USS Harry Truman (CVN 75) - Naval Cruise Book

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1 945. while posing for a portrait during a spring acation at Warm Springs, Ga., Roosevelt complained of a severe headache and then collapsed. He never regained consciousness. Vice President Truman received a call summoning him to come quickly to the White House. Twenty minutes later, he was ushered into a room where Eleanor Roosevelt told him simply, Harry, the president is dead. Truman stood silent for several seconds before asking at last: Is there anything I can do for you? Is there anything wc can do for you? ' ' she replied. For you are the one in trouble At 7:09 p.m. in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Supreme Court Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone administered the oath of office to Truman, making him the 33 ' president of the United States. Talking to reporters the following day, Truman said, I don ' t know ifyou fellows ever had a load of hay fall on you, but when they told me what had happened, I felt like the moon, the stars and all the planets had fallen on me. The baby is born Truman ' s demand for a speedy end to the War in Europe was fulfilled when word was announced that Germany had surrendered unconditionally. But the victory was tempered with concerns about the war in the Pacific. Japan was determined not to surrender, and military observers estimated that Japan could go on fighting for at least another year, even though their chances of victory had all but diminished. ., - . j» While Truman was at Potsdam, Germany for the conference to determine the future of postwar Europe, he received an important message: The baby is born. 7b the best of my ability ... - Presi- dent Truman is sworn in as the 33rd president of the United States after Franklin D. Rooseve lt died in 1945. i.V.« ' -iir i-SiiiSMBI Wi A . 1. V .i ii A r ■.w= rvi- ?. ' . ' ife «»nsBBS»sa?

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A most uncommon common man The full stature of this man will only be proven by history... there has never been a decision made under this man ' s administration, affecting policies beyond our shores, that has not been in the best interest of this country. It is not the courage of these decisions that will live, but the integrity of them. r I - Gen. George C. Marshall, 1948 without losing a single man. When he departed the battery, the soldiers honored him with a silver cup inscribed with the words: Captain Harry S. Truman. Presented by the members of Battery D in appreciation of his justice, ability and leadership. After the War Truman was discharged from the Amiy in May 1919, and a month later wed Bess Wallace at Trinity Episcopal Church in Independence and settled into the Wallace home at 2 1 9 North Delaware. Partnering with an old Army buddy, Truman opened a men ' s furnishing store, or haberdashery, in downtown Kansas City. At first, business was booming. Then in 1922, a postwar recession put Truman out of business practically overnight. Truman refused to file for bankruptcy and instead struggled for the next 1 5 years to pay off his part of the debt. Around that time, Truman had been asked to consider running for eastern judge of the Jackson County Court. He was elected in 1922 for a two-year term. During his term as county judge, Truman and his wife welcomed their only child to the world, Mary Margartt, who was bom February 17, 1924 in the Wallace home. He lost his bid for re-election to the county court during the 1924 elections. It would be the only election he ever lost. After leaving office, he worked as a membership salesman for the Kansas City Automobile Club. In 1926, he was back in politics when he was elected presiding judge of the Jackson County Court, an office he held until 1934. He won approval for bond issues creating a county hospital, new jail, courthouse and a system of paved highways. Onward to the Senate D In May 1 934, Truman made up his mind to make a run for the Senate. Registering as a democrat, Truman campaigned through the summer to win the nomination. In November, he was elected to the United States Senate by defeating incumbent Republican Roscoe C. Patterson by 262,000 votes. Truman kept a low profile during his first term, but after being re-elected in 1940, the senator found himself using his integrity and demand for justice to prevail at a time that tested his country ' s resolve. Months before ' the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941, Senator Truman proposed that the Senate create a special committee to investigate defense contracts. The Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program, nicknamed the Truman Committee, was established by Truman and saved American taxpayers about $15 billion. The senator from Missouri, who already had a reputation for playing fair in his home state, had now brought that reputation to bear on the national stage. Drafted into the Vice Presidency m Franklin D. Roosevelt was in his third term as President of the United States. The world was at war once again, and FDR was doing everything he could to keep his nation focused on the goal of suppressing the Axis menace. The Democrats wanted a strong running mate for the election of 1944; they wanted the go- getter from Missouri. Truman was less eager to put himself a mere step away from the presidency. Truman had been summoned to a hotel room one afternoon in a final attempt to change his mind. FDR called and asked the party chainnan if he had got that fellow lined up yet? No, he said. He is the contrariest mule from Missouri I ever dealt with. Well, you tell the senator that if he wants to break up the Democratic Party in the middle of the war, that ' s his responsibility! Then FDR slammed down the phone. On Nov. 7, 1944, FDR was elected to an unprecedented fourth term as president, with Harry Truman his vice president. The Moon, the stars and all the planets had fallen on me Leading the nation out of the Great Depression and through most of World War 11 had taken its toll on Roosevelt. On April 12,

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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