Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman was born on May 8, 1884 in Lamar, Missouri, USA.

In 1906 came back home and combined his work in a farm with the job of judge.

Elected Vice President in 1944, with Franklin D. Roosevelt as President.

The only U.S president to use the atomic bomb against a military target. He insisted the atomic bombings of Japan ended the war, although many historians believe the Soviet entry into the war on 8/9/1945 and the Soviet invasion of Manchuria were more important factors. It is also believed a naval blockade would have starved Japan into unconditional surrender, without the need for a ground invasion.

Elected President of the US in 1948 and served until 1953.

He was a writer, known for Uppdrag i Korea (1951), The DuPont Show of the Week (1961) and Sunday Showcase (1959). He was married to Bess Truman.

In 1953 he made a well remembered departing speech from the end platform of the Baltimore & Ohio Rairload's National Limited train on leaving Washington, DC, for his home town of Independence, MO.

In his last will and testament, executed in January 1959, he divided the bulk of his estate, valued at $600,000 to his wife and daughter. He also left a plot of land in Grandview, MO, to his Masonic Lodge and $15,000 to be divided among various nieces, nephews and their children.

Pictured on a commemorative 4¢ postage label issued by the (now defunct) Independent Postal System of America in 1973.

Inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians in 1991.

The two most controversial decisions of his presidency were the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, and later his decision to relieve Gen. Douglas MacArthur of his command during the Korean Conflict. Truman took that step because MacArthur indirectly insulted the President by making policy pronouncements about how he would handle the war--in direct contravention to the principle of US military leaders carrying out policy, not making it-- and strongly implying that the limited conflict in Korea should be turned into a war against the Soviet Union and China. The Soviets were already supplying North Korea with weapons, planes and air crews. Truman later claimed that prior to the Wake Island Conference on 10/15/1950, MacArthur ordered that Truman's plane be kept circling while his (MacArthur's) plane be allowed to land first. According to eyewitness accounts, however, this was not true. MacArthur arrived at Wake Island 12 hours ahead of Truman and was waiting for him at the airport when his plane landed.