What are your thoughts about Harry S. Truman? The more I read, the more I realize how he influences our life..

Question

Comments about Harry S. Truman? I was just reading about him.
1. He used the A-bomb on Japan, ending WWII.
2. He pushed for the hydrogen bomb after that.
3. The United Nations and NATO were created during his term.
4. Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947 and reorganized military forces by creating the Department of Defense, the CIA, U.S. Air Force (separate from the U.S. Army Air Forces), and the National Security Council.
5. Truman, who had been a supporter of the Zionist movement as early as 1939, was a key figure in the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine.
6. Truman recognized the State of Israel 11 minutes after it declared itself a nation on May 14, 1948

Doesn't it feel like we're now struggling with most of what he created?

Answer 1

Yes, but there are many things in history that people now would have problems with. If you were in his place what would you do. We were not the only country trying to event the atom bomb or nuclear weapons. We were the only country that proved we had it and used it. Germany was doing the same at the time. How about if we did not use it and Germany was the one that used it on say us or England. The world would not be the same we would be under Hitler rule could you live with that. Would we struggle under that. The atom bomb also kept Russia or the Soviet Union under check and how about if we did not have it maybe Soviet Union would still be here and we and all the other nations would be under their thumbs. With the Middle East there has always been fighting there and always will. No one wanted the Jews after WWII. We started that country we have an ally that will never fell because we have supported them. Truman signing the National Security Act was just smart. There is an old saying Hind sight is 20/ 20. We could be under rule by many people and many more people died because of it. It is like throwing a pebble in water it is not the pebble you really have to worry about it is the ripples.

Answer 2

I am a republican but do acknowledge that Truman was a great President. If he had not dropped the A Bomb on Japan then millions of American and Japanease lives would have been lost and the war would have last another 10 years or more, I mean come on we had to drop two bombs on Japan before they surrenedered now think of how long a land war would have taken. Truman also stated that Communism was a bankrupt system and that if left alone it will end up ruining itself economically, which it ended up doing. Why do you think there is trouble with recognizing Israel as a nation? From what I see over there it is the Arab nations not Israel causing all the trouble, that land was promised to the Jewish people thousands of years ago and they were moved out by the Romans all England was doing was restoring a state for the Israeli people. If Syria and Iran and all the other Arab nations are so worried about the Palestinians then why dont they cut off a slither of their land for a nation for them. The National Security Act was an ingenious bill to sign it led to us being the strongest military in the world and we needed an intelligence agency hence the CIA was formed. I do not agree with the United Nations I feel they are counterproductive and always have been but NATO was integral during the Cold War as the USSR had the Warsaw Pact with its allies so NATO kept them in check. Basically I do not know what you find wrong with Truman.

Answer 3

Mostly, I think he was a tool of others. When he became President, he didn't even know we had an atomic program. He changed the status of the VP to make them more aware of the real State of the Union, and to receive the PDBs.

The UN and NATO were in the works before he ever came along. Look back to The Great War and the League of Nations for the inspiration for UN, Nato was a British invention USA signed onto to stem the advance of Communism.

I am unsure of your statement about statement 5, you might want to examine the Balfour declaration, made before Truman.

No, this struggle precedes Truman, either to the Great War or possibly even the Crusades.

He was my distant cousin.

His successor in the White House, General Eisenhower, shortly before leaving the office of the Presidency, warned to beware of the military industrial complex.

Truman is probably more of a patsy that an operator.

Answer 4

Truman was a great President. He was a true man of the people. He cut down on govt. corruption. He did make some mistakes. Getting the Russians involved in the Pacific theatre in WW2 for one.

Much of the items you list would have been done by anyone in his position. The use of the bomb against Japan saved countless lives.
Estimates at the time said it would cost 1 million us soldiers to invade the Japanese mainland. If we hadn't developed the H bomb the russians would have. The U.N. and NATO are good things. Supporting Israel would have been American policy no matter who the president was.

Probably his biggest mistake was not letting MacArthur bomb the bridges into China during the Korean War. By settling for a stalemate we ended up with our current situation in the Koreas. In reality that is related to the entrance of the Russians into Manchuria during the last days of WW 2.

I don't think you can blame him for the current state of the world.

Answer 5

Truman was a good and simple man who became president on the death of Roosevelt and won re-election.

He was right to use the A-Bomb. He was right to insist we develop the H-Bomb.

He correctly signed the National Security Act which recognized the working organization that helped us win World War II.

He correctly supported the creation of Israel.

I am a life-long Republican, and I have tremendous respect for Truman, who was a life-long Democrat.

He didn't create most of the things you allude to, but he did take the correct approach to the issues surrounding them.

Incidentally, I was 4 years old when he became president and 11 when he left office.

I remember him very well.

Answer 6

'Truman, who had been a supporter of the Zionist movement as early as 1939, was a key figure in the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine'... I think you answered your own question

Answer 7

He's one of the greatest presidents ever. He's not the smartest but has done a marvellous job.