Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Harry S Truman

Harry S Truman was the 33rd president of the U.S.  He was the only Missouri-born president.

Harry S Truman was born in Lamar, MO on May 8, 1884 to John and Martha Truman.  His parents owned a farm in Independence, Missouri and his parents also owned one in Grandview.

Harry was a whiz in history in high school, and then went on to Kansas City Law School.

As a young adult, Harry became the Jackson County Judge with the help of a famous politician.  Truman was also a member of the National Guard and fought in France in 1918-1919.  Truman became a U.S. Senator in 1934.  He founded the Truman Committee during World War II to prevent Congress frivolous spending.  He was also Franklin D. Roosevelt's Vice President for his fourth term.

Truman served 2 terms after being elected and reelected by the Democratic Party in 1945 and 1949.  During his 2nd term his Vice President was Alben Barkley.  During both terms he ran against Republican, Dewey.  During his reelection, Truman proved everyone's predictions wrong by triumphing over Dewey with almost 200 electoral votes.

On the other side of the world, World War II was taking place.  Truman ended the war by hurling 2 atomic bombs at Japan.  Meanwhile, in the U.S., millions of workers were on strike.  Another war was waging in Korea where the U.S. fought for South Korea.

President Truman passed the Marshall Plan shortly after World War II to aid western European countries.  He also passed the Presidential Successional Act which restricted Presidents to only 2 terms.

Harry was pretty well-known and well-liked President because he was an honest politician.