Civic Calendar: Remembering Harry Truman
by Kathleen McCoy |
The Forty-Ninth State Fellows of the UAA University Honors College call the attention of the University community to the anniversary of the birth of Harry S. Truman, 33rd U.S. President (1945-1952), May 8.
Born in Missouri, Truman saw combat in World War I before serving as a local judge and being elected to the U.S. Senate. His work exposing corruption in government defense contracts during World War II led to his selection as Franklin Roosevelt's vice-president in 1944. He succeeded to the presidency on the death of Roosevelt in April 1945.
As president, Truman ordered the use of the atom bomb against Japan. After the war he supported the Marshall Plan for reconstruction in Europe, and desegregated the U.S. Armed Forces by executive order. He formally recognized the new state of Israel and supported the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
His "Truman Doctrine" committed the U.S. to defend freedom worldwide. His upset victory over Republican Thomas Dewey in 1948 is considered the greatest in U.S. history. Truman died December 26, 1972 in Kansas City.
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