He threatened to draft all striking railroad workers, for example.Īnother grave post-war problem was the aggression of the Soviet Union and their leaders' inability to agree to any meaningful treaty. As workers went on strike for more money, Truman dealt with some of the unions with a hard hand. Within his first three months as President, Truman made momentous decisions such as ending the war in Japan through use of atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, creating the United Nations, and deciding new European boundaries at the Potsdam Conference with Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union and Winston Churchill of Britain.Īfter the war, many worried that the United States would enter another Great Depression. Less than four months after Roosevelt's inauguration, Roosevelt died and Truman became President. The 'Truman Committee' investigated mismanagement in defense plants and saved the country billions of dollars.Īfter messy backroom dealings during the 1940 Democratic Convention, Truman emerged as nominee for Vice President on the ticket with Franklin D. In his second term he made a name for himself as chairman of the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program. In 1934 Harry ran successfully for United States Senate where he was often snubbed as the 'Senator from Pendergast.' His first term was undistinguished, yet he won reelection against terrible odds. Truman was honest and idealistic, so his association with them hurt his reputation and physical health.

They took bribes through the politicians they got elected. They owned saloons, houses of prostitution, and gambling and illegal drug operations.

However, Tom Pendergast and his brothers were corrupt. He developed an outstanding record as judge, passing bonds to build roads, hospitals, courthouses, and other improvements. When Truman was 38 years old, Tom Pendergast, the political boss of Kansas City, approached him to run for county judge. Because Harry insisted on paying off all his business debts, he was broke for years. He and a war buddy opened a haberdashery that went bankrupt within three years. In 1918 he enlisted in the Army and served as a battery captain in France during World War I, where he showed courage in battle.Īfter the war, he returned to Independence and married his childhood sweetheart, Bess Wallace. In 1905 the family went back into farming and Harry worked at it for ten years. Harry, his father, and his brother all took salaried jobs in Kansas City. He grew up in a Tom Sawyer world where his small town neighbors of Independence, Missouri, knew and helped each other.Īfter his high school graduation in 1902, Harry could not afford to attend college because his father had gambled away all the family's holdings. Both sets of his grandparents were Scotch/Irish pioneers who went west in search of fertile farmland. Harry S Truman was born May 8, 1884, in Jackson County, Missouri.

Truman by david mccullough summary