Presidency of Harry S. Truman: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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{{Harry S. Truman series}}

[[Harry S. Truman]]'s tenure as the 33rd [[president of the United States]] began on April 12, 1945, upon the death of [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], and ended on January 20, 1953. He had been [[Vice President of the United States|vice president]] for only {{age in days|Jan 20, 1945|Apr 12, 1945}} days when he succeeded to the presidency. Truman, a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] from [[Missouri]], ran for and won a full four–yearfour-year term in the [[1948 United States presidential election|1948 president election]], winning a narrow victory over [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] Governor opponent New York Governor [[Thomas E. Dewey]]. Although exempted from the newly ratified [[Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twenty-second Amendment]], Truman did not run for a second full term in the [[1952 United States presidential election|1952 presidential election]] because of his low popularity. He was succeeded by Republican [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] in 1953.

Truman's presidency was a turning point in foreign affairs, as the United States engaged in an internationalist foreign policy and renounced [[United States non-interventionism|isolationism]]. During his first year in office, Truman approved the [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]] and subsequently accepted the [[surrender of Japan]], which marked the end of [[World War II]]. In the [[aftermath of World War II]], he helped establish the [[United Nations]] and other post-war institutions. Relations with the Soviet Union declined after 1945, and by 1947 the two countries had entered a long period of tension and war preparation known as the [[Cold War]], during which a hot fighting war with Moscow was avoided. Truman broke with Roosevelt's prior vice president [[Henry A. Wallace]], who called for friendship with Moscow. Wallace was the third-party presidential candidate of the far left in 1948. In 1947, Truman promulgated the [[Truman Doctrine]], which called for the United States to prevent the spread of [[Communism]] through foreign aid to Greece and Turkey. In 1948 the Republican-controlled Congress approved the [[Marshall Plan]], a massive financial aid package designed to rebuild Western Europe. In 1949, the Truman administration designed and presided over the creation of [[NATO]], a military alliance of Western countries designed to prevent the further westward expansion of Soviet power.