LESSER-KNOWN FACTS ABOUT OUR PRESIDENTS
Or PRESIDENTIAL PARAGRAPHS - #33 Part 2 of 2
Mort Fox
It was not FDR’s practice to keep his vice-president informed, even on crucial matters such as the creation of the atomic bomb. Until assuming command, Truman was oblivious to the Manhattan Project, the largest secret endeavor in history, which developed the bomb.
In order to emphasize the democratic approach to proper treatment of war criminals, the Nuremberg Trials were conducted at the end of 1945 and into 1946. 22 Nazi leaders were tried and 19 were convicted. Unfortunately only twelve were executed and the balance given varying prison sentences. Another trial convicted and executed Japanese Premier Tojo.
The United Nations charter was created in 1945 at its initial conference in San Francisco. Under the auspices of the UN, the State of Israel was formed in 1948. President Truman was the first world leader to recognize the new state. Also under the UN flag, the United States and other nations came to the defense of South Korea in 1950. The communist North Koreans launched an attack across the 38th Parallel (the mandated dividing line between the two Koreas). The president went on television and announced to the country that aggression against an ally would not be tolerated.
Our forces were under United Nations command. They were led by General Douglas McArthur. Being out-gunned and inadequately supplied, our troops were being pushed further and further south. This continued until the General came up with, in my estimation, the highlight of his military career. He devised a plan for the extremely daring amphibious landing at the port of Inchon. The North Korean army was caught in a trap and beat a hasty retreat north. McArthur thought we’ll just push those commies all the way back to the Yalu River, the Chinese border. Bad idea! Hundreds and hundreds of thousands of Chinese soldiers poured into North Korea and greatly outnumbered the UN Forces. McArthur wanted to wage all-out war with the new adversary. This was not in keeping with our foreign policy. President Truman was not interested in precipitating World War III. Keep in mind the Soviet Union was their (China’s & North Korea’s) ally and weapons supplier (Russian pilots actually flew some of the Chinese MIG fighters). At this point General McArthur thought he knew what’s best. He didn’t have to follow orders; he was a five star general. Well, general or private, orders are orders. The aging general had to go (President Truman was not President Hoover).
General Matthew Ridgeway took command. The “police action”, as it was called, lingered until 1953.The 38th Parallel is still the dividing line. The Korean Conflict would be the first combat experience of the United States Army as a racially integrated military. This was because of Executive Order #9981 issued by President Truman in July of 1948.
World events unfolded at a torrid pace in the immediate post-war period. The Soviets were attempting to spread their gospel in all directions, especially Eastern Europe. People were displaced, homeless and starving throughout all of Europe. Truman’s administration was not oblivious to their plight. The Marshall Plan (European Recovery Act) supplied billions of dollars of aid over a four year period. This plan was named after George Marshall, Secretary of State; the president felt the bill’s passage was assured being named after the ex-general of the army.
The Truman Doctrine stated that the United States must support countries that were attempting to resist having their country overthrown by outside forces (Communism).This was a policy of containment. When the Soviet Union attempted to starve West Berlin, the part of the city not under their dominance, the president issued an order for the Berlin Airlift. All other avenues of access to the beleaguered city were blocked. Winter was approaching; coal was in short supply along with food and other essentials of life. Initially, it was the twin engine C-47 (DC-3) that carried the burden, however this plane was not the answer as its carrying capacity was limited. Enter the C-54 (DC-4) with four engines and three times larger load. This continued day and night until 2 million tons of supplies were delivered and the blockade was broken.
President Truman was anxious to prove he could be elected in his own right in 1948. Almost everyone disagreed with that, including the sons of the late President Roosevelt and other Democratic Party dignitaries. The political opposition and the Republican newspapers were convinced that Thomas A. Dewey of New York, their candidate, was an easy winner and the next president. The Chicago Tribune believed this to the extent that they printed headlines to this effect, prematurely. When the balloting was over, they had ink all over their face. The final tabulation showed Truman winning the popular contest by over 2 million votes and the all important Electoral College count by 114 votes. Not bad, especially considering there were two other candidates siphoning votes from the president’s Democratic column.
Our national psyche was greatly disturbed in 1950 when the Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin claimed to have a list of over 200 Communists in the State Department. The proof is in the pudding, as the saying goes. McCarthy never produced any substantiated evidence of the guilt of any of the members of his list of alleged Communists. He would ultimately be censured by the senate.
In 1951 the Twenty-second Amendment was ratified. This limited future presidents to two terms. This issue was pushed through the Republican controlled congress. This was their reaction to twenty years of Democratic executive dominance.
It should be noted that President Truman’s Fair Deal, as his domestic policy was called, included several measures of social importance, such as increasing the minimum wage, the Housing Act of 1949, extension of Social Security and, as previously mentioned, the desegregation of the military. Unfortunately one of his other issues did not come to fruition, namely universal health care. The man of the people cared about the people.
Truman decided not to seek another term. In retirement, he campaigned for the Democratic candidates, Adlai Stevenson and John Kennedy, in their elections. In 1965 President Lyndon Johnson came to Independence, Missouri so he could sign the Medicare Act in former President Truman’s presence.
On December 26, 1972 Mr. Truman would pass away after being hospitalized with several ailments. He is buried in the courtyard of the Truman Library and Museum in Independence. It is the only presidential library that I have personally visited.