USS Harry Truman (CVN 75) - Naval Cruise Book

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T m ' fmm ' fmsmmmm smmKmmmmBm who was sure to lose in the next election. ' U .» !•• On July 15, 1948, Truman was nominated the Democratic candidate for president at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. The Republican challenger was New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey. Confident that victory was inevitable, Dewey was quoted as saying, All I have to lis not rock the boat. Truman embarked on a 2 1 ,928- mile whistle stop rail tour. He delivered more than 300 speeches in 33 days to an estimated six million citizens. No president before had gone to such lengths to meet the people. He spoke plainly and largely off the cuff, assailing his old enemies, the do nothing 80 ' Congress. In Seattle, Truman was holding an enthusiastic campaign rally when someone cried, Give ' em Hell, Harry! i!ai8aaiiK ' a3»«aiiaai«ea8!ig« ' -MsgwtBWfca victors; here, the sector was surrounded on all sides by Soviet forces. On June 24, 1 948, the Russians blockaded all routes into the city. The only way in or out of Berlin was air. Truman ordered a massive airlift of food and supplies into Berlin. The Berlin Airlift became known as one of the most brilliant achievements of the postwar era. OnMay 12, 1949, the block! was lifted. Before it was over, th would be 277,804 flights, and ' 2,325,809 tons of food and supplies delivered into Berlin. fate, Truman wanted nothing more than to win an election in his own right. The political pendulum was swinging more toward a republican government, and Truman was being scoffed in the press as a temporary expedient Truman later wrote, 1 have never deliberately given anybody hell. 1 just tell the truth on the opposition and they think it ' s hell. Truman was elected president in his own right, contrary to the forecasts of newspapers The Truman Doctrine On March 12, 1947, Truman requested appropriation for $400 million before a joint session of Congress to fight the spread of communism in Greece and Turkey. This act was the start of what became known as the Truman Doctrine. 1 cornerstone of American forei policy during these times, it was also known as the policy of containment. The Whistle Stop Pushed into the Oval Office by

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The atomic bomb had been perfected in the New Mexico desert, and it was a weapon Truman knew could end the war quickly. It was a single bomb, capable of eradicating an entire city. On July 26, 1945, Truman issued what became known as the Potsdam Declaration. It stated simply that the Japanese armed forces were to surrender unconditionally. The alternative was that Japan would face prompt and utter destruction. No mention was made about the bomb. On July 31, with Japan ' s silence a sign that nothing would come of the declaration, Truman sent a coded message to his secretary of war in Washington: Release when ready but not before August 2. On August 6, the Enola Gay dropped the world ' s first atomic bomb over the city of Hiroshima. It was not an easy decision to make, Truman said. I did not like the weapon. But I had no qualms if in the long run millions of lives could be saved. The one bomb was not enough to compel Japan to surrender. A second atomic strike was completed on Nagasaki on August 9. Japan formally surrendered on the USS MISSOURI (BB 63) in Tokyo Bay September Postwar policies On the home front, Truman was confronted with the task of reconversion - the retooling of the nation from a wartime to peacetime economy. On Sept. 6, he presented a 16,000 word message to Congress, calling for a 21 -point domestic program including unemployment compensation, an immediate increase in minimum wage, and tax reform, among others things. Congress fought with Truman over issues, as varying interests fought for their pet projects. Much of what he demanded would come to pass, although some not until years after he left office. Truman also did much for the reorganization of national defense. In July 1947, he signed the National Security Act, which placed all branches of the military under one department and created the Department of the Air Force. The act also created the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council. In 1948, one of the first initiatives by the federal government against segregation was achieved when Truman signed Executive Order 9981. This established the Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services. This significant accomplishment ended segregation within the military. Along with his Secretary of State George C. Marshall, Truman developed an extensive $12 billion aid package for Western Europe known as the Marshall Plan. On April 3, 1 948, he signed the Foreign Assistance Act of 1 948, creating the European Recovery Program (ERP) to implement the Marshall Plan for U.S. aid to European recovery. The Ikonomic Cooperation Administration was established to administer the program. The Berlin Airlift Berlin was divided between the allied

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•• h,. i PRESIDENT OF THE ' UNITED STATES and poll takers, who had almost unanimously predicted his overwhelming defeat. He pulled off the most celebrated upset in American political history. NATO One of Truman ' s first acts during his second term was the signing of the North Atlantic Pact on April 4, 1949. The United States, Canada, and 10 Western European countries signed this defense pact which said, in effect, that an attack on one member would be seen as an attack on all members. In addressing Congress, President Truman announced that our faith and our strength must be made unmistakably clear to the world. He considered NATO one of the greatest achievements of his administration, ranking in importance only with the Marshall Plan. Trouble in Korea On June 25, 1950, North Korean forces crossed the 38 ' parallel into South Korea. Truman met with his new secretary of state Dean Acheson to discuss sending troops into another conflict. The next day, a U.N. force under the charge of General Douglas MacArthur were sent in to aid South Korean forces in repelling the Communist forces. At first, things went badly for the South Korean troops, but aggressive tactical moves by MacArthur aided in pushing the North Koreans back into their own territory. ilm, imTiTni ' i Truman flew to Wake Island in the Pacific to discuss strategies with MacArthur. He made it clear that he wanted the conflict resolved as quickly as possible. MacArthur promised the president the boys will be home by Christmas. ■ ™™ » 1 lopes of a quick end to the conflict were dashed when China entered the war in October. General MacArthur made no secret of his differences with the administration on restrictions placed on him in conducting the war. Truman saw this as a test of his authority as commander-in-chief He relieved MacArthur of command. While the decision was an unpopular one at the time. Congressional hearings and historical analysis of the move vindicated Truman and underscored the courage to stick by his beliefs. responsible for the conflict in Korea. He put his support behind the Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson, who was running against retired general Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eisenhower swept the elections and was inaugurated as the 34 ' president of the United States on Jan. 20, 1953. Shortly after the ceremony, Truman and his wife left by train for Independence. Retirement Years ! In the nearly two decades after he lefit office, Truman devoted much of his time to the founding of the Harry S. Truman Library, just a few blocks from his home in Independence. On the day af er Christmas, Tuesday, Dec. 26, 1 972, Harry S. Truman passed away at a hospital in Kansas City, Mo., at 88. Among the tributes to Truman was one by Mississippi Senator John C. Stennis, who wrote, He was a man of great strength of character and dedication, and with these qualities he combined an uncommon amount of common sense. He had a fine instinct to sense the right decision. He made sound judgments and carried them out with Going Home Truman made the decision that he would not run for another term. Reporting; home — President Truman returns home to 219 N. There was public Delaware in Independence, Mo., after one of his constitutionals, perception that he was or morning walks.