After learning more about FDR, I wanted to research his vice presidents and I found Harry S. Truman, our 33rd president's story interesting.
Harry S. Truman was FDR's vice president for his last term in office. Sadly, FDR passed away on April 12th, 1945, the same day Truman came into power. Previously an army man in WWI and WWII, Truman was familiar with war and negotiation tactics. This would come into handy when forced with the decision to drop some of the first atomic bombs onto Japan's Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end war with Japan. However, these inhumane inventions would soon bring Russia and the US head to head in 1947, competing in science, technology, and weapons of mass destruction, aka the Cold War. When Russia blockaded Berlin in 1948, Truman ordered an airlift to bring supplies to Berlin, causing more and more tension between the two countries. Alongside this decision he was negotiating a military alliance between Western Nations to protect one another, founding the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also known as NATO. Truman was forced to make some of the most difficult decisions a president has ever been asked to make. Some argue that although his choices created tension between Russia and the US, in the end these choices were what kept America safe.
It is very interesting to think about how this period leads into World War II and the Cold War. It makes sense that another strong leader would have to come after Roosevelt. But where FDR had to take control of the nation because of the need for economic control, Truman came into power during increasing European hostility. This period in American history what wrought with fear and need for some kind of control and stability.
ReplyDeleteI would suggest manually changing your font color to white so people can read your observations.
Thanks for prompting us to connect to the future based on our current studies, Eva! Based on your description of Truman, it seems that there is a bit of stark contrast between the two presidents. Emily has a very valid point in that the areas of concentration differed for each of the presidencies, but I do not think that the amount of power exercised in these respective areas was equal. Despite the Hundred Days reforms, FDR can be considered somewhat of a tenacious and conservative president in his reforms. Many pushed for even more radical reforms when they didn't believe the New Deal was effective enough. Even though he proposed the court packing scheme, I like to think of Roosevelt as one of the less power-hungry presidents. However, Truman seems to have exercised his wartime powers more than FDR had during his time. Based on his military decisions and initiative in forming NATO described above, it can be deduced that Truman used the executive powers quite liberally. However, we will see if this compare and contrast is true after we've examined Truman next semester.
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