U.S. Research: Harry Truman’s Presidency

Directions: Use 3-5 minutes to double check this subject’s Power School for your class grade and work listings verifying that all work is caught up. Read and heed embedded messages. Next, research your part of the following topics and figure out answers to the questions. Write your questions and detailed answers on lined paper or your notebook paper. These questions and related answers are required to be handed in, once the class discussion is completed. You are expected to use the time completely, be through and become knowledgeable. Write down any puzzles you have related to the material on your paper and bring them up during the class discussion. Warning: If you are found to be using your research time for other things, it will hurt your learning and grade. If you think or claim to be done, you are not! Once your assigned part is ready, then help others on your team or study the test resources from Mr. Spitzer’s web page for the upcoming test. No games, non-topic talk or other activities allowed during research time. The class will research as much as time allows before team sharing and whole class discussion. Since there is always more to learn, Mr. Spitzer encourages you to look into this topic more on your own time. Your class work grade includes: 1. Entire use of time while researching. 2. Answer questions & pay attention during team sharing. 3. Paying attention & participate during class discussion. 4. Turning in your readable questions & notes. Team members who do not do their share, provide hasty sloppy answers, disrupt others and use time ineffectively in the four grade aspects will be removed from the team and required to write out and turn in all answers on their own for the grade.

Topics to Research

Assuming office of President

Atomic Bomb and Potsdam

Strikes and economic situation

Texas City Disaster

United Nations, Marshall Plan

Start of Cold War, National Security Act of 1947 and Truman Doctrine, NATO

Occupation Zones and Berlin Airlift

Creation of Israel

1948 Election and Integration of Military

Korean War

Worldwide Defense

Soviet Spying and McCarthyism

White House Renovation and Assassination Attempt

Steel and Coal Strikes

Controversy over Margaret’s singing

Retirement Money

Questions to be able to discuss

  1. When and under what circumstances did Harry Truman suddenly become President? What were the World War II events in April and May 1945 that Truman had to deal with?
  2. When did Truman learn about the Atomic bomb project and why did our war ally Joseph Stalin know about the bomb before Truman? When and where did Truman learn the bomb actually worked?
  3. What was the purpose of the Potsdam Conference and where was it held? What did Truman ask Stalin to do related to Japan in that theater of World War II?
  4. What was Japan’s response to the Potsdam Declaration? What were the casualty estimates given Truman for an invasion of the main Japanese islands? Why did Truman decide to drop the Atomic Bomb? (Hint: Check Truman’s own defense of this decision in his 1955-56 memoirs)
  5. Research and share with the class a list of the strikes from March 1945 through the end of 1946 giving numbers of workers on strike and the month and year of the strike. (Hint: Search term to use is “Strike Wave of 1945-1946) How did the public view Truman’s response to these strikes? In what general areas did Truman and the Republican Congress cooperate and what areas did they fight each other?
  6. What happened in Texas City on April 16, 1947? Explain cause, event, and aftermath. Also find and relate to the class a witness account.
  7. When was the United Nations organized and when did it start meeting? What is the purpose of the United Nations? Explain the organizational structure of the United Nations. What is the importance of the Security Council and the U.S. being one of the members with veto power?
  8. What was the Marshall Plan and why did President Truman get Congress to pass it? Which nations actually took advantage of the plan? Did the U.S. get any benefit from the Marshall Plan?
  9. What is the Cold War? How did it start and how long did it last? List some of the major conflicts of the Cold War. Why is it called Cold War?
  10. What is the Truman Doctrine? Give quotes from Truman’s speech on the subject to Congress. Why is the term containment used during the Cold War? When and where was the policy first applied and with what success?
  11. What was the National Security Act of 1947? Explain its provisions and restructuring of the military/security forces to better fight the Cold War.
  12. What is NATO and why was it set up? What was the Cold War purpose of NATO? List member nations from 1949 through 1990. Which nation leads NATO and who was the first top general of NATO? Was NATO successful in its purpose?
  13. How was Germany divided into occupation zones at the end of World War II? Where and how was Berlin divided? Describe the combining process of the French, British and U.S. zones into West Germany. What access rights did the Western Allies have across the Soviet Zone to Berlin?
  14. Why and how did the Soviets decide to deny Western Allied land access to Berlin? What was the Allied response to this strangling of the Western Zones in Berlin? Describe the phases of the Airlift, the desperation of West Berlin and the eventual ending. Who was the Candy Bomber and what did he do? How close did the East and West come to war? How did the American public view Truman’s handling of the crisis?
  15. What were the pros and cons Truman weighed in his decision whether or not to recognize Israel as a nation? Why did Truman recognize Israel as a nation?
  16. How did Harry Truman manage to win re-election as President after splitting the Democratic party by Executive Order 9981, which racially integrated the military? Discuss the South’s reaction, Strom Thumond’s Dixiecrat candidacy and how Truman managed his campaign to win.
  17. How did President Truman respond to North Korea’s invasion of South Korea in June 1950? Why is the Korean War an undeclared war? Why did Truman fire General MacArthur from his commands? What did Mac Arthur’s supporters say? Who do you think was right? Why?
  18. What did NSC-68, the secret statement on foreign policy approved by Truman say the U.S. Cold War strategy would be and how did this globalize the Cold War? What policy, as recommended by General Marshall, did Truman follow related to the Chinese Civil War? Which side cut relations between the U.S. and China and why? What became U.S. policy related to Taiwan for many, many years?
  19. Describe the espionage activities by Whittaker Chambers, Alger Hiss, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. How were they caught and what happened to them? Many say Alger Hiss was innocent. What did the Soviet files on Hiss reveal when they were opened after the end of the Cold War?
  20. Who was Joseph McCarthy? Summarize his career as a Communist hunter. What lead to his downfall?
  21. Why was the White House renovated during Truman’s time in office? Where did the Truman’s live during this time? Describe the November 1, 1950 assassination attempt on Truman. What issue did this attempt alert the President to in Puerto Rico and what was the 1952 vote outcome?
  22. What action did President Truman take in the 1952 steel strike and what reason did he give? What did the Supreme Court rule on the matter in “Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952)?
  23. What did the music reviewer Paul Hume have to say about the December 6, 1950 concert by Harry Truman’s daughter Margaret? Quote him. What was Harry Truman’s response? Quote him. Listen to the You Tube Mr. Spitzer’s plays of Margaret singing about 1950. What do you think?
  24. How financially well off was President Truman during his retirement years? Describe Truman’s lifestyle. How did he earn enough income to live on? What did the government do to help out?

Critical Thinking

  1. Why did the Japanese finally surrender? Was the dropping of the atomic bomb necessary to end the war? Explain.
  2. “The United Nations is not a world government.” Explain.
  3. Explain America’s new role in the postwar world in regard to the Soviet Union.
  4. How did each of the following help to contain Communism? The Truman Doctrine, The Marshall Plan, The Berlin airlift, and NATO.
  5. How did the United States answer the challenge of the Korean situation? Did President Truman assume powers not stated in the Constitution? Explain.
  6. Truman claimed to be a friend of labor. Based on his actions, do you think that this was true? Explain.
  7. How did Senator McCarthy’s actions threaten democratic freedoms in the United States?
  8. Was Harry Truman an effective leader for the United States in the postwar years? Why or why not?