Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman
Thirty-Third President
Served April 12, 1945 – January 20, 1953
Party: Democratic

Born: May 8, 1884 in Lamar, Missouri
Died: December 26, 1972 in Kansas City, Missouri
Favorite Rejected Name for Atomic Bomb: Boom-Boom McWilly

Despite his diminutive size, Harry S. Truman was one of the most feared presidents ever. He was constantly teased by the other children in Independence, Missouri for not having a middle name, only an initial. They called him by the names the “S” must have stood for including Slendernose, Sluglover, and Sophomore-Jim. They weren’t very creative kids. Unable to fight back due to his wimpy frame, a burning searing anger kindled up inside Truman right below his unassuming features.

His anger temporarily showed through when a soldier in World War I. The commander of an artillery regiment in France, Truman preferred to kill Germans with his own hands, his glasses glinting in the European sun, daring the unfortunate German to call him a name beginning with the letter S.

Back in the States, Truman quickly ascended the political ladder by first becoming a county judge and then a US Senator from the state of Missouri, then President Franklin Roosevelt’s Vice President in 1944. Truman was only Vice President 82 days when President Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945. The official story has been that Roosevelt suffered from a cerebral hemorrhage, but sources having access to still-classified autopsy photos say there are multiple bruises consistent with his wheelchair being pushed down a flight of stairs. Truman was said to have been furious the day he found out Roosevelt a cripple.

By the time Truman became president, World War II had ended in Europe, but still raged in the Pacific. Truman was faced with the prospect of an invasion of mainland Japan and numerous casualties. A message was sent to Japan demanding surrender. The message returned sent Truman into a burning searing anger. It read: “Shodaku shimasu.”

Two hours later Hiroshima lay in ruins, the victim of the first atomic bomb.

Preceded by Franklin D. Roosevelt
Succeeded by Dwight D. Eisenhower