Near the middle of the twentieth century, before the evolution of the presidential monarchy, there was a president who took daily morning walks in his business suit along the streets of Washington, D.C. Following reporters would often jog along just to stay up with his brisk pace. His terms in office, much like his walks, were marked by a fast, self-assured series of efforts to serve the American people. On his desk a plaque declared his status, “The Buck Stops Here”. He was Harry S. Truman.
Truman was born in 1884 and was raised on a farm. He began wearing glasses at the age of eight. To protect his vision, instead of playing the rough games of most boys, he spent many hours reading any book that he could get his hands on. As a young man he tried several jobs; he also tried to enter the service by enrolling at West Point, but was denied due to his poor vision. He was, however, able to join the National Guard. In 1906 he returned home to operate the family farm after the death of his grandfather. Then came World War I.
As an officer in the Missouri National Guard, in 1917 Truman helped organize an artillery regiment. Later as a captain in France, he commanded an artillery battery. After the war he eventually rose to the rank of colonel.
By 1920 Truman had become interested in politics. In 1922 he was elected in Missouri to a position of county commissioner and in 1934 he became U.S. Senator. During his tenure, he established himself as someone who got things done. In 1944 he was asked to run for Vice-President with President Franklin Roosevelt. At that time many Democratic leaders felt that the president would not live through another term and wanted someone who could handle a rough transition. It was only eighty-three days into his term when he was called to the White House by Mrs. Roosevelt. At the news of the president’s passing, he asked, “Is there anything I can do for you?” Mrs. Roosevelt replied, “Is there anything we can do for you? For you are the one in trouble now.”
Events then occurred rapidly. On April 12, 1945 Truman is sworn in. Thirteen days later the first meeting of the new United Nations is held and on May 7 Germany at last surrenders. In July, at the Potsdam Conference in Germany to discuss healing Europe with Allied partners Great Britain and Russia, Truman is notified of the testing of the atomic bomb and orders it dropped. On August 6 Hiroshima is hit, then Nagasaki. World War II ends on August 14.
As a Democrat and strong supporter of Roosevelt’s “New Deal” policies, immediately after the war Truman offered a series of government programs which he believed would help the rich and poor; he called them the “Fair Deal”. His domestic proposals to Congress however, in both his two terms, would largely fail. It was his international decisions that created the legacy that lasts today.
After the war, the United States led an effort to stabilize war-torn Europe and Asia with a goal to eventually return control to those countries. But, it was clear at the Potsdam Conference that Russia had no intention of surrendering control over the territories that it occupied in its drive to Germany during the war. Berlin, Germany itself was divided into three sections. The one controlled by Russia was soon isolated from the west with an armed border. In war weary Europe during this time many Eastern European Countries were also claimed as part of the Soviet Union. In 1946, Great Britain’s Winston Churchill first termed a phrase describing the level of relations with Russia - a Cold War.
With Europe in shambles, Truman realized that the U.S. must take the lead in resisting Russia’s efforts of aggression. In 1946 Congress approved a massive loan to assist rebuilding of Great Britain. In 1947 the Truman Doctrine was introduced, guaranteeing American aid to any free nation resisting communist propaganda or sabotage. Soon after, the Marshall Plan extended the Doctrine to also financially assist war-stricken countries of Europe.
In 1948 Russia blocked all roads leading into the city of Berlin, Germany, cutting off badly needed supplies. The new West Berlin contrasted sharply with the shattered eastern part of the city and was an affront to Russian propaganda. The Russians expected the Allies to simply surrender the city, but Truman had no such plans. Within days the U.S. began a massive delivery of supplies by air which kept the city alive for eleven months before Russia removed the blockade. To counter Russia’s aggression, in 1949 the U.S. and eleven other countries signed the North Atlantic Pact and created NATO as a defense. Russia then changed direction in 1950, supplying an invasion from North Korea into the south. Truman again acted quickly, sending forces to assist the south. This would become the Korean War, the first war sanctioned by the United Nations.
The actions of Russia against the Western Nations didn’t end with Truman, or with the later end of the Soviet Union. The new Russia of the 1990s quickly lost its democratic urges and fell into nothing more than a dictatorship which today continues to see the West as a foe. Here are a few known actions of the new Russia. In 2001 American senior FBI agent Robert Hanssen, with top secret access, was jailed after nearly twenty years working as a Russian spy. In 2006 a dissident Russian newsman was poisoned in England. In 2014, the non-NATO country of Ukraine was invaded. In 2014 a former spy was poisoned in England, and in 2016 a cyber-attack was made on the U.S. election system.
Recently, the President of the U.S. stood next to the dictator of Russia and called the U.S. attitude toward that government foolish. But sometimes, knowing the past will reveal the present.
