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by Coleman & Kiran |
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by Coleman & Kiran |
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| First, Harry S. Truman was the Vice President of the United States under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He didn't really want the job, but many people wanted him to help our country. They talked him into running with Roosevelt, and they were both elected. Harry didn't get to make many decisions while he was Vice President. That probably didn't make him very happy, because he was a man of action. Then on April 12, 1945, President Roosevelt died and Harry S. Truman became the thirty-third president of the United States. He didn't have much practice, because he had only been the Vice President for just 83 days. Harry was 60 years old, and it was not an easy time in America. We were at war with Japan, and many people were dying. Truman had to make a very hard decision. He ordered an atomic bomb to be dropped on Hiroshima, Japan to stop World War II. But Japan did not surrender. President Truman ordered another bomb to be dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. This finally forced Japan to surrender on September 2, 1945. The atomic bombs killed lots of people in Japan. It was a very destructive bomb. President Truman did not like to kill the Japanese, but he believed World War II needed to end, and this was the only way to end the war. Harry S. Truman ended the war in Europe. It came over the radio at 9:00 a.m. |
Harry S. Truman President of the United States of America |
The Buck Stops Here! |
In 1948, Harry decided to run for reelection. Everyone thought he would lose, but Harry rode a train all across the United States. He wanted people to listen to what he had to say. He made whistle stops at different towns and gave speeches. He was running against Mr. Dewey. The newspapers thought Dewey would win and printed lots of newspapers saying that. They were wrong, and Harry won the election and became our President again. Allen Barkley was his Vice President. Some Americans didn’t think that Harry S. Truman would be one of our important presidents. They were wrong again. When Harry became the president...he said, "The Buck Stops Here." That meant that Truman would take responsibility for his job and his actions, and he did! We think Harry S. Truman was a great president and accomplished a lot of good things for our country. We are very proud of him, and proud that Harry was from Missouri. |
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to discover Truman's famous phrase. 
Truman Phrase Puzzle |
Photo by Leo Stern, Courtesy of the Harry S. Truman Library. |
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