Harry Truman
1884 -1972
Modern Cyrus
by Rit Nosotro First Published:: 2003( )
The nation was shocked Franklin Delano Roosevelt had died. Harry Truman was one of the most shocked, he was vice president. This meant that the nation now looked to him as president. The day after his inauguration Truman remarked to reporters, "Boys, if you ever pray, pray for me now.. yesterday...I felt like the moon, the starts, and all the planets had fallen on me."
Harry S Truman was born in Lamar, Missouri on May 8, 1884. He was the eldest of three children of Martha Young and John Truman. Truman moved to Independence when he was six years old. He was a very bookish boy and grew so nearsighted that he had to wear thick glasses. After he graduated from high school he picked up jobs where he could he worked as a timekeeper for a railroad and also as a clerk for two banks. In 1906 Harry left all city life behind him and went to work with his father on the family farm1.
When America joined World War I Harrry Truman joined immediately. He received a commission as a first lieutenant in the Missouri National Guard. He was sent off to France in charge of a field artillery battery. He fought in many battles and distinguished himself several times. After the war in 1919 Harry received his discharge from the Army with the rank of captain. Afterwards he said, of his experience in the Army, "I've always been sorry I did not get a university education in the regular way. But I got it in the Army the hard way - and it stuck." 2. After the war he married Bess Wallace, he also tried to set up in business several times but when he finally quit he was $20,000 in debt. He paid this off and moved on to politics.
Truman started off his career as a judge in Jackson County in 1922. He became a Senator in 1934. During World War II he headed the Senate war investigating committee. He uncovered corruption and waste and saved the government hundreds of millions of dollars. It is estimated that he save nearly $15,000,000,000. He became vice president to Franklin D Roosevelt in the election of 1944. He served an extremely short time in this position, for after 12 weeks as vice president Franklin Roosevelt died. It was at this time that Germany was forced to surrender and this was conducted by Truman. With advise from then Secretary of War, Henry Lewis Stimson, Truman authorized the dropping of the atomic bombs in Japan; an action which had brought the war in the Pacific to an end.3
The question of whether or not to recognize the state of Israel fell to Harry S. Truman. Raised in a Baptist household where he learned much of the Bible by heart, Truman had been a member of the pro-Zionist American Christian Palestine Committee and an advocate of the right of Jews, particularly Holocaust survivors, to immigrate to Palestine. He was naturally inclined to acknowledge the nascent state but encountered fervid opposition from the entire foreign policy establishment. If America sided with the Zionists, officials in the State and Defense departments cautioned, the Arabs would cut off oil supplies to the West, undermine America's economy, and expose Europe to Soviet invasion. Hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops would have to be sent to Palestine to save its Jews from massacre.
Truman listened carefully to these warnings and then, at 6:11 on the evening of May 14, he announced that the U.S. would be the first nation to recognize the newly declared State of Israel. While the decision may have stemmed in part from domestic political considerations, it is difficult to conceive that any politician, much less one of Truman's character, would have risked global catastrophe by recognizing a frail and miniscule country. More likely, the dramatic démarche reflected Truman's religious background and his commitment to the restorationist creed. Introduced a few weeks later to an American Jewish delegation as the president who had helped create Israel, Truman took umbrage and snapped, "What you mean 'helped create'? I am Cyrus"--a reference to the Persian king who returned the Jews from exile--"I am Cyrus!" 4.
Truman left office in January, 1953, he returned to his home in Independence. He traveled widely, published his memoirs, and enjoyed the status of an elder statesman. On December 26, 1972 he died, and was buried in Independence.
Endnotes:
up1Harry S. Truman. www.trumanlibrary.org/hst-bio.htm (June 5, 2008)
up2 Frank Freidel. "Harry S. Truman". 1944. (June 5, 2008).
up3"Harry S Truman". www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/ht33.html (June 5, 2008).
up4 www.originaldissent.com/forums/archive/index.php?t-1145.html (June 5, 2008).
