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Show Volume XXX Issue VII The Ogden Valley News Page 13 January 15, 2023 Truman: A Book Review By Forrest Brown David McCullough has written multiple best-selling books, including John Adams, 1776, The Johnstown Flood, The Great Bridge, The Wright Brothers, and more. What he captures in Truman is the life of one of the greatest Americans to live in the twentieth century. From his humble beginnings in Missouri and his tenure as United States senator, to his meetings as U.S. president with world leaders such Churchill, Stalin, and many others, this man was the real deal. Join me as we review the life of a remarkable man. Harry S. Truman was born in 1884 in Lamar, Missouri, a descendent of mostly farmers from England and Scotland. As his ancestors migrated across eastern American, the family settled in Missouri because of its many acres of fruitful soil and farmland. Independence, Missouri became the place of choice for many of Truman’s ancestors due to its high fertile and open acreage with lots of trees and many rivers and streams. Harry grew up on a farm and it was part of his responsibility to help as much as possible with all the demanding chores. His brother Vivian and his sister Mary Jane also helped their father John Truman, who was also a livestock dealer. Besides farming, Harry, additionally, had an interest in music, reading, and history and learned to play the piano. David McCullough writes: “He was filling out, becoming much stronger physically. The time with his father had also brought an important change. Working together in all seasons, they had grown closer together.... John Truman had come to depend on Harry and to respect his judgment. When a horse pulled a beam over on John in the barn, breaking his leg, Harry took charge and ran things for three months... when Vivian married Luella Campbell, the daughter of a nearby farmer, and moved off the homeplace, John made Harry a full partner.... If, in a good year the farm cleared $4000, then Harry might make as much as $2000. ‘To be a good farmer in Missouri—that’s tops.’” After the turn of the century, conflicts began in Europe and most young men in the U.S. made themselves ready to fight and support the war effort. Harry was thirty-three years old. Because of his lack of money, he considered attending the United States Military Academy at West Point. He was turned down, however, due to his poor eyesight. He did sign up in 1905 in the Kanas City Missouri National Guard. He worked hard and attained the rank of corporal and, eventually, was promoted to first lieutenant. By September of 1917, Harry was on his way to Camp Doniphan in Oklahoma to train and prepare for an eventual assignment in France. His battalion arrived in April of 1918 and Harry was put in charge as the battery commander of the 129th Regiment in Rennes, France. Harry said, privately, he had never been so terrified. Captain Truman spent a great deal of time studying and observing his men, as most of them were Irish Catholics from the state of Kansas. Harry proved to be a model officer and he became tremendously popular with the Irish of Battery D. He had transformed what had been considered the worst battery in the regiment to what was clearly one of the best. His troops were ordered to march to the Vosges Mountains in France near the Swiss boarder, which was the extreme eastern end of the war front. Soon his battery was in the mist of The Battle of Who Run where initially his soldiers began to flee from the sudden night attack by the Germans. Captain Truman was successful at ordering his men to stay and fight using profanity from his railroad days. His men were surprised to hear Truman use such language, but they instantly obeyed his orders and fought the enemy back from their advancement. On September 26, 1918, Truman’s unit joined a massive assault known as the MeuseArgonne Offensive. They advanced with much difficulty over eroded terrain to set up an observation post west of their previous position. From there, using binoculars, Truman could see the enemy artillery battery crossing a river to a position that would allow them to fire upon the unsuspecting 28th Army Division. Truman’s orders limited him to targets against the 35th Division, but he ignored that and patiently waited for the Germans to walk into the trap he had set for them. He then ordered his men to open fire and ended up destroying most of the enemy. His actions were credited with the saving of the lives of the 28th Division soldiers who would have otherwise come under the emcee fire of the Germans. Soon thereafter, the war in Europe ended with the surrender of the Germans and Harry and his soldiers were on a ship headed back to the United States. After the war, Harry Truman returned to Independence, Missouri where he married Bess Wallace June 28, 1919. The couple had one child, Mary Margaret. Shortly before the wedding, Harry and his friend Edward Jacobson opened a men’s clothing and accessories store, which, after some brief success, went bankrupt due mainly to the recession of 1921. Harry’s desire to get into politics actually started when his father took him to Kansas City to attend the Democratic National Convention in the summer of 1900. Harry was smitten by the political bug and wanted to get into politics at some point in his life. With the help of the Kansas City Democratic machine led by Tom Pendergast, Harry was elected in 1922 as County Court judge of Jackson County, Missouri. This was an administrative rather than a judicial court, similar to county commissioners in other jurisdictions. After Truman lost his 1924 reelection to a Republican, he began selling automobile club memberships for two years, which eventually convinced him that a public service career was safer for a family man approaching middle age. Harry wanted to run for governor of Missouri, but many of his supporters convinced him to run for the senate in 1934. In the Democratic Primary that summer, Harry beat out two other strong candidates and in November of that year he won the senate seat by beating Republican Roscoe Patterson by nearly twenty points. Harry Truman was now a U.S. Senator. In his first term, Harry spoke out against corporate greed and the dangers of Wall Street and other high-dollar special interests. In 1940 Harry Truman ran for reelection and won, defeating the Republican Manvel Davis 51 to 49 percent. Shortly thereafter, the U.S. entered World War II against Germany and Japan. In his second term as senator, Harry was chosen to lead a committee on Military Affairs and War Mobilization. His primary purpose was to conduct investigations into any abuses of wartime appropriations and fight against waste and corruption of military contractors. Harry and his senate committee did a thorough job and uncovered multiple instances of fraud and waste of defense contractors. With Franklin Roosevelt’s fourth term in office as president of the U.S. approaching, the administration was looking for someone who would not cause the president to lose the election and Harry Truman’s name kept coming up on the many lists that were produced. Henry Wallace had served as FDR’s vice president, but he was viewed as too far to the left and too friendly to labor unions. At the Democratic Convention in 1944, multiple names dominated for Roosevelt’s vice-president, but, in the end, it was Harry Truman who was selected. Truman’s stint as vice president of the U.S. was a short run because Franklin Roosevelt was a very sick man who, years earlier, had been stricken with polio. He died April 12, 1945, resulting in Harry Truman becoming the 33rd president of the United States. Harry S. Truman had a baptism of fire as he stepped into the position of President of the United States shortly after Roosevelt’s death. The war in Europe with Germany was quickly coming to an end, but the conflict with Japan was still dragging on in many areas in the pacific. Russia, although an ally against Germany, was being very aggressive in its determination to put many eastern European nations under its communist influence. Harry had many critics both at home and abroad. Many people thought Truman was not prepared to take the reins from the strong leadership of FDR. David McCullough writes: “On the first full day in office, Truman told reporters, ‘Boys, if you ever pray, pray for me now. I don’t know if you fellas ever had a load of hay fall on you, but when they told me what happened yesterday (the death of FDR), I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me.’ ... Truman also wrote that at 10:00 a.m. Sunday, he had attended Protestant services led by a chaplain from the 2nd Armored Division. Then later in the morning he went to a Catholic mass conducted by his old friend Father Curtis Tierrian... Truman said, ‘I guess I should stand in good with the Almighty for the coming week—and my how I’ll need it.’” In July of 1945, Truman attended the Potsdam Accords with Joseph Stalin from Russia and Winston Churchill from Britain. The purpose of the meeting was to determine how Eastern and Western Europe would look with the surrender of Germany. The development of the atomic bomb was also near completion and Truman had to decide if it was appropriate to drop it on Japan in order to end the war in the Pacific. In August, the Japanese government refused to the unconditional surrender demanded by the Allies. An invasion of Japan would take a year and cost 250,000 to 500,000 Allied casualties. Within days, on Aug. 6, President Truman gave the go ahead to drop the bomb on Hiroshima, and on Nagasaki three days later, leaving a total of 105,000 Japanese people dead. The Soviet Union declared war on Japan Aug. 9 at Truman’s request at Potsdam. Japan then agreed to surrender the following day. Harry Truman’s short stint at president had seen some very trying times for this country boy from Missouri. In 1948, Truman defended his decision to use the atomic bomb saying, “As President of the United States, I had the fateful responsibility of deciding whether or not to use this weapon for the first time. It was the hardest decision I ever had to make. But the President cannot duck hard problems—he cannot pass the buck. I made the decision after discussions with the ablest men in our government, and after long and prayerful consideration. I decided that the bomb should be used to end the war quickly and save countless lives—Japanese as well as American.” The end of World War II was followed by an uneasy transition from war to a peacetime economy as Truman continued to push Americans to work towards unity. He was faced with multiple worker unions who had decided to strike for higher wages and better working conditions. The railroad workers, the electricians, the coal workers, and steel works all participated in some form of strikes. The unions had been endorsed by the government during the war, but now were faced with higher inflation and price controls. Truman’s response to widespread dissatisfaction among Americans was generally seen as ineffective. The president’s approval rating dropped from 82 percent in the polls in January 1946 to 52 percent by June of that same year. This discontent led to large Democratic loses in the 1946 midterm elections, and Republicans took control of Congress for the first time in sixteen years while Truman’s approval rating dropped to 32 percent. President Truman, in the following years, learned to cooperate closely with Republican leaders on foreign policy, but fought with them bitterly on domestic issues. The president twice vetoed bills to lower income tax rates in 1947. As time for reelection came in late 1948, Truman continued to push many of FDR’s New Deal policies and also advocated for a national health insurance, which failed to get Congressional approval. Truman supported Roosevelt’s policy for the creation of the United Nations in order to help prevent conflicts such as World War I and II. He and his foreign policy advisors took a hard line against the USSR and instituted the Truman Doctrine, which formalized a policy of Soviet containment. He also put forth the Marshall Plan to help rebuild war-torn Europe. On June 24, 1948, the Soviet Union blocked access to the three western-held sections of Berlin, Germany. At the end of World War II, the Allies had not negotiated a deal to guarantee supplies to the war-torn sections of Berlin, so the Soviets began occupying much of the city. In two days, Truman ordered the largest airlift known to man in order to deliver much needed food and staples to the starving people of western Berlin. It proved one of President Truman’s greatest foreign policy successes and significantly aided his election campaign in 1948. Harry S. Truman stands out as one of the chief individuals of the twentieth century because he was the president of the United States who ended the world war with Germany and Japan. He is the president responsible for the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, NATO, and the development of the atomic bomb; and he ordered the remarkable Berlin Airlift. He is the first president to recognize Israel and established the Department of Defense and the CIA. In addition, he was, of course, the zesty, plainspoken “Give ‘Em Hell Harry” of Jackson County, Missouri. Small Reflections Small re昀氀ections, never changing. Looking, list’ing to the air, Watching, thinking, ever peaceful, Never grief nor doubt nor care. Small re昀氀ections, tiny 昀椀gures, Watching shadows play on water. Sitting by as sun dips down, Echoes of past laughter. Small re昀氀ections, on the surface, Of the multi-colored picture. Sun re昀氀ects, and clouds add to, That 昀氀ame a昀椀re, never 昀氀ickers. Small re昀氀ections, looking out, Horizon blue and orange and red. Purple underneath the clouds, Between lake and sky white thread. Small re昀氀ections, sitting there, Looking out upon the world. That sky a昀氀ame, the clouds above, Paint that only God could swirl. Small re昀氀ections, representing, All those thoughts we dream all day. Those we hope, and those we wish, And those that never we could say. Small re昀氀ections, bigger thoughts. Small re昀氀ections, hopes—someday! Small re昀氀ections, thinking deep, Beauty upon the narrow way. Note: Chloe is the daughter of Tim and Elissa Ludlum of Liberty. Painting and poem by fourteen-year-old Chloe E. Ludlum of Liberty. We would love to meet you at our OPEN HOUSE February 5 - 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. or schedule a private tour. Snow removal professionals setting the standard since 1993 801-745-4004 Landscape Design Sprinkler Systems Landscaping Maintenance Snow Removal And More.... www.stjosephutah.org grassplusinc.com 801-394-1515 |