Harry S. Truman / Robert H. Ferrell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ferrell, Robert H.

Series:

American presidents reference series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972.

Truman, Harry S.

Presidents--United States--Biography.

Presidents.

Politics and government.

United States.

United States--Politics and government--1945-1953.

United States--Politics and government--1945-1953--Sources.

Genre:

Biographies.

Sources.

Physical Description:

x, 342 pages : illustrations, portraits ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : CQ Press, [2003]

Summary:

Harry S. Truman examines the tumultuous term of the thirty-third president of the United States. Truman was sworn in as president after the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and only eighty-two days into his vice presidency. Key events during the Truman presidency include victory in World War II with the decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan, the start of the cold war with the Soviet Union and its eastern European satellites, the Marshall Plan, the Berlin airlift, the Fair Deal, price-control legislation, and the McCarthy hearings.

Contents:

1. A Common Man 7

Farm and Army 8

County and Nation 10

From Freshman Senator to Leadership 13

Second-Term Senator 15

Vice President 17

President 18

Retirement 21

1.1 The Education of a President 23

1.2 An Essay on Courage 25

1.3 Kansas City 26

1.4 World War I 29

1.5 The First of 1,268 Letters 30

1.6 A Typical Letter from a Farmer 31

1.7 Harry Proposes 33

1.8 Bess Disposes 34

1.9 Pendergast 36

1.10 The Possibility of Being County Collector 38

1.11 In the Senate 39

1.12 Truman and the Vice Presidency 41

1.13 The Death of Franklin D. Roosevelt 43

1.14 Address before a Joint Meeting of the Congress, April 16, 1945 45

1.15 The Days of a President, Diary, November 1, 1949 48

1.16 Truman and His Staff, Diary, January 16, 1947 49

1.17 Truman's Decision Making, Diary, December 19, 1947 50

1.18 White House Ghosts, Diary, January 6, 1947 50

1.19 The New White House, Diary, March 2, 1952 51

1.20 The Assassination Attempt, Letter, November 17, 1950 53

1.21 Character 54

1.22 Service, 1954 55

2. Campaigns and Electoral Strategies 59

Early Interest in Politics 59

County Campaigns 60

Election of 1940 64

Vice President: 1944 65

Presidential Election of 1948: Personalities 68

The Presidential Election of 1948: Republican and Democratic Strategies 70

2.1 Election as Eastern Judge, 1922 75

2.2 Decision, Opponents, Organization, 1940 76

2.3 Campaigning through Missouri, 1940 78

2.4 Welcome Back to the Senate, Letters, August 9 and 10, 1940 80

2.5 How Truman Achieved the Vice-Presidential Nomination in 1944 82

2.6 Acceptance Speech, Philadelphia, July 15, 1948 84

2.7 Message to the Special Session of the 80th Congress, July 27, 1948 87

2.8 Western Campaign Speech, September 23, 1948 90

2.9 Campaigning, Letter, October 5, 1948 91

2.10 Address in Harlem, New York, October 29, 1948 92

2.11 The Dexter, Iowa, Speech, September 18, 1948 95

2.12 Middle Western Campaign Speeches, October 30, 1948 97

2.13 Final Campaign Speech, October 30, 1948 101

2.14 1948 Presidential Election 103

2.15 Return to Washington, Letter, November 7, 1948 106

3. Administration Policies 109

Foreign Policy: Europe 109

Foreign Policy: East Asia 112

Foreign Policy: The Middle East 113

Foreign Policy: Latin America 114

The Fair Deal 115

Inflation 116

Labor 118

Fiscal Policy 120

3.1 The Truman Doctrine, March 12, 1947 123

3.2 The Marshall Plan: Address at Harvard University Commencement, June 5, 1947 126

3.3 American Rights in Berlin, July 6, 1948 129

3.4 The North Atlantic Treaty, April 4, 1949 130

3.5 Occupation Policy in Japan 132

3.6 Secretary of State Dean Acheson to President Truman on China Policy, Memo, July 30, 1949 135

3.7 Truman and the Zionists, Diary, July 21, 1947 137

3.8 Point Four Program 138

3.9 The Fair Deal, January 5, 1949 140

3.10 Special Message to Congress on the Nation's Health Needs, April 22, 1949 143

3.11 Unused Speech on Price Controls, October 1946 146

3.12 Special Message to Congress Urging Industrial Peace, May 25, 1946 147

3.13 The President and the United Mine Workers, Diary, December 11, 1946 150

3.14 Veto of the Taft-Hartley Bill, June 20, 1947 152

3.15 Employment Act, February 20, 1946 154

3.16 Economic Report, January 7, 1949 157

4. Crises and Flashpoints 163

Hiroshima and Nagasaki 163

The Korean War 166

Civil Rights 169

Loyalty Program 172

The Mess in Washington 174

Steel Decision 177

4.1 The Order to Drop the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima, July 25, 1945 180

4.2 Presidential Statement Announcing Dropping of a Nuclear Bomb on Hiroshima, June 6, 1945 181

4.3 Afterthoughts on Nuclear Weapons, 1958 184

4.4 Statement by the President on the Violation of the 38th Parallel in Korea, June 26, 1950 185

4.5 Statement on Sending Ground Troops to Korea, June 30, 1950 186

4.6 Statement by the President concerning His Meeting with Gen. Douglas MacArthur on Wake Island, October 15, 1950 187

4.7 Truman and the Dismissal of Gen. Douglas MacArthur from His Far Eastern Commands, 1950-1954 189

4.8 An Early Effort for Civil Rights, Speech, June 15, 1940 193

4.9 The Main Difficulty with the South, Letter, August 18, 1948 194

4.10 To Secure These Rights 195

4.11 Address before the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Lincoln Memorial, June 29, 1947 198

4.12 Fair Employment Practices within the Federal Government, Executive Order 9980, July 26, 1948 200

4.13 The President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity within the Armed Services, Executive Order 9981, July 26, 1948 203

4.14 Truman and Civil Rights, Letter, January 12, 1953 204

4.15 The President's Loyalty Program, Executive Order 9835, March 22, 1947 205

4.16 The Internal Security (McCarran) Act, September 23, 1950 208

4.17 Truman's Veto of the Internal Security Bill, September 22, 1950 211

4.18 The Accusations of Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, Unsent Letter 214

4.19 Maj. Gen. Harry Vaughan and the "5 Percenters" 215

4.20 Statement by the President on Reorganization of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, January 2, 1952 217

4.21 The Steel Takeover, April 8, 1952 219

4.22 Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, June 2, 1952 223

5. Institutional Relations 229

Executive 229

Legislature 233

Judiciary 234

The Military 236

The Media 239

5.1 The Dismissal of Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, Memorandum, February 13, 1946 242

5.2 The Dismissal of Secretary of Commerce Henry A. Wallace, Letters, September 19 and 21, 1946 244

5.3 Truman on George Marshall, Diary, January 8, 1947 246

5.4 The Dismissal of Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson, Diary, September 14, 1950 246

5.5 Statement by the President on Receiving the Final Report of the Hoover Commission, May 26, 1949 249

5.6 The Work of Congress, Letter, March 28, 1947 251

5.7 Dissent in the Supreme Court, Letter, June 11, 1946 252

5.8 The National Security Act, July 26, 1947 253

5.9 Atomic Energy Act, August 1, 1946 255

5.10 The U.S. Proposal for the International Control of Atomic Energy, June 14, 1946 258

5.11 Presidential Statement on Soviet Explosion of a Nuclear Device, September 23, 1949 260

5.12 Letter to the Richmond Times-Dispatch (Unsent), July 9, 1947 261

5.13 The Newspaper Press, Letter, May 12, 1948 262

5.14 The Press and the President's Salary, Letter, February 12, 1949 263

6. Retirement 267

Contemporary Judgments 269

Retirement: The Democratic Party 271

Retirement: The Republican Party 273

Legacy 276

6.1 Unsent Letter to Adlai Stevenson, August 1952 277

6.2 The Campaign Revisited, Diary, November 15, 1952 279

6.3 The President-Elect's Visit to the White House, Diary, November 20, 1952 280

6.4 The President's Analysis of Defeat, December 22, 1952 281

6.5 President of the United States, Undelivered Farewell Speech 284

6.6 Definitions, February 10, 1959 287

6.7 The Nixon Danger, Letter, August 22, 1959 288

6.8 The Most Serious Situation, Letter, January 7, 1959 290

6.9 Whoever Is Nominated, Letter, June 30, 1960 291

6.10 History Says, Letter, June 25, 1960 291

6.11 The "Immature Boy," Letter, August 26, 1960 293

6.12 Forgiveness, Letter, January 24, 1961 294

6.13 Presidential Advice, Letter, June 28, 1962 295

6.14 Eisenhower in 1948, Diary, July 25, 1947 295

6.15 An Unsent Letter to President Eisenhower, November 28, 1956 296

6.16 On the Republicans, Letter, December 11, 1956 297

6.17 Letter to Sherman Minton, September 6, 1958 298

6.18 Tributes in Eulogy of Harry S. Truman: Remarks of Senator J. W. Fulbright of Arkansas 300

6.19 Tributes in Eulogy of Harry S. Truman: Remarks of Rep. Ella T. Grasso of Connecticut 301

6.20 Tributes in Eulogy of Harry S. Truman: Remarks of Sen. Edmund S. Muskie of Maine 303

6.21 Tributes in Eulogy of Harry S. Truman: Remarks of Sen.

Mike Gravel of Alaska 305

6.22 Tributes in Eulogy of Harry S. Truman: Honesty 307

6.23 Tributes in Eulogy of Harry S. Truman: A member of Battery D, 129th Field Artillery Regiment, 35th Division 308

Appendix A Notable Figures of the Truman Presidency 311

Appendix B Key Events in Truman's Life 327

Appendix C Cabinet Members, Truman Administration 334.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1568027664

OCLC:

52056073