Early years

Truman was born in Lamar, Missouri, on May 8, 1884. He was the oldest of three children born to John Anderson Truman, a mule trader and farmer, and Martha Young. His parents gave him the middle initial “S” (but no name) in honor of his grandfathers, Anderson Shippe Truman and Solomon Young.

Harry grew up in nearby Independence, Missouri. After graduating from high school in 1901, he tried for an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point. He was rejected, however, because of poor eyesight. With no money to pay for college, Truman worked at various jobs in Kansas City for five years before returning to the family farm.

Military career and marriage

The United States entered World War I in 1917. As a member of the Missouri National Guard, Truman immediately volunteered. He was sent overseas a year later and served in France as a captain.

Truman returned to the United States in 1919. In June of that year he married Elizabeth (Bess) Wallace, a childhood friend. Their daughter, Mary Margaret, was born in 1924.

After his marriage Truman teamed up with an Army friend to open a men's clothing store in Kansas City. The business failed in the severe recession of the early 1920s.

From local politics to the presidency

Truman then turned to politics. Another Army friend introduced him to Thomas Pendergast, the Democratic political boss of Kansas City. With Pendergast's support, Truman was elected a county judge in 1922 and a presiding judge in 1926. He earned a reputation for honesty and efficiency.

In 1934 Truman was selected as a candidate for the United States Senate. He won the Democratic nomination and the election. He was reelected in 1940.

Truman gained national recognition in 1941 when he was chosen to lead an investigation into fraud and waste in the U.S. military. During this period the United States was preparing for involvement in World War II. While taking care not to harm the war effort, the so-called Truman Committee exposed corruption and inefficiency in the production of war materials.

Truman's work earned him the respect of his Senate colleagues and the public. In 1944 President Roosevelt chose Truman as his vice-presidential running mate. Roosevelt and Truman won the election and took office on January 20, 1945. Less than three months later, on April 12, 1945, Roosevelt died suddenly. Truman then became president.

World War II

Shortly after taking office Truman learned of the secret project to develop an atomic bomb. In July 1945 he was told of a successful test of the bomb at Los Alamos, New Mexico. Truman consulted with his aides to decide whether the bomb should be used against Japan in World War II. The war in Europe was already over, and an invasion of Japan was being planned. They estimated that as many as 500,000 U.S. soldiers might be killed in the invasion.

Hoping to prevent those deaths and shorten the war, Truman warned Japanese leaders that the bomb would be used if they did not surrender. Japan refused to yield. Truman then authorized the dropping of atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima (on August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9). The bombs killed more than 100,000 men, women, and children. Japan surrendered shortly thereafter, on August 14, 1945, ending the war.

Postwar years

During the early months of the Truman Administration, an international conference in San Francisco, California, led to a new peace organization, the United Nations. Truman was strongly in favor of the United States becoming a member of this organization. In December 1945 the Senate and House of Representatives voted for membership in the United Nations.

In the postwar period the Soviet Union's Communist government threatened to expand its power into Europe and beyond. In 1947 Truman called for economic aid to Greece and Turkey to help those countries resist Communist takeover. With this decision he introduced the Truman Doctrine. This policy stated that the United States would oppose Communist aggression anywhere in the world.

Later in 1947 Truman backed Secretary of State George Marshall's bold strategy to combat Communism. The Marshall Plan, officially called the European Recovery Program, provided billions of dollars to rebuild devastated European economies. The plan was successful in preventing the spread of Communism into Western Europe.

Second term

As the presidential election of 1948 approached, Truman faced opposition both from the Republicans and other Democrats. Liberal Democrats broke with the president over his hard-line opposition to the Soviet Union. Southern Democrats angered by Truman's civil-rights program deserted him as well. To most people's surprise, however, Truman comfortably won reelection against Republican Thomas E. Dewey.

Truman presented his program for domestic reform in 1949. The Fair Deal included proposals for expanded public housing, increased aid to education, a higher minimum wage, federal protection for civil rights, and national health insurance. Most Fair Deal proposals were defeated in Congress. Truman succeeded, however, in introducing subjects that would be debated for decades to come.

A key event of Truman's second term was the Korean War. In June 1950 Communist North Korea invaded South Korea. Backed by the United Nations, Truman ordered U.S. military forces to help South Korea. The war dragged on past the end of Truman's presidency.

Retirement

Truman chose not to run for reelection in 1952. The next year he retired to his home in Independence, Missouri. The Harry S. Truman Library was built there in his honor.

Truman died in Kansas City, Missouri, on December 26, 1972. He was buried in the courtyard of the Truman Library.