A Fourth Re-Ranked President of the United States

Harry S. Truman never expected to be President.  Franklyn Roosevelt had won a fourth term, World War II was moving towards the final battle.

He didn’t know that the Vice President, Henry Wallace, was extremely popular among Democratic voters, but most of Roosevelt’s advisers considered him  too far left  friendly to labour.

It was decided to replace Wallace with someone else.  Only known to a few, Roosevelt was not well and many did not expect him to live out a fourth term.

During discussions behind closed doors, Roosevelt told party leaders that he would accept either Harry Truman or William Douglas.   Many of the party leaders preferred Truman, and Roosevelt agreed.

That was how he, a Senator became Vice President.

Taking office on, what was for him, the  unexpected death of Franklin Roosevelt he was completely out of the loop.  Roosevelt had never included him in any discussion nor revealed any information to him.   When Harry Truman was sworn in as the Thirty Third President he knew nothing of the Manhattan project.

The Manhattan project  was the creation of the Atomic Bomb.

As Truman was completely out of the loop he asked all members of Franklyn Roosevelt’s cabinet to remain in place.  They agreed, feeling rather important.   He told them he was open to their advice, but he would be the one making decisions.

It was his decision to use the Atomic Bomb on the Japanese and he never evaded responsibility for it.   He never sought to blame anyone, to claim he was ill advised, he decided to drop the Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

After the war there was a railway strike and President Truman threatened to draft the striking workers into the military.   This ended the strike.

He was  key in the recognition of Israel.   Eleven minutes after Israel was declared a nation, Harry Truman recognised it.

One of the most important features of his Presidency after the war was the racial integration of the armed forces, which heretofore had been segregated.   He also was a strong backer of civil rights and of NATO.

He decided to run for President when he completed Roosevelt’s fourth term.   In the spring of 1948, Truman’s public approval rating was 36%.     No one thought he could win.

The “New Deal” operatives—including Roosevelt’s son, James,  tried to swing the Democratic nomination to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had been the victorious General in World War II.

Eisenhower refused to accept.

At the Democratic National Convention,  Truman attempted to unify the party and wanted to include a strong civil rights issue.  All of Alabama’s delegates, and a portion of Mississippi’s, walked out in protest.

Everyone expected Truman to lose the election to Tom Dewey.   He didn’t.   He won the election.

In 1953,  when Truman  remitted office he was one of the most unpopular chief executives in history.

A Gallup Poll in February 1952 ranked him extremely low.   He had been considered one of the worst Presidents ever.

As time has passed and historians analysed his Presidency,  Harry Truman is now considered between the fifth and the seventh best Presidents of the United States.