Vice-President Harry S. Truman became the 33rd president of the United States when Franklin Roosevelt died in 1945. His presidency began just as World War II was coming to an end, and one of the first significant acts of his administration was the decision to drop atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, to precipitate the end of the war. Following World War II, Truman approved the Marshall Plan to help European nations rebuild. The Truman Doctrine was Truman's response to the Soviet Union's efforts to spread Communism. During Truman's presidency, fear of Communism led to McCarthyism in the United States and the Korean War abroad. Truman's domestic program, known as the Fair Deal, instituted public housing laws, enhanced the minimum wage and Social Security coverage, promoted fair employment practices, and desegregated the armed forces. Former World War II general Dwight D. Eisenhower succeeded Truman as president in 1952 in the midst of McCarthyism and the Korean War. As promised during his campaign, Eisenhower went to Korea to help bring about the end of the war. The Cold War escalated as Eisenhower embarked on a nuclear weapons buildup and threatened severe retaliation in the event of nuclear aggression. In 1960, John F. Kennedy became the youngest man ever elected to the presidency. During his administration, Kennedy increased the number of military advisers in South Vietnam from less than 1,000 to more than 16,000, though he refused to send any combat forces. Also under Kennedy's administration the Peace Corps was established, and tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union resulted in the Cuban Missile Crisis. At home, Kennedy promoted civil rights by appointing several African Americans to prominent government positions and calling for desegregation of public facilities and a ban on discrimination in hiring practices. |