1945-53 Harry S. Truman

Harry S Truman (May 8, 1884 – December 26, 1972) was the thirty-fourth Vice President (1945) and the thirty-third President of the United States (1945–1953), succeeding to the office upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. more...

Truman's presidency was eventful, seeing the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the end of World War II, the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe, the beginning of the Cold War, the desegregation of the U.S. armed forces, the formation of the United Nations, the second red scare, the creation of the CIA, and most of the Korean War. Truman was a folksy, unassuming president, and popularized phrases such as "The buck stops here" and "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen." He overcame the low expectations of many, particularly in the shadow of his politically-dominant predecessor, and although he decided not to run for re-election in 1952 due to low approval ratings, he is now commonly rated among the near-great Presidents by historians.

Early life

Truman was born on May 8, 1884, in Lamar, Missouri, the eldest child of John Anderson Truman and Martha Ellen Young Truman. A brother, John Vivian (1886–1965), soon followed, along with a sister, Mary Jane Truman (1889–1978). When Truman was six years of age, his parents moved the family to Independence, Missouri, and it was there that Truman would spend the bulk of his formative years. After graduating from high school in 1901, Truman worked at a series of clerical jobs and was a farmer 1906-1916. He was the last president not to earn a college degree, although he studied for two years toward a law degree at the Kansas City Law School (currently the University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Law) in the early 1920s and was a fellow classmate of future United States Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Whittaker.

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