Harry S. Truman

Birth-Death: (1884 - 1972 ) Term: (1945-1953 )

Truman is best known for three foreign events. The first was the bombing of Japan, in which the U.S. dropped two Atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, after which Japan surrendered. The other two dealt with postwar Europe. In 1947, President Truman issued the Truman Doctrine and implemented the Marshall Plan, designed to help nations recover from the war, and move towards democracy. In 1948, when the Russians blockaded west Berlin, the Berlin Airlift was launched, where plane after plane landed at Berlin airstrips to deliver supplies.

Foreign Events of Harry Truman

    Franklin Delano Roosevelt did not see the war end. He died on April 12th, only a month before the surrender of Germany and less than half year away from the Victory over Japan day. His successor, Truman, had a great deal of ground to cover. After the San Francisco conference established the United Nations, Truman turned his attention to Europe.

    The nations of Europe were ravaged. Since only the poor were susceptible to Communism, Truman proposed the Marshall Plan to sponsor reconstruction in Europe. The Marshall Plan passed in 1947, right after the Czechoslovakian Communist revolution. Congress appropriated $5.8 billion for the first fifteenth months, and contemplated further spending. To further fight Communism, the United States declared the Truman Doctrine. It stated that totalitarian governments undermined the foundations of international peace, and thus were a threat to the United States. It was used in Greece and Turkey: after the communists tried to take over, and a revolution erupted, the United States supplied the anti-Communist forces with money and arms.

    The situation in the Pacific was not much better than that in Europe. It was agreed in Potsdam and in Cairo that Korea would become a free and independent nation once the war is over. However, after V-J Day, the Soviet government was quick to establish a Communist regime. The United States helped Korea setup a democratic government on the Southern Part of the peninsula. The situation was tense and rightfully so; on June 25, 1950, North Koreans crossed the border in full force. The UN, presented with its first real conflict, acted quickly, partly because the Soviet representative had walked out a few days earlier in protest of China's lack of representation. War was declared on the aggressors by the United Nations. Although all nations contributed, it was mostly the United States fighting the war. The war lasted for about a year until a peace treaty was signed splitting Korea long the 38th parallel. A total of 33,000 Americans died and 103,000 were wounded.