Truman, Harry (Administration)

HARRY S TRUMAN (1884–1972) was the 33rd president of the United States. He served as president from 1945 to 1953 and was influential in shaping postwar settlement in Europe and across the world. The only man ever to authorize the use of nuclear weapons, Truman presided over a period of international tension culminating in the Cold War and the Korean civil war. These matters drew his attention from domestic policies to some extent, and his 1949 Fair Deal policy package, which would have revolutionized life for millions of impoverished, was largely blocked by right-ing opponents.

The early years of the Truman administration were dominated by plans and policies drawn up during the concluding years of World War II, which Truman had largely spent heading the Senate War Investigating Committee and then as vice president. These plans included the formation of the Bretton Woods institu-tions—the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, as well as the Marshall Plan, which is more properly known as the European Recovery Program.

It received its informal name because of the influence of its main creator and proponent, U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall. This plan saw the disbursement of large amounts of American capital to European economies, which had been terribly damaged by the effects of the war. Disbursement was accompanied by market opening, free trade, and regional integration, which, whether by design or not, greatly benefited American industry, which had not been damaged by the war and thus was considerably more competitive than European firms. The Marshall Plan money was rejected by the Soviet bloc, which saw it as a form of American imperialism. At the same time, the Truman administration was negotiating around the world the end of European empires, as a continuation of the 1942 State Department “Declaration of National Independence for Colonies.” This led to substantial opening of markets to American goods globally.

Truman had become president by virtue of the death of his predecessor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, some 12 weeks after taking power. He faced his first election in 1948, which he managed to win to considerable public surprise. In his January 5, 1949, State of the Union Address, Truman displayed his Democratic principles by outlining a package of policy measures that he termed the Fair Deal. This greatly developed the New Deal outlined by his predecessor, and was contrary to the prevailing public climate. Postwar America had witnessed consumer goods shortages and some social dislocation as women had been faced with returning to domestic employment.

Republican interests had reversed some provisions of the New Deal, notably the Taft-Hartley labor law, despite it being vetoed by the president. This act restricted labor rights significantly, including the banning of closed shops, secondary boycotts, and other hard-won rights.

Republicans and conservative Democrats, largely based in the southern states, also vehemently opposed the Fair Deal. Nevertheless, provisions that were involved included federal funding for education and housing, tax cuts for the poor, unemployment insurance, and a federal healthcare program. Very few of these provisions were ever enacted and this has led many to conclude that the Fair Deal was a failure. It would probably be more accurate to say that it represented an important statement that fairness and equity were not abandoned qualities in post-World War II America. Concrete benefits were felt by many of the disadvantaged.

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