Tansy Bradshaw

Harry Truman was the 33rd president of the United States.

He was born on 8 May, 1884, who grew up in Independence, Missouri. Before becoming President he had fought in WW1 in France, where he had served as a captain in the Field Artillery.

He was a lifetime member of the Democratic Party. From January to April 1945, Truman was the 34th Vice President – serving under Franklin Roosevelt. It was after his bosses death that Truman assumed the presidency.

Truman is the only president since William McKinley (elected in 1896) who did not earn a college degree. However, this did not hinder him from gaining a position in the political party. His father, John Anderson Truman, was very well connected. Not to mention Truman had worked as a page boy at the 1900 Democratic National Convention.

Before he was Vice President, Truman had been a county judge. He was picked as Roosevelt’s running mate in 1944 primarily because of 2 factors

1. The party knew Roosevelt would most likely not see his full-term due to his illness, which meant that the vice president would most likely become president
2. Henry Wallace, the previous vice president, who although popular among Democratic voters, was considered as being far to left and friendly to labor for some of Roosevelt’s advisors

As it was to be, Roosevelt was re-elected as president. Truman was vice president. However; this would only last for 82 days before President Roosevelt died on 12 April 1945. The news came to Truman just after adjourning the Senate for the day and was preparing to have a drink. A message came via the House Speaker’s office for Truman to go immediately to the White House. Truman was told by Eleanor Roosevelt that her husband had died after a massive cerebral hemorrhage. He was sworn in as president at 7.09pm in the West Wing of the White House, by Chief Justice Harlan F. Stone.

During his time as president, some of his accomplishments were: