Signature of Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman

At a Glance

33rd President of the United States (1945-1953)

Born: May 8, 1884, Lamar, MO

Nickname: "Give ’Em Hell Harry"

Education: University of Kansas City Law School

Religion: Baptist

Marriage: June 28, 1919, to Elizabeth "Bess" Virginia Wallace (1885-1982)

Children: Mary Margaret (1924-2008)

Career: Farmer, Businessman, Public Official

Political Party: Democrat

Writings: Memoirs (2 vols., 1955-56)

Died: December 26, 1972, Kansas City, MO

Buried: Independence, MO

A Life in Brief: Harry S. Truman became President of the United States with the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt on April 12, 1945. During his nearly eight years in office, Truman confronted enormous challenges in both foreign and domestic affairs. Truman’s policies abroad, and especially toward the Soviet Union in the emerging Cold War, would become staples of American foreign policy for generations.More....




Essays on Harry S. Truman and His Administration


Harry S. Truman
A Life in BriefLife Before the PresidencyCampaigns and ElectionsDomestic AffairsForeign AffairsLife After the PresidencyFamily LifeThe American FranchiseImpact and LegacyKey Events
First Lady
Bess Truman
Vice President
Alben W. Barkley
Secretary of State
Edward R. Stettinius Jr. (1944 - 1945)James Byrnes (1945 - 1947)George C. Marshall (1947 - 1949)Dean G. Acheson (1949 - 1953)
Secretary of War
Henry L. Stimson (1945 - 1945)Robert P. Patterson (1945 - 1947)Kenneth C. Royall (1947 - 1947)
Attorney General
Francis B. Biddle (1945 - 1945)Thomas C. Clark (1945 - 1949)J. Howard McGrath (1949 - 1952)James P. McGranery (1952 - 1953)
Secretary of the Navy
James V. Forrestal (1945 - 1947)
Secretary of Agriculture
Claude R. Wickard (1945 - 1945)Clinton P. Anderson (1945 - 1948)Charles F. Brannan (1948 - 1953)
Secretary of Labor
Frances Perkins (1945 - 1945)Lewis B. Schwellenbach (1945-1948)Maurice J. Tobin (1948 - 1953)
Secretary of the Treasury
Henry Morgenthau, Jr. (1945 - 1945) Frederick M. Vinson (1945 - 1946)John W. Snyder (1946 - 1953)
Secretary of Defense
James V. Forrestal (1947 - 1949)Louis Johnson (1949 - 1950)George C. Marshall (1950 - 1951)Robert Lovett (1951 - 1953)
Postmaster General
Frank C. Walker (1945 - 1945)Robert E. Hannegan (1945 - 1947)Jesse M. Donaldson (1947 - 1953)
Secretary of the Interior
Harold L. Ickes (1945 - 1946)Julius A. Krug (1946 - 1949)Oscar L. Chapman (1949 - 1953)
Secretary of Commerce
Henry A. Wallace (1945 - 1946)William Averell Harriman (1946 - 1948)Charles Sawyer (1948 - 1953)

Consulting Editor: Alonzo L. Hamby

Professor Hamby is a Distinguished Professor of History at Ohio University. His writings include:

For the Survival of Democracy: Franklin Roosevelt and the World Crisis of the 1930s (Free Press, 2004)

Man of the People: A Life of Harry S. Truman (Oxford University Press, 1998)

Beyond the New Deal: Harry S. Truman and American Liberalism (Columbia University Press, 1973)


Presidential Speeches

Below are selections from the Miller Center's Harry S. Truman speech collection. To view the Miller Center's other speeches by Harry S. Truman or by another President, please click the link below.

 May 8, 1945 - Announcing the Surrender of Germany

 March 12, 1947 - Truman Doctrine

 June 29, 1947 - Address before the NAACP

 April 11, 1951 - Report to the American People on Korea

Miller Center Scholarship and Speakers

The Miller Center of Public Affairs is a national nonpartisan center to research, reflect, and report on American government, with special attention to the central role and history of the presidency. Below is a selection of Miller Center resources on Harry S. Truman.

 Listen Frank Pace’s 1983 presentation at the Miller Center on the The Truman Presidency. Pace served as Secretary of the Army under Truman.

President Harry Truman led the country as Commander in Chief during World War II. Click here to learn more about the Miller Center’s National War Powers Commission.

Click here to learn more about the Center’s National Commission on the Presidency and Science Advising and its relationship to Truman.

Scripps Library Reference Resources

Below are links to reference resources prepared by the Miller Center's Scripps Library that are designed to help students and scholars quickly conduct their research.

Information on Harry S. Truman's Private and Public Papers

Presidential Speeches
Academic Programs | Public Programs
Policy Programs
Presidential Bibliographies | Presidential Papers
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