Presidency of Harry S. Truman

Historical Context Note

Lucas Paul Richert (University of Saskatchewan)
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On 12 April, Vice-president Harry S. Truman became president of the United States following the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The next few months required tremendous energy and Truman demonstrated that he possessed political acumen, a formidable personality, and a willingness to take difficult wartime decisions. In May, Germany unconditionally surrendered. In July, Truman met Churchill and Stalin at the Potsdam Conference. In August and then September, Truman opted to drop newly developed atomic bombs on key Japanese cities to force an end to the war in the Pacific. Following the cessation of hostilities between Japan and the United States, Truman was forced to address the issue of Soviet expansionism and European poverty. Thereafter, Truman announced that the United States would…

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Citation: Richert, Lucas Paul. "Presidency of Harry S. Truman". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 October 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=497, accessed 19 March 2024.]

497 Presidency of Harry S. Truman 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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