Harry S. Truman (1945-1953)

it is all right i am just a student and this page STINKS

During World War I Truman served as an artillery officer.

Another real Statesman. He was picked to be FDR's running mate because he was considered weak and unknown. He rose to the office and did what he felt was best for the country, and made no apologies for it. He's another one that I would like to see in a future president.

hey...hiroshima

started some civil rights stuff thanks to intergrating Armed forces.

He is a good president. Even though he became unpopular in the korea conflict he stayed in and South Korea is still alive.

From what I've heard, he's not that great.

Nothing to say, but ye all respect the guys with eyeglasses, because they are tougher....I don't know what makes us really smart like this?...True Man!

Brought an End and Victory in WWII... Give em Hell Harry!

Ended WWII, but did it buy bombing the crap out of Japan. Pretty harsh, but maybe someone had to do it....

Extremely overrated, just for being plain spoken (same reason Bush 43 was re/elected). Believed his war-time powers should be completely unchecked (sound familiar?), and didn't fret about or hesitate to vaporize tens of thousands of non-combatants to end WWII.

Truman will forever be controversial because of his decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  And towards the end of his presidency he was strongly dislked for the conflict in Korea, which ended up killing around just as many American troops as the Vietnam War.  Infact, he was so disliked that he dropped out of the race for president in the 1952 Election (he could run because the 22nd Amendment did prohibit the current president, Truman).  However, history has decided to look past these "small" details and now he is usually ranked as one of the ten best presidents.  On foreign affairs he presided over the end of World War II and brought the United States into the beginning of the Cold War.  He introduced the Truman Doctrine, which was containment of Soviet influence, and saved Greece and Turkey from falling to communism.  Under his presidency the United States was brought into the United Nations and NATO, and the Marshall Plan and Berlin Airlift went into use.  He wa... Read more

Give Em Hell Harry!

He rose above his background and did a good job. He was a narrow minded little nebish and an extreme unthinking partisan. His results rate him a four however. I was a boy when he left the presidency during the Korean War, and let me tell you, he was Hated!   The vets liked him for dropping the bomb so they didn't have to invade Japan, and this had a lot to do with his residual popularity.

Horrible. First of all, the decision to drop the bomb had already been made; but, if you want to give him credit for that, so be it. He decimated our military starting in 1945 then wanted to use it in 1950. Many of the first soldiers and Marines in Korea didn't even have ammo rounds for their clips. MIGs had a field day, blowing our antiquated B-29's out of the sky like shooting fish in a barrel. This guy was the godfather and originator of the "no-win policy". His bumbling also served to cause a recession by the time he was kicked out on his rump.

Truman is an American dream and history has vindicated most of his visionary and courageous decisions; he did far netter than anyone expected in succeeding a giant in office, and I love his sense of humor and sunny optimism.

Give em hell Harry was a no nonsense plain speaking mid westerner. His dropping of the atom bombs on Japan will always be debated, but the consensus today is he shortened the war and saved the lives in the end from both sides. Wanted to start a National health care program 56 years ago- talk about being a visionary. Had the courage to integrate the armed forces.

He ended WWII, but killed innocent Japanese citizens. Holy crap, if that had happened today, the U.N. and lots of congresspeople would erupt in protest! It was killing a fly with and elephant gun. Nagasaki and Hiroshima will forever be tarnished. And then there are our wonderful "internment camps."

My favorite Democrat ever!A man who rose from nothing.He had personal failures.Through hard work,he rose in the party.Made a ballsy decision to drop the bomb on Hiroshima,thus ending WW2.Had he not done this,the war may have gone on until 1960.He gets a lot of bad press for this,which I feel is unfair.He did the Truman doctrine to contain the Reds(at least he tried).He fought for the rights of blacks and was the first president to integrate the armed forces,this despite his personal rather retrograde views on blacks.He did rightly feel that blacks were good enough to fight and die for this country,so they were entitled to this small gesture.He was a cantankerous man,but that only added to his charm.He was a REAL progressive on economic issues(and as such,I disagree with him there) but he followed his conscience and was an honest,capable servant of the people.The intellectual elite hated him.But he gave 'em all hell!A fine president and a credit to his party and the country.

what a douche

He is the only man to have authorized the use of the atomic bomb on another nation. For him to have wrestled with a decision like that makes him both human and great.

Great guy BUT he caved to Zionists who created a new state based on religious intolerance (favoring Jews over those of other religions), due to a mythical belief that, of all the the people on earth and all the life forms of the universe, God selected a tiny group of people to be his "chosen" people and to have a little piece of real estate they could call their own. Come on! This is the 21st Century! Stop fighting over silly myths and start respecting the rights of all people! Harry should have known better when he paved the way for Israel in the 1940s.

Terribly overrated. Nuked the Japs, not once, but twice, which were most unneccessary actions against defenseless civilian populations when you consider the Japanese military was all but vanquished. So, he had the blood of 200,000 innocents on his hands. That's a great legacy, an envious place in history, the turd. Did virtually nothing to address the issue of civil rights, despite the fact that it was an issue whose time had come. Presided over that totally needless Red Scare of the era and did nothing to rein in the illogical public hysteria over a threat that never existed. Got us involved in Korea, which led to the needless deaths of thousands of U.S. troops, and did nothing to assuage East/West tensions or establish the primacy of democracy. Oversaw a post-WWII recession of significant depth despite an increase in true aggregate demand. Spent more effort defending the singing ambitions of his talentless daughter against well-deserved criticism in the press than doing somet... Read more

Truman had huge balls for using the bomb but he was convinced it would save more lives then it would kill. Japan was ready to defend to the last woman or child, they were arming any one who could carry a weapon, which was any thing from a gun to a pitch fork. After Iwo Jima it was decided that a traditional invasion would cost millions of lives on both sides. Considering that when they first tested the bomb they really had no idea what it would do it was a very bold move to move the project forward. Maybe he was not the greatest President we ever had but he sure was the best one for the time and he was able to make a very difficult decision.

The first man who would use the atomic bomb can never be considered good! I am glad American lives were saved but there is no justification ever for bombing innocent citizens of any country for any reason. Military targets(armies, war factories, power plants) are the only justification or the Emperor.

The guy had guts. He set out a plan and did it. He was very decisive and whatever he said, he meant it. Unlike Eisenhower, Truman was outspoken. Unlike Ike, Truman was extremely interested in Civil Rights and he vowed to make lynching a federal crime, which he did.

Did little to slow down the ineffective New Deal programs of FDR and, overall, he was fairly weak when it came to domestic issues. However, his dealings with the Soviets and Chinese at the beginning of the Cold War were extraordinary in vision and scope. Every Cold War president that followed Truman owed him a debt. And he was decisive which was best illustrated by his decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan thus ending WWII. Truman was a better president than both FDR (his predecessor) and Eisenhower (his successor).

ok, but not nearly as great as the man he succeeded.

He did what he had to do to win the war, otherwise he would've just kept feeding inocent soldiers to the enemy like our President is today.

Harry S Truman was one of the great Presidents of the 20th Century. He was not really appreciated until much later (especially after he died), though. Yet, to look at Truman's record is to see a man who did what he felt was right. Truman was a man who was reknown for his common sense and sound judgment. And never were these more apparent than when he ordered the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan to quickly end the war in the Pacific. Truman definitely did the right thing, regardless of what others may think, and generations of Americans owe a lot to this President.

Overrated!!! Got our country to waste lives in Korea and his acceptance of the brain damaged domino theory led to Vietnam and the ridiculous size of the current US military (what a waste of money). Also pushed expensive socialist programs. In a class with George W. Bush, Warren Harding and US Grant intellectually.

Nice to see him on the top 5 of some list. Swiftly ended WWII (did what needed to be done without costing millions of American lives or giving concessions to Japan, or Germany for that matter), peacefully ended crisis in Berlin without war OR abandonment, and helped to advance civil rights in many ways.

I like Truman in many ways. I think he could have done a lot more to promote race relations in this country. He fell far short in that department. I do appreciate that he used some restraint in dropping the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (sp). I'm not in total agreement that they should have been dropped at all but at least he didn't go further than he did.

History is kinder to Truman than his own party was in 1952. I hate to be crude, but the guy had balls.

He had to deal with so much and probably did the best he could with it.

In over his head: Hiroshima may have been defensible, but after its effects were seen, Nagasaki then became the worst individual war crime in history.

probably the best democrat pres. ever. But can't give him the 5 stars cuz he is still a democrat. But still props to ending WW2

He is a president that saved american lives by killing 200,000 japanese including innocent children and women.Still the impact of the radiation of the bomb exists. It is meaningless to say that dropping bombs ended the war. Many of the military officials at that time agreed it was a terrible mistake . It made many people in the world to hate america and even now many people feel like that . This incident will never be forgotten in the history of mankind and it makes US guilty infront of the world forever and this bombing gave life to the nuclear weapons competition in the world . Finally all the people who support truman say thanks to him for making the world more peaceful .

I am a Harry Truman democrat.

The professional academics like him, because most our educators are on the left on virtually every issue. Truman excelled at two things that endeared him to liberals forever: (1) he cussed like a sailor, and (2) he would stop at nothing to defeat Republicans. Thank goodness, the country wised up and Truman knew he didn't stand a chance if he tried to run again in 1952. What a relief it must have been to have Ike replace him. 4/7/03 - I'm going to update this, even though it will mean losing those helpful ratings I got...if you're ever in the Kansas City area, try to visit the Truman library and (better yet) the Truman home. Everything in his house is left like it was when he died in 1972. His hat is still on the rack, his wife's dish rag is still lying across the kitchen faucet, and there is loose change on the table. At least it was this way last time I visited, several years ago. Whether you like or dislike Harry Truman, it's a genuine time capsule, a wonderful place to walk t... Read more

He put the nation ahead of opinion polls, his party, or himself. He fought for civil rights when that was NOT popular for democrats or republicans. He threatened to send union workers on strike into the army if they continued to hold the nation's production of coal and rail work. He infuriated many in his own party and outside. He didn't care. He wanted what was best for America. If the democrats were full of Trumans today then I would still be one. He is one of my favorites.

As I said earlier, Truman was one of the few presidents who didn't care what anyone thought of him. He put his country first, and he's the type of guy you'd want as a role model. And to me, he was the greatest president of them all. Yeah, even better than Reagan.

I would give the man 4 stars for his performance as president and the 5th star because of his guts and putting the country before his own life and future. He dedicated his life to his country, not his pocketbook and/or ego. Can you imagine a reagan or bush saying and practicing sayings like, If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen or The buck stops here? Some things that he did were not to popular with the bigots and right wing idiots, but they were the correct decisions, as integrating the armed forces. He also was about the only president to leave office as a relatively poor person, not because of the lack of intelligence, as Grant did, but because of his dedication to his country.

On one hand, he may have saved millions of U.S. lives in dropping the atom bomb. On the other hand the crazy bastard dropped an atom bomb without exhausting all other methods.

A mediochre President who made one MAJOR mistake: he recognized Israel as a nation.

Invented handicapping the US Military

5 stars for nuking Japan and ending the largest war in history and saving 3 million American lives.

He bombed Japan. he ended the war. he is a life saver.

Underated. Crucial for the success of the economy and Civil Rights after WWII.

A good president, and lest we forget a good liberal. He fought to expand the New Deal and protect labor, but was thwarted by conservatives on both sides of the aisle. Also, the first Democratic president to make any effort at enacting civil rights legislation. Revisionist historical attempts to discredit him seem disingenous. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were horrible, but recent Japanese scholarship indicates that higher ups in Japanese government would have almost certainly have fought on if bombs had not been used. He likely saved more Japanese than were killed in bombings (old men, boys, girls, and women were being armed with bamboo spears to fight off American invasion) and he certainly saved the lives of many American soldiers. His moderate anti-communism also seems correct; Stalin was not to be trusted. A little overrated though, while a great president I don't think he was as important as FDR, Lincoln, or Washington.