Bosporus and Dardanelles), thereby demanding a revision of the Montreux Treaty.

In this tense international climate, on March 12, 1947, United States President Harry S. Truman promulgated what would become known as the Truman Doctrine, precisely a manifestation of Kennan’s theory of containment. that the United States will do whatever is necessary, both economically and militarily, to contain the spread of communism throughout the world.

Thus, the United States made it clear that its role on the world stage would not end after World War II, putting an end to a century and a half of isolationist foreign policy and thereby revising its guidelines. For the United States, isolationism was no longer an option.

The Truman Doctrine positioned the United States as the defender of the free world against Soviet aggression and provided the basis for American activism during the Cold War.

In President Truman’s speech, he called for an aid package of about $400 million for Greece and Turkey.

The Truman Doctrine is based on George Kennan’s policy of containment.

Death:

Death threatened Truman back in 1950. In late autumn, two Puerto Ricans tried to break into the house, but the crime never happened – one of those who attempted to kill the president was killed, the other was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Harry Truman died on December 26, 1972 in Kansas City. Having lived to such an advanced age, the man was struck down by pneumonia. America’s 33rd leader rests in the courtyard of the Truman Library.

Memory:

American aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75)
Truman Presidential Library and Museum
Harry S. Truman School of Social Sciences
State University named after Truman in Missouri

Books:

1972 – “Harry S. Truman”, M. Truman
1982 – “Bess V. Truman”, M. Truman
1994 – “Harry S. Truman: A Life”, R. Ferrell
1998 – “Man of Independence”, D. Daniels
2003 – “Harry S. Truman: His Life and Times”, B. Burns
2008 – “Harry S. Truman”, R. Dallek
2009 – “Harry Truman”, publishing house “De Agostini”
2016 – “Truman”, L. Dubova, G. Chernyavsky

Movies:

1947 – “33rd US President Harry Truman”
1950 – “My country, this is for you”
1963 – “Winners”
1973 – “World at War”
1980 – “Atomic Cafe”
1984 – “Victory”
1988 – “18 Again”
1994 – “Wars of our century”
1995 – “Truman”
2006 – “Flags of our fathers”
2004 – “Conspiracy Theory”
2008 – “The President Who Will Be Remembered”