Harry Truman: A Presidency of Courage and Principle
F 2020

Description

Harry Truman was an accidental president.  He succeeded one of the most powerful and effective presidents in the middle of a war.  He integrated the armed forces, dealt with the expansion of communism,  and won an upset election.  Truman’s story spans the rough world of the Missouri frontier,  World  War I, the powerful Pengergast machine of Kansas City, the legendary Whistle-stop campaign of 1948,  the decision to drop the atomic bomb, confronting Stalin at Potsdam, send troops to Korea and fire General MacArthur.  This ordinary man from Missouri was one of the most courageous presidents in history.

Weekly Topics

1.Sept. 2  Missouri days. Early years; World War I; Pendergast political machine; county judgeships; successes and failures; 1936 U.S. Senate race, Truman win.                                                                                                                                 

  

2.  Sept. 9  The Senate and beyond. First term: a learning experience; 1940 reelection; Truman’s path-breaking investigative committee; 1944 elections, vice- presidential victory, why Truman? Roosevelt’s death.                                                        

  

3. Sept 16  Wartime presidency. German surrender; Potsdam Conference, dividing up Europe; Stalin’s intransigence; Churchill’s reelection defeat; war end. 

 

4. Sept. 23  Early postwar strife. Nationwide labor disputes and strikes; inflation; draft striking R.R. workers? contentious foreign policy;1946 elections, Republican victory.                                                                                                             

 

5. Sept.  30  Civil Rights. World War II experience; executive orders for desegregation of armed services; Fair Employment Board; legislative and Attorney General initiatives; Southern Democratic opposition; impediment of congressional rules and procedures.                                                                                                                    

 

6. Oct.  7  Threatened communist expansion. Vulnerability of Greece, Turkey, W. Europe; the Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, early impact.                                                                                                                   

 

7.  Oct. 14  Two challenges: Middle East and Berlin. Initial support for Jewish state, White House—State Dept. dispute, apparent Truman flip-flop, U.S. recognition of new nation; Stalin’s blockade of Berlin, success of Berlin airlift.

 

 

8. Oct.  21  948 presidential campaign. Backdrop of domestic prosperity; Truman’s decision to run, Republican and Democratic strategies, exhausting race, Truman win.                                                                                                                

 

 

9. Oct.. 28. Civil liberties and the Red scare. Who lost China? subversion in State Department? McCarran Internal Security Act, Joe McCarthy era; spies; Alger Hiss.

                                                                                                                   

 

10. Nov. 4. Arms race. Soviets with A-bomb, controversial U.S. H-bomb development; alleged huge Soviet military superiority; rising defense budgets; establishment of NATO.                                                                                                             

   

11. Nov. 11  N. Korean invasion. Kim il-sung’s motivation, role of Mao and Stalin; Truman’s decision to intervene, U.N. role; blitzkrieg- like N. Korean advance.                                                                                    

 

12. . Nov 18  Truman and MacArthur. Early mutual distrust; MacArthur’s gamble on Inchon invasion, recovery of lost territory and more; Wake Island meeting, optimism.                                                                                                                        

 

13. . Nov. 25  Chinese intervention and stalemate. Threat of escalation and W.W III; Soviet role; fruitless peace negotiations; mounting casualties; MacArthur’s insubordination, firing.                                                                            

 

 

14.   . Dec. 2  Decision against second term. Public discord, steel mill crisis, domestic prosperity; 1952 elections, Eisenhower win; war end; Truman’s final years, legacy.


 


Bibliography

PRIMARY RESOURCE: 

David McCullough, Truman (Simon and Schuster, 1992). Pulitzer Prize winner.


BUT: There are so many other resources, that we will not follow a single book:

 

OTHER SOURCES INCLUDE:


Baime,  A.J.,  The Accidental President  (Mariner, 2017)

Baime. A.J.,    Dewey Defeats Truman (Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt, 2020)

Blum Howard:  Night of the Assassins. (Harper Collins, 2020)

Ferrell, Robert. Harry S. Truman: A Life (U. of Missouri Press, 1994).

Halberstam, David. The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War (Hyperion, 2007).

Hamby, Alonzo. Man of the People; A life of Harry S. Truman (Oxford U. Press, 1995).

Truman, Harry,  Mr. Citizen (Random House, 1953)

Truman, Margaret. Harry S. Truman (William Morrow, 1973).