Misplaced Pages

#469530

89-759: Clausen, a lawyer and a former Assistant United States Attorney from San Francisco, and a "civilian at heart" had joined up "for the duration" of the war, being discharged in August 1945. He was not a Reserve officer. He had been the Trial Judge Advocate for the Army at the (well publicized) court martial of Army inspectors for fraudulent inspections of aircraft engines at the Wright Aeronautical engine manufacturing facility in Lackland, Ohio. He

178-418: A Defensive Sector Clasp. He was also the recipient of two Armed Forces Reserve Medals . After his wartime service, Truman returned to Independence, where he married Bess Wallace on June 28, 1919. The couple had one child, Mary Margaret Truman . Shortly before the wedding, Truman and Jacobson opened a haberdashery together at 104 West 12th Street in downtown Kansas City . After brief initial success,

267-548: A Republican wave led by President Calvin Coolidge 's landslide election to a full term. Two years selling automobile club memberships convinced him that a public service career was safer for a family man approaching middle age, and he planned a run for presiding judge in 1926. Truman won the job in 1926 with the support of the Pendergast machine, and he was re-elected in 1930. As presiding judge, Truman helped coordinate

356-405: A better income than that earned by a farmer. In fact, Wallace later told Truman she did not intend to marry, but if she did, it would be to him. Still determined to improve his finances, during his years on the farm and immediately after World War I, Truman became active in several business ventures. These included a lead and zinc mine near Commerce, Oklahoma , a company that bought land and leased

445-666: A captain in the Field Artillery. Returning home, he opened a haberdashery in Kansas City, Missouri , and was elected as a judge of Jackson County in 1922. Truman was elected to the United States Senate from Missouri in 1934. Between 1940 and 1944, he gained national prominence as chairman of the Truman Committee , which was aimed at reducing waste and inefficiency in wartime contracts. Truman

534-662: A connection that had a profound influence on Truman's later life. In mid-1918, about one million soldiers of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) were in France. Truman was promoted to captain effective April 23, and in July became commander of the newly arrived Battery D, 129th Field Artillery, 35th Division . Battery D was known for its discipline problems, and Truman was initially unpopular because of his efforts to restore order. Despite attempts by

623-464: A daily basis, as well as his own liaison with Congress—a body he already knew very well. He was not well prepared to deal with the press, and never achieved the jovial familiarity of FDR. Filled with latent anger about all the setbacks in his career, he bitterly mistrusted journalists. He saw them as enemies lying in wait for his next careless miscue. Truman was a very hard worker, often to the point of exhaustion, which left him testy, easily annoyed, and on

712-604: A large loving cup upon their return to the United States after the war. The war was a transformative experience in which Truman manifested his leadership qualities. He had entered the service in 1917 as a family farmer who had worked in clerical jobs that did not require the ability to motivate and direct others, but during the war, he gained leadership experience and a record of success that greatly enhanced and supported his post-war political career in Missouri. Truman

801-507: A law license. A friend who was an attorney began working out the arrangements, and informed Truman that his application had to be notarized. By the time Truman received this information he had changed his mind, so he never followed up. After the discovery of Truman's application in 1996 the Missouri Supreme Court issued him a posthumous honorary law license. Due to the lack of funds for college, Truman considered attending

890-461: A load of hay fall on you, but when they told me what happened yesterday, I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me." Truman asked all the members of Roosevelt's cabinet to remain in place, but he soon replaced almost all of them, especially with friends from his Senate days. Truman benefited from a honeymoon period from the success in defeating Nazi Germany in Europe and

979-524: A massive prearranged assault barrage on September 26, 1918, at the opening of the Meuse–Argonne offensive . They advanced with difficulty over pitted terrain to follow the infantry, and set up an observation post west of Cheppy . On September 27, Truman saw through his binoculars an enemy artillery battery deploying across a river in a position which would allow them to fire upon the neighboring 28th Division . Truman's orders limited him to targets facing

SECTION 10

#1732780748470

1068-525: A maximum of $ 176,200. Federal law authorizes the Attorney General to appoint Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys , known as SAUSAs , "to assist United States attorneys when the public interest so requires." The "SAUSA" designation is sometimes granted to state prosecutors (such as assistant state attorneys general ) working alongside federal prosecutors on various investigations and prosecutions. In addition to designating non-federal employees,

1157-566: A more hostile probe by the House of Representatives. The main mission of the committee was to expose and fight waste and corruption in the gigantic government wartime contracts. Truman's initiative convinced Senate leaders of the necessity for the committee, which reflected his demands for honest and efficient administration and his distrust of big business and Wall Street. Truman managed the committee "with extraordinary skill" and usually achieved consensus, generating heavy media publicity that gave him

1246-466: A national reputation. Activities of the Truman Committee ranged from criticizing the " dollar-a-year men " hired by the government, many of whom proved ineffective, to investigating a shoddily built New Jersey housing project for war workers. In March 1944, Truman attempted to probe the expensive Manhattan Project but was persuaded by Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson to discontinue with

1335-458: A peacetime mentality, e.g. the odd/even days arrangement for sharing cryptographic work between the Army and Navy. The Navy was sending intercepts by teletype, while the Army was using air mail before Dec 6. But the Navy only had Commander Kramer to distribute the material (with no relief for him) while the Army had both Colonels Bratton & Dusenbury. Clausen says that the breach of Magic security in

1424-464: A relationship between Truman and Roosevelt's aide Harry Hopkins and assured Truman's avid support for the New Deal. After serving as a county judge, Truman wanted to run for governor of Missouri or Congress , but Pendergast rejected these ideas. Truman then thought he might serve out his career in some well-paying county sinecure; circumstances changed when Pendergast reluctantly backed him as

1513-689: A scale of zero to ten, with ten being the high end of the scale: Lieutenant Colonel Carlisle Clyde Dusenbury was the Army G2 (Intelligence) officer at the Japan desk in Washington on Saturday 6 December 1941. Lieutenant Commander Alwin D. Kramer was the US Navy translator in Washington on Saturday 6 December 1941. He was also responsible for distributing MAGIC information to the President; though unlike

1602-808: A special investigating committee than did Missouri's Harry S. Truman." Roosevelt's advisors knew that Roosevelt might not live out a fourth term and that his vice president would very likely become the next president. Henry Wallace had served as Roosevelt's vice president for four years and was popular on the left, but he was viewed as too far to the left and too friendly to labor for some of Roosevelt's advisers. The President and several of his confidantes wanted to replace Wallace with someone more acceptable to Democratic Party leaders. Outgoing Democratic National Committee chairman Frank C. Walker , incoming chairman Hannegan, party treasurer Edwin W. Pauley , Bronx party boss Ed Flynn , Chicago Mayor Edward Joseph Kelly , and lobbyist George E. Allen all wanted to keep Wallace off

1691-604: A story about not being able to get in touch with Marshall which "nearly destroyed" Marshall. Marshall got assurances that the final warning on December 7 would be received by everyone before 1 pm Washington time; he had to send Colonels Bratton and Bundy back to the message center twice to get this confirmation. But when Colonel French, in charge of the message center, learned that the War Department's radio system could not contact Pearl Harbor, he decided to send their message by RCA commercial radio – without telling Marshall of

1780-457: Is seconded to a different district or from Main Justice to a specific office. Appointing local prosecutors or enforcement attorneys to assist in a joint investigation and prosecution has been criticized for having the potential for conflicts of interest, selective and vindictive prosecution, as well as dual and successive prosecution. Uncompensated SAUSAs can also be unpaid volunteers; they have

1869-482: The 1900 Democratic National Convention in Kansas City ; his father had many friends active in the Democratic Party who helped young Harry to gain his first political position. After graduating from Independence High School in 1901, Truman took classes at Spalding's Commercial College, a Kansas City business school. He studied bookkeeping, shorthand, and typing but stopped after a year. Segregation

SECTION 20

#1732780748470

1958-687: The American South at the time. A brother, John Vivian, was born soon after Harry, followed by sister Mary Jane. While Truman's ancestry was primarily English , he also had some Scots-Irish , German , and French ancestry. John Truman was a farmer and livestock dealer. The family lived in Lamar until Harry was ten months old, when they moved to a farm near Harrisonville, Missouri . They next moved to Belton and in 1887 to his grandparents' 600-acre (240 ha) farm in Grandview . When Truman

2047-787: The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , which required him to sleep in workmen's camps along the rail lines. Truman and his brother Vivian later worked as clerks at the National Bank of Commerce in Kansas City. In 1906, Truman returned to the Grandview farm, where he lived until entering the army in 1917. During this period, he courted Bess Wallace . He proposed in 1911, but she turned him down. Believing Wallace turned him down because he did not have much money, Truman later said he intended to propose again, but he wanted to have

2136-725: The Freemasons , military reservist, and member of the American Legion. In the general election, Truman defeated incumbent Republican Roscoe C. Patterson by nearly 20 percentage points in a continuing wave of pro- New Deal Democrats elected during the Great Depression . Truman assumed office with a reputation as "the Senator from Pendergast". He referred patronage decisions to Pendergast but maintained that he voted with his own conscience. He later defended

2225-534: The Los Angeles area (the largest DOJ office outside Washington). By contrast, approximately 62 AUSAs work at the U.S. Attorney's Office for South Carolina . Some AUSAs are criminal prosecutors , while others represent the U.S. government in civil litigation. Many AUSAs, after spending some time working for the Justice Department, return to the private practice of law . Other AUSAs work in

2314-709: The New Deal coalition during the 1948 presidential election , despite a divided Democratic Party , and won a surprise victory against Republican Party nominee Thomas E. Dewey that secured his own presidential term. Truman presided over the onset of the Cold War in 1947. He oversaw the Berlin Airlift and Marshall Plan in 1948. With the involvement of the US in the Korean War of 1950–1953, South Korea repelled

2403-642: The Ten Year Plan , which transformed Jackson County and the Kansas City skyline with new public works projects, including an extensive series of roads and construction of a new Wight and Wight -designed County Court building . Also in 1926, he became president of the National Old Trails Road Association, and during his term he oversaw dedication of 12 Madonna of the Trail monuments to honor pioneer women. In 1933, Truman

2492-485: The U.S. Armed Forces . Investigations revealed corruption in parts of the Truman administration, and this became a major campaign issue in the 1952 presidential election , although they did not implicate Truman himself. He was eligible for reelection in 1952 but, with poor polling, he chose not to run. Truman went into a retirement marked by the founding of his presidential library and the publication of his memoirs. It

2581-657: The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York , which had no tuition, but he was refused an appointment because of poor eyesight. He enlisted in the Missouri National Guard in 1905 and served until 1911 in the Kansas City-based Battery B, 2nd Missouri Field Artillery Regiment, in which he attained the rank of corporal . At his induction, his eyesight without glasses was unacceptable 20/50 in

2670-825: The "Kimmel camp" had held onto the two copies sent to the Committee to prevent other members seeing them. He decided to write the book Pearl Harbor: Final Judgement in 1991 (published in 1992) in opposition to what he described as “inaccurate conspiracy theories” of the Pearl Harbor attack. Stimson got the Army Pearl Harbor Board report (actually two reports, with a second Top Secret section on codebreaking) on Pearl Harbor with its criticism of General George Marshall and Secretary of State Cordell Hull , but "fatally flawed" from crucial but withheld evidence and perjured testimony. The Board had only learned of

2759-456: The 35th Division, but he ignored this and patiently waited until the Germans had walked their horses well away from their guns, ensuring they could not relocate out of range of Truman's battery. He then ordered his men to open fire, and their attack destroyed the enemy battery. His actions were credited with saving the lives of 28th Division soldiers who otherwise would have come under fire from

Henry Clausen - Misplaced Pages Continue

2848-665: The Army (with Dusenbury and Bratton) he had no relief officer. Clausen achieved the 33rd Degree of the Scottish Rite , the highest obtainable rank within the organization. He played a pivotal role, serving as both Grand Master of California as well as Grand Commander of the Supreme Council, Southern Jurisdiction , of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry . In this capacity, he authored several books discussing freemasonry, all of which were published by

2937-612: The Board by Marshall. After discussing the Board report(s) with General Cramer (the Judge Advocate General) and with Major (later Lt. Col) Clausen (who had been Assistant Recorder to the Army Board), Stimson appointed Clausen as his Special Investigator to retake evidence and follow unexplored leads. Clausen and Colonel Hughes decided to ask: Clausen had an authorising letter from Stimson informing witnesses he had

3026-601: The Germans. Truman was given a dressing down by his regimental commander, Colonel Karl D. Klemm, who threatened to convene a court-martial, but Klemm never followed through, and Truman was not punished. In other action during the Meuse–Argonne offensive, Truman's battery provided support for George S. Patton 's tank brigade, and fired some of the last shots of the war on November 11, 1918. Battery D did not lose any men while under Truman's command in France. To show their appreciation for his leadership, his men presented him with

3115-551: The Kansas City Law School (now the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law ) but dropped out after losing reelection as county judge. He was informed by attorneys in the Kansas City area that his education and experience were probably sufficient to receive a license to practice law but did not pursue it because he won election as presiding judge. While serving as president in 1947, Truman applied for

3204-417: The Navy and Army efforts by Truman (eventually this came to be called NSA ). MacArthur told him that he "had to barter like a rug merchant throughout the war to get the intelligence I have needed from the Navy." MacArthur also said that he got "ample and complete information" from the War Department prior to 7 December. The arrangements in Washington prior to Pearl Harbor were inefficient and indicative of

3293-737: The Roosevelt administration) were responsible for the boss's downfall. St. Louis party leader Robert E. Hannegan 's support of Truman proved crucial; he later brokered the deal that put Truman on the national ticket. In the end, Stark and Milligan split the anti-Pendergast vote in the Senate Democratic primary and Truman won by a total of 8,000 votes. In the November election, Truman defeated Republican Manvel H. Davis by 51–49 percent. As senator, Truman opposed both Nazi Germany and Communist Russia. Two days after Hitler invaded

3382-535: The SAUSA designation is also given to federal lawyers employed by non-DOJ agencies, such as the Social Security Administration , U.S. Postal Service , or Federal Bureau of Investigation , who work alongside AUSAs because of their expertise. They are paid by that agency and seconded to a United States Attorney's Office for a set period of time. This designation may also be given to an AUSA who

3471-633: The Senate, as usual, had just adjourned the session for the day and 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 . Truman asked her if there was anything he could do for her; she replied, "Is there anything we can do for you ? For you are

3560-590: The Soviet Union in June 1941, Truman said: If we see that Germany is winning we ought to help Russia, and if Russia is winning we ought to help Germany, and that way let them kill as many as possible although I don't want to see Hitler victorious under any circumstances. This quote without its last part later became a staple in Soviet and later Russian propaganda as "evidence" of an American conspiracy to destroy

3649-758: The Supreme Council, 33°, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. Assistant United States Attorney An assistant United States attorney ( AUSA ) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district . They represent the federal government of the United States in civil and appellate litigation and in federal criminal prosecutions. Assistant U.S. attorneys working in their office's criminal section are often called federal prosecutors . AUSAs are rarely hired directly out of law school and often have significant experience before entering

Henry Clausen - Misplaced Pages Continue

3738-483: The U.S. Attorney’s Office. AUSAs are career civil servants . In 2008, the U.S. Department of Justice employed approximately 5,800 AUSAs. As of 2022, there were approximately 6,300 AUSAs. The various U.S. Attorney's Offices vary significantly in size and in number of AUSAs employed. For example, approximately 280 AUSAs work at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, which covers

3827-606: The U.S. Senate, Truman was transferred to the General Assignments Group, a holding unit for less active officers, although he had not been consulted in advance. Truman protested his reassignment, which led to his resumption of regimental command. He remained an active reservist until the early 1940s. Truman volunteered for active military service during World War II , but was not accepted, partly because of age, and partly because President Franklin D. Roosevelt desired that senators and congressmen who belonged to

3916-481: The White House was that Magic documents were found in the desk of Roosevelt's military aide Maj. Gen Edwin M. 'Pa' Watson ; not "in a wastebasket" as is often claimed. Clausen disapproves of the policy amongst the cryptographers, and senior officers like Marshall, to lie under oath during the various investigations to keep Magic secret, but sympathizes with the quandary those officers faced in practice. And he listed these people in terms of their culpability, based on

4005-460: The White House. During the U.S. Senate election in 1940 , U.S. Attorney Maurice Milligan (former opponent Jacob Milligan's brother) and former governor Lloyd Stark both challenged Truman in the Democratic primary. Truman was politically weakened by Pendergast's imprisonment for income tax evasion the previous year; the senator had remained loyal, having claimed that Republican judges (not

4094-426: The camp canteen with Edward Jacobson , a clothing store clerk he knew from Kansas City. Unlike most canteens funded by unit members, which usually lost money, the canteen operated by Truman and Jacobson turned a profit, returning each soldier's initial $ 2 investment and $ 10,000 in dividends in six months. At Fort Sill, Truman met Lieutenant James M. Pendergast, nephew of Tom Pendergast , a Kansas City political boss,

4183-477: The country. In late 1940, Truman traveled to various military bases. The waste and profiteering he saw led him to use his chairmanship of the Committee on Military Affairs Subcommittee on War Mobilization to start investigations into abuses while the nation prepared for war. A new special committee was set up under Truman to conduct a formal investigation; the White House supported this plan rather than weather

4272-483: The delay. According to Clausen, Clausen criticises others; Dusenbury, Fielder, Bicknell, Layton, Turner, Mayfield, Bratton, Rochefort, Gerow, and Kramer. And Roosevelt , for often vacillating, and for making a number of telephone calls after reading the Japanese message, but not one to Marshall. He does not think that a Winds Execute message was received, though there were several false leads given in testimony to

4361-423: The fourteenth part (which said diplomatic relations would be broken) from the Navy ( OP-20-G ) about midnight (Washington time). No action was taken then; both Dusenbury and Commander Kramer, the translator, went home, and as much as nine vital hours (certainly three) were lost. The next morning Colonel Bratton arrived later on Sunday morning than he initially claimed during testimony and, Clausen concluded, invented

4450-451: The general population. Truman was born in Lamar, Missouri , on May 8, 1884, the oldest child of John Anderson Truman and Martha Ellen Young Truman . He was named for his maternal uncle, Harrison "Harry" Young. His middle initial, "S", is not an abbreviation of one particular name. Rather, it honors both his grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young, a somewhat common practice in

4539-589: The help of the Kansas City Democratic machine led by Tom Pendergast , Truman was elected in 1922 as County Court judge of Jackson County 's eastern district—Jackson County's three-judge court included judges from the western district (Kansas City), the eastern district (the county outside Kansas City), and a presiding judge elected countywide. This was an administrative rather than a judicial court, similar to county commissions in many other jurisdictions. Truman lost his 1924 reelection campaign in

SECTION 50

#1732780748470

4628-483: The interests of AUSAs, pressing DOJ and Congress for higher pay for AUSAs (whose salaries are low compared to private lawyers) and more telework opportunities. NAAUSA has also targeted the pay disparity between AUSAs and trial attorneys at Main Justice; the latter tend to be paid more than the former. As of 2020 , AUSAs earned a starting base salary of $ 55,204, which may be significantly adjusted for their local cost of living and increases with years of experience up to

4717-405: The invasion by North Korea . Domestically, the postwar economic challenges such as strikes and inflation created a mixed reaction over the effectiveness of his administration. In 1948, he proposed Congress pass comprehensive civil rights legislation. Congress refused, so Truman issued Executive Order 9980 and Executive Order 9981 , which prohibited discrimination in federal agencies and desegregated

4806-423: The investigation. The committee reportedly saved as much as $ 15 billion (equivalent to $ 260 billion in 2023), and its activities put Truman on the cover of Time magazine. According to the Senate's historical minutes, in leading the committee, "Truman erased his earlier public image as an errand-runner for Kansas City politicos", and "no senator ever gained greater political benefits from chairing

4895-427: The machine's choice in the 1934 Democratic primary election for the U.S. Senate from Missouri , after Pendergast's first four choices had declined to run. In the primary, Truman defeated Congressmen John J. Cochran and Jacob L. Milligan with the solid support of Jackson County , which was crucial to his candidacy. Also critical were the contacts he had made statewide in his capacity as a county official, member of

4984-667: The men to intimidate him into quitting, Truman succeeded by making his corporals and sergeants accountable for discipline. He promised to back them up if they performed capably and reduce them to private if they did not. In an event memorialized in battery lore as "The Battle of Who Run", his soldiers began to flee during a sudden night attack by the Germans in the Vosges Mountains ; Truman succeeded at ordering his men to stay and fight, using profanity from his railroad days. The men were so surprised to hear Truman use such language that they immediately obeyed. Truman's unit joined in

5073-470: The military reserves support the war effort by remaining in Congress, or by ending their active duty service and resuming their congressional seats. He was an inactive reservist from the early 1940s until retiring as a colonel in the then redesignated U.S. Army Reserve on January 20, 1953. Truman was awarded a World War I Victory Medal with two battle clasps (for St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne ) and

5162-481: The necessary clearances to require their cooperation, but he was often lied to until he produced copies of about 40 top secret 'Magic' decrypts, to prove he had the proper clearance. Previously they had been required to lie under oath to protect the secret of 'Magic'. He wore the decrypts in a self-destructing bomb pouch to satisfy security concerns. Colonel Dusenbury, of the US Army SIS, testified that he received

5251-422: The oil drilling rights to prospectors, and speculation in Kansas City real estate. Truman occasionally derived some income from these enterprises, but none proved successful in the long term. Truman is the only president since William McKinley (elected in 1896) who did not earn a college degree. In addition to having briefly attended business college, from 1923 to 1925 he took night courses toward an LL.B. at

5340-496: The one in trouble now!" He was sworn in as president at 7:09 p.m. in the West Wing of the White House, by Chief Justice Harlan F. Stone . At the White House, Truman replaced Roosevelt holdovers with old confidants. The White House was badly understaffed with no more than a dozen aides; they could barely keep up with the heavy workflow of a greatly expanded executive department. Truman acted as his own chief of staff on

5429-471: The patronage decisions by saying that "by offering a little to the machine, [he] saved a lot". In his first term, Truman spoke out against corporate greed and the dangers of Wall Street speculators and other moneyed special interests attaining too much influence in national affairs. Though he served on the high-profile Appropriations and Interstate Commerce Committees, he was largely ignored by President Roosevelt and had trouble getting calls returned from

SECTION 60

#1732780748470

5518-403: The president and vice president met alone together only twice during their time in office. In one of his first acts as vice president, Truman created some controversy when he attended the disgraced Pendergast's funeral. He brushed aside the criticism, saying simply, "He was always my friend and I have always been his." He had rarely discussed world affairs or domestic politics with Roosevelt; he

5607-423: The right eye and 20/400 in the left (past the standard for legal blindness). The second time he took the test, he passed by secretly memorizing the eye chart. He was described as 5 feet 10 inches tall, gray eyed , dark haired and of light complexion. When the United States entered World War I on April 6, 1917 , Truman rejoined Battery B, successfully recruiting new soldiers for the expanding unit, for which he

5696-532: The role until retirement. As of 2020, the longest-serving AUSA nationwide had worked for 50 years in Little Rock . The oldest-serving AUSA, who worked at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark , died in 2019 at age 89; she had chosen to continue working long after others decided to retire. The National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys (NAAUSA) is the professional association for AUSAs. NAAUSA represents

5785-489: The same duties as AUSAs, but receive no salary. These roles are typically held by young lawyers seeking to establish "professional credibility". Harry Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 – December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States , serving from 1945 to 1953. A member of the Democratic Party , he assumed the presidency after Franklin D. Roosevelt 's death, as he

5874-416: The store went bankrupt during the recession of 1921 . Truman did not pay off the last of the debts from that venture until 1935, when he did so with the aid of banker William T. Kemper , who worked behind the scenes to enable Truman's brother Vivian to buy Truman's $ 5,600 promissory note during the asset sale of a bank that had failed in the Great Depression . The note had risen and fallen in value as it

5963-486: The ticket. Roosevelt told party leaders that he would accept either Truman or Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas . State and city party leaders strongly preferred Truman, and Roosevelt agreed. Truman had repeatedly said that he was not in the race and that he did not want the vice presidency, and he remained reluctant. One reason was that his wife and sister Mary Jane were both on his Senate staff payroll, and he feared negative publicity. Truman did not campaign for

6052-462: The top-secret cryptography program Magic 's existence a week before the report was finished, and was initially not allowed access to the Navy Hewitt report until an appeal was made to Navy Secretary Forrestal . The three generals on the Board had all been relieved of commands by Marshall, hence were prejudiced against him. But they were available, so were put on the list of available officers for

6141-501: The treasury, Fred Vinson and John Snyder . His closest friend in the White House was his military aide Harry H. Vaughan , who knew little of military or foreign affairs and was criticized for trading access to the White House for expensive gifts. Truman loved to spend as much time as possible playing poker, telling stories and sipping bourbon. Alonzo Hamby notes that: ... to many in the general public, gambling and bourbon swilling, however low-key, were not quite presidential. Neither

6230-462: The various investigators, and the FCC did intercept an IJN execute order with respect to England after Pearl Harbor. Clausen saw the cause of being caught unprepared during the Pearl Harbor attack, as due both to having two separate commands at Pearl Harbor (Navy & Army), and to having two separate Intelligence organizations in Washington and elsewhere (Navy and Army), and so welcomed the combination of

6319-529: The verge of appearing unpresidential or petty. In terms of major issues, he discussed them in depth with top advisors. He mastered the details of the federal budget as well as anyone. Truman was a poor speaker reading a text. However, his visible anger made him an effective stump speaker , denouncing his enemies as his supporters hollered back at him "Give Em Hell, Harry!" Truman surrounded himself with friends and appointed several to high positions that seemed beyond their competence, including his two secretaries of

6408-505: The vice-presidential spot, though he welcomed the attention as evidence that he had become more than the "Senator from Pendergast". Truman's nomination was dubbed the "Second Missouri Compromise " and was well received. The Roosevelt–Truman ticket achieved a 432–99  electoral-vote victory in the election, defeating the Republican ticket of Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York and running mate Governor John Bricker of Ohio. Truman

6497-425: The war were Catholics, and one of his close friends was the 129th Field Artillery's chaplain, Monsignor L. Curtis Tiernan. The two remained friends until Tiernan's death in 1960. Developing leadership and interpersonal skills that later made him a successful politician helped Truman get along with his Catholic soldiers, as he did with soldiers of other Christian denominations and the unit's Jewish members. Truman

6586-551: Was sworn in as vice president on January 20, 1945. After the inauguration, Truman called his mother, who instructed him, "Now you behave yourself." Truman's brief vice-presidency was relatively uneventful. Truman mostly presided over the Senate and attended parties and receptions. He kept the same offices from his Senate years, mostly only using the Vice President's official office in the Capitol to greet visitors. Truman

6675-652: Was vice president at the time. Truman implemented the Marshall Plan in the wake of World War II to rebuild the economy of Western Europe and established both the Truman Doctrine and NATO to contain the expansion of Soviet communism . He proposed numerous liberal domestic reforms, but few were enacted by the conservative coalition that dominated Congress . Truman was raised in Independence, Missouri , and during World War I fought in France as

6764-500: Was a Republican like Stimson, who Clausen regarded as "a man of truly heroic stature". Clausen wrote about Congressman's Gearhart's attack on him during the Congressional Hearing that "I was a Republican myself, and a fiscal conservative, too". He appeared before the Congressional Hearing, and was asked to show Congressman Murphy his Summary exhibit of Far Eastern documents, as Congressmen Ferguson and Gearhart who were in

6853-420: Was bought and sold, interest accumulated and Truman made payments, so by the time the last bank to hold it failed, it was worth nearly $ 9,000. Thanks to Kemper's efforts, Vivian Truman was able to buy it for $ 1,000. Jacobson and Truman remained close friends even after their store failed, and Jacobson's advice to Truman on Zionism later played a role in the U.S. Government's decision to recognize Israel. With

6942-461: Was brought up in the Presbyterian and Baptist churches, but avoided revivals and sometimes ridiculed revivalist preachers. He rarely spoke about religion, which to him, primarily meant ethical behavior along traditional Protestant lines. Truman once wrote in a letter to his future wife, Bess: "You know that I know nothing about Lent and such things..." Most of the soldiers he commanded in

7031-616: Was elected as their first lieutenant . Before deployment to France, Truman was sent for training to Camp Doniphan , Fort Sill , near Lawton, Oklahoma , when his regiment was federalized as the 129th Field Artillery . The regimental commander during its training was Robert M. Danford , who later served as the Army's Chief of Field Artillery. Truman recalled that he learned more practical, useful information from Danford in six weeks than from six months of formal Army instruction, and when Truman served as an artillery instructor, he consciously patterned his approach on Danford's. Truman also ran

7120-549: Was elected vice president in the 1944 presidential election and became president upon Roosevelt's death in April 1945. Only then was he told about the ongoing Manhattan Project and the atomic bomb . Truman authorized the first and only use of nuclear weapons in war against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki . Truman's administration engaged in an internationalist foreign policy by working closely with Britain . Truman staunchly denounced isolationism . He energized

7209-489: Was honorably discharged from the Army as a captain on May 6, 1919. In 1920, he was appointed a major in the Officers Reserve Corps . He became a lieutenant colonel in 1925 and a colonel in 1932. In the 1920s and 1930s he commanded 1st Battalion, 379th Field Artillery Regiment, 102nd Infantry Division . After promotion to colonel, Truman advanced to command of the regiment. After his election to

7298-518: Was long thought that his retirement years were financially difficult for Truman, resulting in Congress establishing a pension for former presidents, but evidence eventually emerged that he amassed considerable wealth, some of it while still president. When he left office, Truman's administration was heavily criticized. Despite this controversy, scholars rank Truman in the first quartile of American presidents. In addition, critical reassessment of his presidency has improved his reputation among historians and

7387-587: Was named Missouri's director for the Federal Re-Employment program (part of the Civil Works Administration ) at the request of Postmaster General James Farley . This was payback to Pendergast for delivering the Kansas City vote to Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1932 presidential election . The appointment confirmed Pendergast's control over federal patronage jobs in Missouri and marked the zenith of his power. It also created

7476-409: Was practiced and largely accepted where Truman grew up. While he would later come to support civil rights, early letters of the young Truman reflected his upbringing and prejudices against African and Asian Americans . Truman was employed briefly in the mailroom of The Kansas City Star before making use of his business college experience to obtain a job as a timekeeper for construction crews on

7565-618: Was six, his parents moved to Independence, Missouri , so he could attend the Presbyterian Church Sunday School. He did not attend a conventional school until he was eight years old. While living in Independence, he served as a Shabbos goy for Jewish neighbors, doing tasks for them on Shabbat that their religion prevented them from doing on that day. Truman was interested in music, reading, history, and math, all encouraged by his mother, with whom he

7654-458: Was the first vice president to have a Secret Service agent assigned to him. Truman envisioned the office as a liaison between the Senate and the president. On April 10, 1945, Truman cast his only tie-breaking vote as president of the Senate, against a Robert A. Taft amendment that would have blocked the postwar delivery of Lend-Lease Act items contracted for during the war. Roosevelt rarely contacted him, even to inform him of major decisions;

7743-427: Was the intemperant "give 'em hell" campaign style nor the occasional profane phrase uttered in public. Poker exemplified a larger problem: the tension between his attempts at an image of leadership necessarily a cut above the ordinary and an informality that at times appeared to verge on crudeness. On his first full day, Truman told reporters: "Boys, if you ever pray, pray for me now. I don't know if you fellas ever had

7832-534: Was uninformed about major initiatives relating to the war and the top-secret Manhattan Project , which was about to test the world's first atomic bomb. In an event that generated negative publicity for Truman, he was photographed with actress Lauren Bacall sitting atop the piano at the National Press Club as he played for soldiers. Truman had been vice president for 82 days when President Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945. Truman, presiding over

7921-407: Was very close. As president, he solicited political as well as personal advice from her. Truman learned to play the piano at age seven and took lessons from Mrs. E.C. White, a well-respected teacher in Kansas City . He got up at five o'clock every morning to practice the piano, which he studied more than twice a week until he was fifteen, becoming quite a skilled player. Truman worked as a page at

#469530