Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman
Born	May 8, 1884
Died	December 26, 1972 (Age 88)
Member of	Phi Beta Kappa
US President In office April 12, 1945 - January 20, 1953 Employer US Government Deputy Alben Barkley, David MacEachron, Alexander Menne Preceded by Franklin D. Roosevelt Succeeded by Dwight Eisenhower Against his better judgement, he was persuaded to create the CIA, something he later came to regret.  US Vice President In office January 20, 1945 - April 12, 1945  US Senator In office January 3, 1935 - January 17, 1945 From Missouri

National Security Act of 1947

Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947 and reorganized military forces by merging the Department of War and the Department of the Navy into the National Military Establishment (later the Department of Defense) and creating the U.S. Air Force.

Creation of the CIA

Russ Baker notes that Truman was very reluctant to sign the act since it also created the CIA and the National Security Council. He apparently didn't see the need for an organisation such as the CIA in peacetime, but was persuaded to sign off on it, something that he later came to regret.

 

A Document by Harry S. Truman

Title	Document type	Publication date	Subject(s)	Description
Document:Limit CIA Role To Intelligence	letter	22 December 1963	CIA	A letter just after the assassination of JFK which was published once and then vanished down the memory hole.

 

A Quote by Harry S. Truman

Page	Quote	Date
Encyclopedia of Domestic Assassinations	<nowiki>“[[[Secretary-General of the United Nations]] Dag Hammarskjöld] was on the point of getting something done when they killed him. Notice that I said "when they killed him."”</nowiki>	1961

 

An appointment by Harry S. Truman

Appointee	Job	Appointed	End
David Bruce	US/Ambassador/France	17 May 1949	10 March 1952

 

Related Document

Title	Type	Publication date	Author(s)	Description
Document:Reflection on the Role of the U.S. Vice Presidency	Article	25 September 2024	Ludwig De Braeckeleer	On 12 April 1945, Vice President Truman was preparing to have a drink in House Speaker Sam Rayburn’s office when he received an urgent message to go immediately to the White House, where Eleanor Roosevelt told him that her husband had died after a massive cerebral hemorrhage. Suddenly, the ‘piano player’ was responsible for overseeing the final phase of World War II and shaping the postwar global order: Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, NATO, and the UN.

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References

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