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Harry S. Truman, 1884-1972
This portrait was painted just after Harry Truman became president following Franklin Roosevelt's death on April 12, 1945. It was an unlikely ascension, and in many ways Truman seemed unprepared for the job. He had risen to the Senate owing largely to his ability to get along and go along with with Democratic interests. Roosevelt had chosen Truman to replace incumbent Vice President Henry Wallace because he was reliable and middle-of-the-road. On hearing of FDR's death, Truman said that he felt like "the moon, and the stars and all the planets" had fallen on him, but he resolved to do his best. In the summer of 1945, he faced the daunting task of ending the war in the Pacific and negotiating with an increasingly belligerent Soviet Union. Facing Soviet expansionism, he crafted the Marshall Plan, the strategy that helped rebuild war-torn Europe. In office, Harry Truman demonstrated a pragmatic flexibility the earned him the respect of both his contemporaries and historians.
Jay Wesley Jacobs, 1945 |