% Lessons from Harry Truman :Decisive leadership courage and integrity ability and the courage to stand alone 2025 120pg

A book by Timeless Lessons Press     “The buck stops here.” 28/3/26

May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof” John Adams.1800. The first President in the White House.

1945 April till 1953 Jan. When he left office as the 33rd President his approval rating were amongst the lowest in the world. Today historians consider that he was amongst the most consequential leaders. 8years less 82 days. He was a man of  moral clarity and with honesty, accountability and decisiveness. He had a sense of personal responsibility and learned how to navigate corruption without succumbing. He always believed that the right action however unpopular is the highest form of leadership.

Born in 1884. He was very bookish, loyal to his family and beside scripture at a young age had read the histories of Rome and Greece and biographies of Andrew Jackson and Napoleon. He wanted to attend West Point but failed the vision test. In 1905 joined the National Guard. 1914 his father died and he took over running the farm. WW1 he enlisted in the Field Artillery, He did not cheat, drink or take bribes. He became president while America was still at war in both Europe and the Pacific, and had only met Roosevelt twice. he believed in work well done promises kept and you owned decisions.  Complaining never harvested a field he learned on the farm. Roosevelt had humor, Churchill poetry but Truman endurance. When scandals later erupted in his administration, he faced them head on. His speeches were plain direct and unpolished.

WW1 he emerged as a leader  capable of commanding men, making decisions under fire, and standing firm in chaos. In 1918 he was a captain in command of Battery D who had, had a reputation before he arrived as being  unruly and impossible to control, In the mud of France he learned that trust was the currency of leadership. His soldiers would remain fierce loyal and even when he was president he received their letters addressed to Captain Harry. He understood that poor decisions and waste and corruption cost lives.

Failure more than success reveals who you are. He and his friend Eddie opened the Truman &Jacobson haberdashery when the soldiers were returning from the war and Kansas was booming. The shop became a veteran meeting place,  but came the crash of 1921 people stopped buying clothes. Truman resolved not to declare bankruptcy but to pay the people back and it took him 15 years. A man who never has been knocked down has no idea how to get up again. "If I am no true to my word on small things, how can I ever be trusted on the great things"

Going into politics was a moral minefield. Kansas City Democrats was run by Tom Prendergast the most corrupt machine in the  country but they saw his potential. Votes were bought , jobs were traded for loyalty. With Prendergast help Truman ran for Eastern District judge at Jackson County, this was a administrative overseeing budgets. Curiously Truman could not be bought.  However when this position was lost to Republican in 1924 he returned to the family farm, but later he got this job back again. Later Prendergast needed a candidate for the Senate, here he never made speeches of promises he couldn't keep. Prendergast  was later put in prison for Tax evasion.

Washington in the 1930s was a city of patronage. But Truman said if something is wrong can't vote for it. Remembering the inefficiencies of WW1 He proposed a committee to investigate waste and mismanagement in defense production and this was later called the Truman Committee. Companies were charging the government 3 time the price for substandard goods. Workers complained about the unsafe conditions, wasted  materials and fraud. Waste costs lives and faulty equipment killed soldiers. . Refusal to look away when the truth is inconvenient. After Pearl Harbour the US mobilization was unmatched in history, Wherever money flowed freely corruption followed.

He was warned that  to investigate waste during the war was political suicide as it would be resented by powerful industrialists and officials. "Then that is exactly what we need to do.  I'm not after headlines, I want results" The Truman Committee had over 400 hearings and 51 reports.  When an executive accused the committee of harming morale Truman replied " What harms moral is when a soldier dies because of a faulty gun."  The press called him the Treasury Watchdog. It is estimated that he saved the taxpayer $15 billion. 

Henry Wallace was meant to be voted for vice president but he was too polarizing for Roosevelt. "Truth always strengthened democracy"  Truman was vice President for only 82 days. "Leadership without humility becomes tyranny in disguise."  A leader has to make decisions and live with them.

 Ending the war quickly would limit Soviet influence, Wars end when the ideas that refuel war are resolved, and he believed that cooperation with the defeated Germans was important.   

In Europe Stalin refused to honor agreement he had made and would keep Soviet troops in all land occupied, he would not hold free elections. There is no difference between a totalitarian state and gangster , you can't appease either one. Britain informed America  that without help Turkey and Greece would fall to communism and global responsibility was being handed over to the US. This led to the Truman Doctrine 1947 March, that the US would stand against expansion of tyranny, and Congress would support his request for aid to Greece and Turkey. However he stated that American strength must rest on arms but also democratic ideals.

1947 June Secretary of State George Marshall gave a speech at Harvard University. Truman understood that victory without reconstruction  would lead to what followed WW1 and they must not allow conditions that would breed dictators. The Marshall Plan or the European Recovery Program was to rebuild infrastructures, stabilize currencies and restore production. This was the end of US return to isolationism. The cost of peace if far less than the cost of war. Europeans countries began to coordinate their economies and this led to the European Union resulting in not only recovery but unity. Truman's insistence of including Germany and Italy was controversial but visionary. Truman never claimed credit but praised Marshal as the greatest man of the age.

1948 June till May 1949 The US Britain and France unified the territories  that they occupied and made into an economically stable West Germany and the Deutsche Mark was introduced to revive trade. When the Soviets closed the roads to West Berlin. The airlift was introduced. Truman would not back down. He showed that the arsenal of democracy mightiest weapon was endurance, but it also showed unity and NATO resulted.

After winning the elections in 1948 Truman raised the minimum wage from 40 to 75 cents a hour. Extended social security to 10 million more Americans, initiated a housing program but was not able to advance in national  health. He called for anti lynching laws. end to poll taxes and desegregated the armed forces by executive order in  1948 July. " The test of government is how much it can do for the poor man to help himself."" Democracy is not self sustaining it must be nourished by fairness , defended by courage and guided be conscience"

Truman was the president who took a moral stand, he supported a cause not because it was popular but because it was right." He was apposed by the "Dixiecrats" Democrats who stood for states rights .If you wish to inspire freedom abroad you must practice it at home. With segregation he said " We cannot any longer afford the luxury of separate but equal." The military would become the laboratory of integration.  Appointed more black judges than any previous president. Met Civil Rights leaders including NAACP.  In 1947 July he spoke at their gathering at the Lincoln Memorial.  I swore on oath to uphold the Constitution and " it does not say for whites only."  He showed that moral courage is not measured by applause but by doing what is right.

The Korean War showed the limits of power. Truman believed in containment to preserve peace. This war broke out in 1950 and General Douglas MacArthur  with UN forces launched an amphibious landing at Inchon behind enemy lines and caught the North Koreans off guard and liberated Seoul and drove them north. MacArthur wanted to move them beyond the 28 parallels but Mao warned that they would not tolerate foreign troops so close to its territories. Thousands of Chinese troops crossed the Yula River. Truman fired MacArthur because he did not respect the authority of the President. The people can elect a new president  but can't elect a new General. In a democracy power must remain accountable especially  during a war. The hardest thing in being a leader is knowing when not to fight. Generals advise but presidents decide.

After he left office corporate boards offered him positions, he answered "You don't want to pay for my knowledge you want to pay for my name and that is not for sale."  Dignity does not depend on riches. When asked what he missed most about being president answer " The music of the marine band"  " When you are in charge you  can't blame anyone else"  If you want a friend in Washington get yourself a dog. Friendship and power rarely exist. Leadership does not require grandeur but gravity.

He entered the presidency without popularity and left it with less. His approval rating sank as low as 22%. He said "I cant make people like me I can only do my job."  He told the public what it didn't believe that communism could not be defeated overnight. I'll leave my defense to history it has a longer memory that newspapers. The Presidency is a trust not a trophy. He declined a official visit to Queen Elizabeth II. as he said a man shouldn't go sightseeing at the expense of the taxpayers.

He died aged 88 in 1972 and buried with only the naval band playing and no pageantry. His legacy was that he had a modest background and no wealth and no university degree.. He understood power as a loan and not a possession. He called himself "the Common Man President"  The only thing new in the world is the history you don't know. Courage need not come with grandeur, and greatness does not require perfection. He never hid from his mistakes, he faced them and learned from them. About the Atomic bomb he said " Sometime you do terrible things to prevent worse ones. 36,000 Americans died in the Korean War. and it was labeled the Truman War. You have to keep sowing the seed even if you wont be there to harvest. To work hard even when no-one notices. He represented America of small towns and big hearts. A man's honor is his best protection.  Truman's legacy is not the wars he fought but the peace he achieved, not the speeches he gave but the example he set. Do your duty without expectation of reward.

The opening of archival records, and major biographical works like David McCullough's 1992 biography

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HARRY TRUMAN – PART 1 TO END OF SECOND WORLD WAR. 

Harry Truman was born in a house in Missouri. His parents were dirt poor.  After finishing school, he could not afford to go to university and he took a job as a bank clerk. He left the job in order to help run the family farm.  In 1917 he enlisted in the army and was sent to France. His buddy was Eddie Jacobson. 

After returning home he married Elizabeth “Bess” Wallace and they had one daughter.  

He also went into partnership with Edie Jacobson in a haberdashery business. The business failed and despite having no money Truman decided that he wanted to enter politics.  

Tom Pendergast was what we would call a Macher in ISRAEL.  He helped Truman to be elected first as a Judge in Jackson County, and then in 1934 to be elected as the Missouri SENATOR.   He was reelected in 1940. 

Everything in America changed on December 7, 1941. The next day President Roosevelt addressed a joint session of the Senate and the House. His speech will always be remembered for his opening sentence. 

Yesterday December 7, 1941 a day that will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the naval and air force of the Empire of Japan. After the speech he called for a declaration of war against Japan. The vote was 82-0 in the Senate and 388-1 in the House. Janette. Three days later Germany declared war on America and America declared war on Germany.  Americas isolation policy was over.   

Three months later the Senate established a committee to investigate price fixing, fraud and overpricing in awarding military contracts. Harry Truman was appointed to head the committee and it became known as the TRUMAN COMMITTEE. It saved billions of dollars and Truman appeared on the cover of TIME MAGAZINE. 

The farmer from Missouri was now a national figure. 

In January 1944 Roosevelt e made a speech calling for a Second Bill of Rights for ALL Americans. This alarmed the Southern states. All Americans obviously included Blacks. 

Henry Wallace, the Vice President had voted against a bill that would make lynching a Federal Crime. It was clear that the Blacks would never support Wallace and if the Roosevelts Second Bill of Rights passed, the Southern States would also not vote for  Roosevelt.

 Without the Black vote and without the support of the Southern States the Democrats were in danger of losing the election due in November 1944. Something had to be done. 

The Democratic Party National Committee met and decided that a replacement for Wallace needed to be found.   

Roosevelt would not be attending the convention as he would be in San Diego on his way to the Pacific for meetings with MacArthur. He would address the convention in a radio address.  

 

One month before the start of the convention the Democratic National Committee finally got a meeting with Roosevelt. 

Roosevelt opened the meeting by saying he wanted Wallace to be his running mate. Nobody agreed with him.

He then asked for other nominees.   Every name suggested was rejected.

He finally asked Bob Hannegan the Chairman of the Committee if he had any suggestions. 

Hannagan suggested Harry Truman. He said he was a national figure and highly respected for his honesty.  He would definitely bring in the Black vote and as he was the Senator from Missouri the Southern States would support him. He was definitely an asset. Everyone agreed, including Roosevelt.   

Roosevelt then asked members of the committee to inform Wallace and Brynes, the two leading contenders to be Roosevelts running mate to withdraw their nominations as his running mate.   He then closed the meeting.  

Roosevelt hardly knew Truman and had only met Truman once. 

The next day both Wallace and Brynes refused to withdraw.

The day before the convention, Roosevelt announced to  the press that “’the delegates at the convention needed to choose his running mate, and if I was a delegate I would choose Wallace.”

On the first morning of the convention Brynes announced that he was withdrawing his nomination.  

Wallace now believed he had the nomination in the bag. 

What he did not realize was that the National Committee that ran the convention, did not want him to be Roosevelts running mate.  The convention was about to become a  confrontation of epic proportions.  

In the afternoon Truman was called to a meeting of the National Committee. It was a set up. 

At the agreed upon time, Roosevelt called from San Diego. The call was put on speaker phone. Roosevelt said, “Bob, have you got that fellow lined up yet.” No replied Hannegan – He is the contrariest, gaddam mule from Missouri I ever dealt with.  

Everyone in the room now realized that Roosevelt was talking about Truman. Roosevelt then said “Tell the senator that America is in a war, and if the democratic party loses the election, it will be his responsibility. He then slammed down the phone.  

Truman realized that the President had just asked him to stand as his running mate. Truman could not refuse the President. He decided to run.

The latest poll showed 65 % for Wallace and 2% for  Truman. 

The National Committee that was in charge of the Convention understood what was happening.  

  

In the first round of voting delegates are bound to vote according to the mandate from their caucus. 

There were 12 candidates proposed and no one got over 50 % . The committee decided to call an immediate 2nd round vote. In a second- round vote, the delegates are free to vote for whoever they choose.  

 

Maryland and Oklahoma were the first two states to vote. They both pledged all their votes for Harry Truman. Pandemonium broke out.

Two hours later the final vote was announced. 1,031 for Truman and 105 for Wallace. Truman was now officially Roosevelts running mate. 

In Nov 1944 - Roosevelt was elected for an unprecedented 4th term as President and was sworn in in January 1945. 

At 5 past 5 on the afternoon of April 12, Truman got a message to come immediately to the White House. He arrived a few minutes later and was ushered into a room where Elanor Roosevelt was waiting for him.  She said to him.  “Harry the President is dead.” 

Two and a half hours later Harry Truman was sworn in as the 33rd President of the United States, He was the 7th VP to be sworn in in this manner.  Truman had spent only 82 days as vice president. 

The farmer from Missouri who had no money, never went to university, and never ran a successful business, had just become the President of the most powerful country in the world.   

The next morning Truman received the first of his daily briefings on world affairs.  He was a good listener and a fast learner. 

After 13 days as President, Truman was scheduled to meet individually with two important advisors.   

The first one was Henry Stimpson, the Secretary of War. He arrived caring a folder marked TOP SECRET. The folder was about the Manhattan Project. After reading it, Stimpson strongly advised against using the bomb.     

The next advisor was Leslie Groves. He advised Truman that only the shock of having whole cities destroyed in seconds by nuclear bombs would end the war and save hundreds of thousands of American lives.  He advised Truman to use the bombs.  

On May 9, 1945 - Germany surrendered unconditionally.

However, the War in the Pacific was far from over. 

Truman asked George Marshall to prepare a plan for defeating Japan. Marshall estimated that would take at least a year and that more than 1 million soldiers would be needed and that up to 200,000 – 250,000 would be killed or injured. 

Truman then signed an order authorizing the military to use the bombs as required.   

On July 17, 1945 the Potsdam Conference attended by Truman, Churchill and Stalin began. 

At the meeting Stalin demanded that Germany pay $10 billion + Germany’s entire industrial base needed to be destroyed in order to ensure that Germany would never again be in a position to attack Russia. Stalin demanded 50% of the German war ships + submarines. Churchill said all the navy ships should be destroyed. Stalin said You can destroy your half, I will keep my half.  No one laughed. 

When the fact that Soviet solders were raping hundreds pf thousands of women of all ages was brought up, Stalin waved it away as the spoils of war. 

It was clear Russia was not going to be ally in the future. 

During the meeting Churchill was recalled to Britain. He had been defeated in an election and was no longer Prime Minister. He was replaced by Clement Atlee 

One thing that did happen at Potsdam that became known as the POSTDAM DECLARATION. It demanded that Japan surrender unconditionally or face prompt and utter destruction.  Japan refused.   

 

On August 6, 1945 the first a atomic bomb named Little Boy, was dropped on Hiroshima and 3 days later the second atomic bomb named Fat Man, was dropped on Nagasaki. 

Between 150,000 and 246,000 people were killed almost all of whom were civilians. 

6 days later Emperor Hirohito addressed the nation on radio. He said that Japan had agreed to an American proposal.  Everyone understood that Japan had surrendered. 

On September 2, 1945 the formal signing took place aboard the USS Missouri. The war was finally over.