Dez Prez Rankings: Under or Overrated?

#6 of 39:
Harry S. Truman (33rd president)
1945-53
Democrat


When Harry S. Truman met with Winston Churchill in 1950, Churchill reminisced with Truman about their first meeting at the Potsdam Conference soon after Franklin Roosevelt died. Churchill candidly admitted: “I must confess, sir, I held you in very low regard then. I loathed your taking the place of Franklin Roosevelt…I misjudged you badly. Since then, you, more than any other man, have saved Western civilization.” Likewise, when Harry Truman left office in 1953, his poll numbers were in the gutter (mainly due to the Korean War.) But we have also come around. It may have taken us longer than it did Sir Winston, but starting in the 1970’s, a peculiar thing happened with Truman’s reputation. Upon historical reassessment, it started to skyrocket (some feel, like ANCIANT, that it has perhaps swung too far in the other direction). Also peculiar is who was singing his praises the loudest. In recent presidential polls where they are able to divide the results by conservative and liberal voters, Truman actually ranks higher with conservatives. Ronald Reagan was one of his biggest fans and often said that he modeled his leadership style after Truman’s. Odd, since Truman was a New Deal Democrat.


ABOVE: Truman plays piano with Lauren Bacall looking on

First of all, you’ve got to sympathize with poor Harry S. As with most vice presidents, Truman was generally ignored by his president and kept out of the loop. It wasn’t until after FDR died and Truman became president that he was even informed of the existence of the atomic bomb. (Imagine that meeting! “We have what?”) Truman had to follow one of the most beloved presidents in history, a president who had served for 14 years. The U.S. had been involved in World War II for about four years, and suddenly wrapping it up is thrown into Truman’s lap. Germany was pretty much done, and realistically so were the Japanese, but the Rising Sun was refusing to set quietly. It became clear that the only way to defeat Japan was to defeat them totally, and so preparations were made for a massive invasion of Japan. It was estimated that the Japanese would die in the millions, and the Allies (mostly Americans) might lose upwards of a million men. But wait. There’s this bomb. Maybe we ought to use it instead? Thus one of the most controversial decisions of the 20th Century was made by the new president. It was the right call. The Japanese were not giving up and more people would have died in a full out invasion vs. the bombs (also, we killed more civilians firebombing Tokyo than died at Hiroshima and Nagasaki).

So, that’s just for starters. For better and for worse, Truman set the stage (on the American side) for how the Cold War would unfold and be "fought." The Truman Doctrine committed the United States to protecting nations across the globe threatened by the Soviets and communism with military, economic and political aid. Whatever it takes. It was this Doctrine that was behind the monumental Marshall Plan which rebuilt Western Europe from the ashes of World War II. The U.S. performed a similar miracle for postwar Japan, where former conqueror Douglas MacArthur became beloved military governor. NATO was formed, and when Stalin tried to choke West Berlin by literally starving them to death with the Blockade, Truman ordered the daring Berlin Airlift, consisting of thousands of planes dropping supplies to the West Berliners. He resisted more hawkish elements in his administration who wanted to go to war with Stalin over the crisis. Truman also pushed for the National Security Act, unifying the armed forces into a single Department of Defense, and creating the CIA and NSC.


ABOVE: One of the most famous photos in political history. The Chicago paper jumped the gun in prematurely (and wrongly) calling the election of 1948, much to Truman's delight

Truman was also behind the G.I. Bill of Rights, providing affordable home loans and free college education for returning veterans. This incredibly generous Bill, more than anything else, contributed to the growth of suburban culture and an educated middle class in the 1950’s.

Harry Truman was a pioneer in Civil Rights, even if most of his proposals did not come to pass. He at least established an example of presidential leadership in Civil Rights. This was all the more remarkable considering his background, growing up in Missouri and in a deeply racist environment. One initiative that he was able to accomplish, through Executive Order, was the desegregation of the military. This was the first step in desegregation generally (the Supreme Court would order desegregation in schools in the 50’s, and LBJ would accomplish desegregation in public places in general in 1964…but it started with Truman and the military).


ABOVE: Truman and Gen. Douglas MacArthur all smiles for the camera (they really did not like eachother. At all.)

Truman’s popularity suffered, however, as the Korean War dragged on. The Korean War was the deadly result of his Containment Policy, which simply stated that we will fight to contain the spread of the virus of communism across the globe. Ostensibly a UN action, most of the fighting on our side was done by American soldiers. This is the same policy that would later get us embroiled in Vietnam. A fascinating battle of wills emerged during the Korean War between president Truman and his commander in Korea, the popular and egotistical Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Truman and MacArthur disagreed bitterly over strategy in the war, and MacArthur really left Truman with little choice but to relieve him of his command when Doug blatantly disobeyed orders. It is probably a good thing Truman prevailed, as MacArthur wanted to bring the fight into China and even suggested the use of atomic weapons on the Chinese. Public opinion at the time was in MacArthur's favor, but Truman, as with most decisions during his administration, did what he had to do.

Pros:
• Firmly took command after FDR’s death in the midst of World War II
• Atomic bombs used on Japan
• Desegregate the military
• G.I. Bill
• National Security Act
• Marshall Plan and rebuilding Japan
• Berlin Airlift
• NATO
• Relieved MacArthur of command
• Containment Policy and Truman Doctrine did help prevent the expansionist Soviets from dominating Europe and other parts of the world

Cons:
* Korean War
• Containment committed us to involvement with many problem areas, including Korea and later Vietnam