American Experience (1988–…): Season 10, Episode 1 - Truman: Part I - full transcript

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Narrator:
IN 1944, A LITTLE-KNOWN SENATOR
FROM MISSOURI

WAS CAMPAIGNING FOR THE OFFICE
OF VICE-PRESIDENT.

NEW ORLEANS, HOUSTON, PORTLAND,
SEATTLE, BOSTON, NEW YORK CITY

WASHINGTON, PITTSBURGH,
ST. LOUIS.

HE CRISSCROSSED AMERICA.



ONE NIGHT,
IN HIS PRIVATE PULLMAN CAR

HE AWOKE IN A COLD SWEAT.

HE HAD DREAMED THAT
FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT HAD DIED

AND HE, HARRY TRUMAN, WAS
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

IN ALL HIS LIFE,
TRUMAN TOLD A REPORTER

HE HAD NEVER HAD SUCH
A TERRIFYING NIGHTMARE.

APRIL 12, 1945.

VICE-PRESIDENT HARRY S. TRUMAN
RECEIVED A CALL

URGING HIM TO COME QUICKLY
AND QUIETLY TO THE WHITE HOUSE.

AS HE RAN THROUGH THE CORRIDORS
OF THE CAPITOL

HE REFUSED TO FACE
WHAT LAY AHEAD.

"I THOUGHT I WAS GOING DOWN
THERE TO MEET THE PRESIDENT"

TRUMAN SAID LATER.

"I DIDN'T ALLOW MYSELF TO THINK
ANYTHING ELSE."



AT 5:25 P.M., TRUMAN ENTERED THE
FIRST LADY'S SECOND-FLOOR STUDY.

ELEANOR ROOSEVELT PUT HER ARM
AROUND HIS SHOULDER.

"HARRY," SHE TOLD HIM,
"THE PRESIDENT IS DEAD."

"IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN
DO FOR YOU?" TRUMAN ASKED.

"IS THERE ANYTHING WE CAN DO FOR
YOU?" MRS. ROOSEVELT REPLIED

"FOR YOU ARE THE ONE
IN TROUBLE NOW."

HE WAS ONLY
A HIGH-SCHOOL GRADUATE

A FARMER UNTIL HE WAS 33

A HABERDASHER
GONE BANKRUPT AT 38.

NO ONE IN WASHINGTON
HAD EVEN HEARD OF HARRY TRUMAN

BEFORE HE WAS 50.

NOW, AT 60, HE WAS PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES.

Man:
HERE WAS A LITTLE HABERDASHER
FROM MISSOURI...

A SMALL BUSINESSMAN.

FOR HIM TO STEP IN
THE SHOES OF THE GREAT F.D.R.

THERE WAS
AN ENORMOUS FEELING OF LETDOWN.

McCullough:
FOR MANY PEOPLE, IT WAS
AS IF THE PRESIDENCY HAD DIED

NOT JUST THE PRESIDENT.

PEOPLE WERE SHAKEN,
NOT JUST BY ROOSEVELT'S DEATH

BUT WHAT DID THIS MEAN
TO HAVE THIS UNKNOWN QUANTITY

STEP INTO SUCH A POWERFUL
AND IMPORTANT POSITION?

Narrator:
"IF HARRY TRUMAN
CAN BE PRESIDENT"

AMERICANS EVERYWHERE WERE SAYING

"SO COULD
MY NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBOR."

Truman:
OUR HEARTS ARE HEAVY.

THE CAUSE WHICH CLAIMED
ROOSEVELT ALSO CLAIMS US.

HE NEVER FALTERED, NOR WILL WE.

Man:
I FELT THAT THE MAN
WAS OUT OF HIS ELEMENT

AND I THINK MANY OTHER AMERICANS
EXPRESSED THE SAME FEAR:

"WE'VE GOT AN INCOMPETENT
THAT WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT

IN THE WHITE HOUSE."

IT WAS A FRIGHTENING THING
TO CONTEMPLATE.

Narrator:
OF ALL THE MEN
WHO HAD BEEN PRESIDENT

HE WAS ONE OF
THE LEAST PREPARED.

VICE-PRESIDENT FOR ONLY 82 DAYS

EXCLUDED FROM ROOSEVELT'S
INNER CIRCLE, HE KNEW NOTHING

ABOUT THE WAR RAGING ACROSS
THREE CONTINENTS AND TWO OCEANS

EXCEPT WHAT HE READ
IN THE PAPERS.

BUT WITHIN FOUR MONTHS

HARRY S. TRUMAN
WOULD HAVE AT HIS COMMAND

THE MOST TERRIBLE WEAPON
EVER DEVISED BY MAN

AND HE WOULD HAVE TO DECIDE
WHETHER OR NOT TO USE IT.

Narrator:
"NOW, HARRY, YOU BE GOOD"

MARTHA TRUMAN HAD TOLD
HER 11-YEAR-OLD SON.

AND HARRY TRUMAN
HAD WANTED TO BE GOOD.

HE DREAMED OF BECOMING
A CONCERT PIANIST

AND PRACTICED WITH THE SAME
DETERMINED, OPTIMISTIC SPIRIT

HIS PIONEER GRANDPARENTS
BROUGHT WITH THEM

WHEN THEY FIRST CAME WEST
TO MISSOURI.

BORN ON MAY 8, 1884, IN LAMAR

HARRY WAS SIX WHEN HIS FAMILY
SETTLED IN INDEPENDENCE

A TOWN STILL CLOSE

TO THE RUGGED LIFE
OF THE AMERICAN FRONTIER.

MEN CARRIED KNIVES OR GUNS.

FISTFIGHTS WERE COMMON.

INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI,
WAS NOT A PLACE

WHERE YOUNG BOYS
PLAYED THE PIANO.

Man:
HE'S THIS YOUNG KID
WHO LOOKS SORT OF LIKE A SISSY.

THERE'S A SURVIVING PICTURE
OF HIM

THAT WAS MADE AROUND THE TIME
HE WAS 11.

YOU SEE THIS KID WHO LOOKS SORT
OF LIKE LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY

DRESSED UP IN HIS SUNDAY BEST,
SORT OF PUDGY

WEARING THESE BIG, THICK GLASSES

IN A DAY
WHEN IT WAS VERY UNUSUAL

FOR A KID TO WEAR EYEGLASSES.

Narrator:
"THE POPULAR BOYS WERE THE ONES
WHO WERE GOOD AT GAMES

AND HAD BIG, TIGHT FISTS,"
TRUMAN REMEMBERED YEARS LATER.

"I WAS NEVER LIKE THAT.

"WITHOUT MY GLASSES
I WAS BLIND AS A BAT

"AND TO TELL THE TRUTH,
I WAS KIND OF A SISSY.

"IF THERE WAS ANY DANGER
OF GETTING INTO A FIGHT

I ALWAYS RAN."

BUT IN SPITE OF THE TEASING,
HARRY KEPT ON PLAYING THE PIANO.

ALL HIS LIFE,
HARRY TRUMAN WOULD SHOW

THE SAME DOGGED PERSEVERANCE.

McCullough:
THERE WAS THAT LITTLE BOY
UP EVERY MORNING AT 5:00

FOR TWO HOURS IN ABSOLUTE
EARNEST BEFORE GOING TO SCHOOL

SITTING THERE IN THE HALF-LIGHT

WORKING AWAY
AT MOZART OR CHOPIN.

Narrator:
IT WAS HARRY'S MOTHER WHO FIRST
URGED HIM TO PLAY THE PIANO

AND ENCOURAGED HIM TO PRACTICE.

"HARRY WAS THE SORT OF BOY,"
A FRIEND RECALLED

"WHO SEEMED TO DO
WHATEVER HIS MOTHER TOLD HIM."

THE DAUGHTER OF A PIONEER FARMER

MARTHA TRUMAN
HAD GONE TO COLLEGE

AND STUDIED MUSIC,
ART AND LITERATURE.

BEFORE HARRY WAS FIVE,
SHE SAT HIM ON HER LAP

AND TAUGHT HIM TO READ
FROM THE FAMILY BIBLE.

Man:
I THINK HARRY'S MOTHER

WANTED HIM TO BE
A REAL GENTLEMAN

AND DO THINGS JUST RIGHT.

SHE ACTUALLY BABIED HARRY
A GOOD DEAL

IF YOU WANT TO SAY IT THAT,
BUT SHE HAD NO OTHER CHOICE

BECAUSE HE COULDN'T DO THE ROUGH
AND TUMBLE WITH THE OTHER KIDS.

Narrator:
HARRY'S INTRODUCTION TO POLITICS
WAS ROWDY AND BOISTEROUS.

ELECTION DAY
AT THE END OF THE 19th CENTURY

WAS MARKED BY HIGH SPIRITS,
CAROUSING AND BRAWLS.

AND IN INDEPENDENCE,
HARRY'S FATHER, JOHN TRUMAN

WAS ALWAYS RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE
OF THE ACTION.

McCullough:
HIS FATHER WAS ABOUT FIVE FOOT
FOUR OR SO, BUT TOUGH.

HE WOULD FIGHT
AT THE DROP OF A HAT.

HE WOULD TAKE AFTER PEOPLE,
PARTICULARLY ON ELECTION DAY

AND ONCE WHEN A MAN
IN A COURTROOM

ACCUSED HIM OF BEING A LIAR

HE CHASED THE FELLOW
OUT INTO THE STREET

AND THREATENED TO BEAT HIM UP.

Narrator:
LIKE HARRY'S MOTHER, JOHN TRUMAN
ALSO CAME FROM PIONEER STOCK.

HE EARNED HIS LIVING
TRADING HORSES AND MULES.

"A FIERY FELLOW,"
PEOPLE SAID OF HIM.

"VERY STUBBORN,
BUT ON THE SQUARE.

"A MAN OF HIS INTEGRITY
AND INDUSTRY

YOU EXCUSE
A WHOLE LOT OF THINGS."

ALL HIS LIFE, HARRY WOULD TRY
TO EARN JOHN TRUMAN'S RESPECT.

McCullough:
ONCE HIS FATHER
GOT YOUNG HARRY A PONY

AND THE FATHER
WAS LEADING THE PONY

AND THE LITTLE BOY FELL OFF
THE PONY AND STARTED TO CRY.

AND THE FATHER SAID,
"ANY LITTLE BOY THAT CRIES

WHEN HE FALLS OFF THE PONY
HAS TO WALK HOME."

SO HE HAD TO WALK
ALL THE WAY BACK.

AND MRS. TRUMAN, HARRY'S MOTHER,
DIDN'T LIKE THAT AT ALL.

Narrator:
"MAMA THOUGHT I WAS BADLY
MISTREATED, BUT I WASN'T"

TRUMAN REMEMBERED.

"IN SPITE OF MY CRYING
ALL THE WAY HOME

I LEARNED A LESSON."

HARRY LEARNED THAT A MAN
KEPT TRYING UNTIL HE SUCCEEDED;

THAT A MAN NEVER ADMITTED
HE WAS AFRAID;

THAT A MAN HAD TO SPEAK BLUNTLY
AND BE PREPARED TO FIGHT.

BUT NO MATTER HOW HARD HE TRIED

HARRY COULD NEVER QUITE
MEASURE UP.

Hamby:
MY OWN IMPRESSION IS

THAT HE REALLY WANTED
TO RELATE TO HIS FATHER.

HE FELT THAT THEIR RELATIONSHIP
WAS NOT AS GOOD

AS IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN.

IT WAS NOT AS CLOSE
AS IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN.

Narrator:
HARRY WAS NOT
HIS FATHER'S FAVORITE.

HIS YOUNGER BROTHER
JOHN VIVIAN WAS.

JOHN VIVIAN SHARED
HIS FATHER'S INTEREST

IN TRADING HORSES AND MULES.

HARRY PREFERRED TO READ.

HARRY WAS ONE OF THE FEW BOYS
IN TOWN WHO WENT TO HIGH SCHOOL.

MOST OF THE STUDENTS
IN HIS CLASS WERE GIRLS.

HE SPENT HIS SPARE TIME
GOING TO CONCERTS

WHEN HE WASN'T DEVOURING BOOKS.

McCullough:
HE CLAIMED TO HAVE READ EVERY
BOOK IN THE LITTLE TOWN LIBRARY.

HE PARTICULARLY LIKED
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY...

GEORGE WASHINGTON, ANDREW
JACKSON AND ROBERT E. LEE.

THEY WERE HIS HEROES AND
HE WANTED TO BE LIKE THEY WERE.

Narrator:
EVERYTHING HE LEARNED
REINFORCED HIS NATIVE OPTIMISM

AND TAUGHT HIM TO ADMIRE THE
SIMPLE OLD-FASHIONED VIRTUES.

"A TRUE HEART, A STRONG MIND
AND A GREAT DEAL OF COURAGE"

HE WROTE IN A SCHOOL COMPOSITION

"AND I THINK A MAN
WILL GET THROUGH THE WORLD."

McCullough:
TRUMAN GREW UP IN A TOWN

WHERE THERE WERE CERTAIN
STANDARDS OF BEHAVIOR.

SELFISHNESS IS NOT TOLERATED.

HYPOCRISY IS DETESTED.

YOU WERE PUT DOWN
IF YOU STARTED ACTING

A LITTLE TOO BIG
FOR YOUR BRITCHES

AND YOU JUDGE PEOPLE BY THE WORK
THEY DO... DOING A GOOD JOB.

"INDEPENDENCE," HARRY SAID

"WAS A PLACE WHERE RIGHT
WAS RIGHT AND WRONG WAS WRONG

AND YOU DIDN'T
HAVE TO TALK ABOUT IT."

THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE, TRUMAN
WOULD IDEALIZE HIS HOMETOWN.

BUT INDEPENDENCE
WAS ALSO A PLACE

WHERE CATHOLICS AND JEWS
WERE NOT TO BE TRUSTED

ITALIANS AND IRISH
NOT TO BE HIRED.

BLACKS LIVED IN A CLUSTER
OF SHACKS CALLED "NIGGER NECK."

McCullough:
INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI,
WAS MORE LIKE THE SOUTH

THAN IT WAS LIKE THE MIDWEST.

IT WAS A JIM CROW TOWN.

WHEN THE CIVIL WAR VETERANS

GATHERED ON THE TOWN SQUARE
FOR REUNIONS

THEY WERE CONFEDERATE VETERANS.

AND TRUMAN GREW UP IN A FAMILY
WHERE RACIAL SLURS WERE USED

WHERE OLD HABITS OF THE MIND
AND THE MOUTH PREVAILED.

HARRY'S GRANDMOTHER ESPECIALLY
JUST HATED ABE LINCOLN.

HARRY'S MOTHER DIDN'T FEEL VERY
GOOD ABOUT ABE LINCOLN EITHER.

HER BIG HERO WAS ROBERT E. LEE.

AND YOU GET THE IMPRESSION

FROM WHAT YOU LEARN ABOUT
TRUMAN'S MOTHER THAT, UH...

SHE THOUGHT JOHN WILKES BOOTH
WAS A GREAT MAN.

Narrator:
HARRY BEGAN LIFE WITH
ALL THE PREJUDICES OF HIS FAMILY

AND MOST OF HIS FRIENDS
AND NEIGHBORS.

THE BEST AND WORST
OF SMALL-TOWN AMERICA

HELPED SHAPE
HIS MORAL IMAGINATION.

IN 1900, HARRY
AND HIS FATHER WENT

TO THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL
CONVENTION IN KANSAS CITY.

JOHN TRUMAN WAS
A LIFELONG DEMOCRAT

WHO PASSED HIS STAUNCH PARTY
CONVICTIONS ALONG TO HIS SON.

IT WAS THE 16-YEAR-OLD BOY'S
FIRST TASTE OF NATIONAL POLITICS

AND HE LOVED IT.

THE CROWDS, THE HOOPLA,
AND AS THE NEW CENTURY BEGAN

THE SPIRIT OF OPTIMISM
THAT FILLED THE AIR...

THE DREAMS OF BETTER
AND BETTER TIMES AHEAD.

JOHN TRUMAN HAD HIS OWN DREAMS.

FIERCELY AMBITIOUS, ALWAYS
ATTRACTED TO THE BIG SCORE

HE BEGAN SPECULATING
IN GRAIN FUTURES.

Hamby:
HE WANTED TO GET RICH.

HE THOUGHT YOU HAD TO WORK HARD.

HE WAS AN ENORMOUSLY HARD WORKER

BUT HE THOUGHT THAT YOU NEEDED
SOME LUCK IN ORDER TO GET RICH.

AND HE BET THE FAMILY SAVINGS

AND INDEED EVENTUALLY
THE FAMILY HOME IN INDEPENDENCE

ON THE GRAIN MARKETS.

Narrator:
"YOUTH, THE HOPE OF THE WORLD"

READ THE LATIN SLOGAN
ABOVE THE HEADS

OF HARRY TRUMAN'S 1901
HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATING CLASS.

BUT NOW, AT 17, HARRY'S
OWN HOPES WERE SHATTERED.

HE HAD WANTED TO GO TO COLLEGE

BUT HIS FATHER'S GAMBLE ON THE
GRAIN MARKETS PROVED DISASTROUS

AND THE TRUMANS LOST
EVERYTHING THEY OWNED.

BUT HARRY NEVER COMPLAINED
ABOUT HIS LUCK.

HE NEVER WOULD.

DETERMINED TO HELP
SUPPORT HIS FAMILY

HE HEADED FOR
NEARBY KANSAS CITY.

FOR A 17-YEAR-OLD BOY
JUST STARTING OUT IN LIFE

KANSAS CITY WAS BRIMMING
WITH POSSIBILITIES.

McCullough:
IT'S A BIG, ROUGH, BOISTEROUS,
OVERGROWN COW TOWN.

IT'S GOT EVERYTHING, INCLUDING
LOTS OF OPPORTUNITY FOR SIN

IF THAT'S WHAT YOU WANTED.

PROSTITUTION, GAMBLING AND WIDE
OPEN ALL-NIGHT HELL RAISING.

TO WHAT EXTENT
HARRY EXPERIENCED ANY OF THAT

WE'LL NEVER KNOW.

MY SUSPICION IS NOT AT ALL.

HE WAS A GOOD BOY.

Babcock:
HARRY WAS A NICE GUY AND HIS
MOTHER HAD RAISED HIM VERY WELL.

I DON'T THINK HE WAS ABOUT TO
GET INTO TROUBLE IN KANSAS CITY

EVEN THOUGH A LOT OF PEOPLE DID
IN THOSE DAYS, YOU KNOW.

HARRY DIDN'T HAVE A LOT OF
MONEY, SO HE WORKED ALL THE TIME

SO HE COULDN'T GET
INTO VERY MUCH TROUBLE THAT WAY

BECAUSE HIS TIME
WAS SPENT WORKING.

Narrator:
MAILROOM BOY FOR A NEWSPAPER...

TIMEKEEPER FOR A RAILROAD
CONSTRUCTION COMPANY...

BANK CLERK.

HARRY TOOK WHAT JOBS CAME HIS
WAY AND MADE THE MOST OF THEM.

"KANSAS CITY," HARRY REPORTED,
"WAS A PLACE WITH THINGS DOING."

HE WENT TO CONCERTS,
THEATER AND VAUDEVILLE

SAW THE FOUR COHANS
AND SARAH BERNHARDT.

ONCE HE HEARD
THEODORE ROOSEVELT SPEAK

FROM THE BACK OF A RAILROAD CAR.

"THE PRESIDENT," HARRY THOUGHT

"APPEARED TO BE
SURPRISINGLY SHORT."

HE JOINED THE NATIONAL GUARD

AND ENJOYED THE COMPANY
OF OTHER YOUNG MEN.

WOMEN, THOUGH,
WERE ANOTHER MATTER.

"I WAS ALWAYS AFRAID OF GIRLS,"
HE ONCE WROTE.

AFTER FOUR YEARS

HARRY WAS DRAWING A GOOD SALARY
AS A BANK CLERK

AND FINDING NEW FRIENDS.

HE WAS 21 YEARS OLD

JUST BEGINNING TO MAKE
A LIFE FOR HIMSELF

WHEN, ONCE AGAIN, HIS FATHER
THWARTED HIS AMBITIONS.

DOWN ON HIS LUCK, JOHN TRUMAN
HAD BEEN FORCED TO SELL

HIS HOUSE, ALL HIS LIVESTOCK

AND HAD EVEN TAKEN A JOB
AS A NIGHT WATCHMAN.

HE SAW HIS CHANCE
TO GET BACK ON HIS FEET

WHEN HIS WIFE'S MOTHER ASKED HIM
TO TAKE OVER THE FAMILY FARM

15 MILES SOUTH OF INDEPENDENCE.

BUT HE KNEW HE COULDN'T RUN
THE HUGE 600-ACRE FARM

WITHOUT THE HELP
OF BOTH HIS SONS.

HE TOLD HARRY TO QUIT HIS JOB
AND COME HOME.

AGAIN, WITHOUT COMPLAINT,
HARRY DID AS HE WAS TOLD.

Babcock:
I DON'T THINK HE WAS
BY NATURE A FARMER.

I THINK HE LIKED PEOPLE BETTER,
SO IT WAS TOUGH ON HIM.

HE DIDN'T WANT
TO DO IT, I'M SURE.

McCullough:
IT WAS HARD WORK...
HARD, HARD WORK...

AND BLISTERING HEAT IN THE
SUMMERTIME IN WESTERN MISSOURI

AND COLD, COLD WINTERS WHERE
THE WHOLE LANDSCAPE TURNED IRON.

AND HE'D NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE,
THIS WAS NEW TO HIM.

HE'D GROWN UP IN TOWN,
HE'D GONE TO WORK IN THE BANK.

HE'D HAD CLERKS' JOBS;
HE LOOKED LIKE A CLERK.

Hamby:
HE REMEMBERED IN LATER YEARS

THE FRIENDS WHO TOLD HIM
HE WOULDN'T LAST SIX MONTHS

AND HE'D BE BACK AT WORK
AT THE BANK.

Narrator:
JOHN TRUMAN WAS
A STERN TASKMASTER.

"IF A CROOKED ROW
OR A BLANK SPACE SHOWED

IN THE CORNFIELD OR WHEAT,"
HARRY REMEMBERED

"I'D HEAR ABOUT IT FOR A YEAR."

Hamby:
HE'S WORKING FOR HIS FATHER

AND WORKING FOR JOHN TRUMAN
WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN EASY.

BUT HE WAS DETERMINED
TO PROVE HE COULD DO IT.

I THINK HE WAS
STILL DISSATISFIED

WITH HIS RELATIONSHIP
WITH HIS FATHER

AND THOUGHT THAT MAYBE

THIS WAS HIS LAST OPPORTUNITY
TO REPAIR IT.

Narrator:
FOR NEARLY EIGHT YEARS, HARRY
WORKED AT HIS FATHER'S SIDE.

"WE WERE REAL PARTNERS,"
HARRY REMEMBERED.

"HE THOUGHT I WAS ABOUT RIGHT.

I KNEW HE WAS."

"DEAR BESSIE, I'VE BEEN
SOWING OATS ALL WEEK

"AND HAULED ABOUT
SIX TONS OF HAY YESTERDAY.

"YOU KNOW, THE WIND BLEW
SOMETHING FIERCE

"LAST TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY

"AND THE SUN
ALSO HAD SOME EFFECT.

BETWEEN THEM,
I LOOK LIKE RAW BEEF."

TO ESCAPE THE DRUDGERY
OF HIS DAILY LIFE

HARRY STOLE TIME TO WRITE

A YOUNG WOMAN FROM
HIS HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATING CLASS

ELIZABETH WALLACE... "BESS."

Woman:
THE STORY HE TELLS

THEY WERE
IN SUNDAY SCHOOL TOGETHER

WHEN THEY WERE SIX YEARS OLD.

THERE WAS A YEAR'S DIFFERENCE
IN THEIR AGE

AND HE, FROM THAT MOMENT ON,
HE THOUGHT OF NO ONE ELSE

BUT THAT BLUE-EYED,
GOLDEN-HAIRED LITTLE GIRL.

Narrator:
IT TOOK FIVE YEARS, HARRY SAID

BEFORE HE COULD SUMMON THE
COURAGE EVEN TO TALK TO HER.

HE WOULD REMAIN IN AWE OF BESS
FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE.

BESS WAS POPULAR, OUTGOING
AND A GREAT ATHLETE

A SUPERB TENNIS PLAYER,
THE BEST FEMALE FENCER IN TOWN

AND A TERRIFIC THIRD BASEMAN.

Gentry:
SHE BELONGED TO A SPECIAL FAMILY
IN INDEPENDENCE...

A FAMILY THAT WAS PROMINENT
AND RECOGNIZED.

AND, OF COURSE, HARRY CAME...
WAS FROM A FARM FAMILY.

McCullough:
BESS WALLACE AND
HER FAMILY LIVED

IN ONE OF THE BIGGEST HOUSES
IN INDEPENDENCE.

THEY HAD A SERVANT
TO WAIT ON THE TABLE.

THERE WERE LACE CURTAINS
IN THE WINDOWS

AND BRUSSELS CARPETS
ON THE FLOOR.

AND YOU WALKED UP THOSE STEPS
ONTO THE WALLACE FRONT PORCH

AND YOU RANG THE DOORBELL

AND WHEN YOU CROSSED
THE THRESHOLD INTO THAT HOUSE

IF YOU WERE HARRY TRUMAN

YOU WERE STEPPING
INTO A DIFFERENT WORLD

WHERE PEOPLE DIDN'T WORK
WITH THEIR HANDS;

WHERE, TO ALL
THAT HE KNEW, AT LEAST

THEY HAD NO SUCH THING
AS DEBT OR WORRY

OR CONCERN ABOUT WEATHER
AND INSECTS AND ALL THE...

ALL THE BURDENS OF FARM LIFE.

AND HE COURTED HER
WITH A DETERMINATION

THAT IS VERY EXPRESSIVE
OF THE KIND OF MAN HE WAS.

IT WAS HIS FIRST CAMPAIGN,
AND HE DIDN'T GIVE UP.

Narrator:
HE WROTE HER LETTER
AFTER LETTER, DAY AFTER DAY.

"DEAR BESSIE, I DON'T CARE
WHAT KIND OF PAPER YOU WRITE ON.

"I SHOULD BE JUST AS PLEASED
TO GET A LETTER FROM YOU

ON WRAPPING PAPER..."

"DEAR BESSIE, YOU CERTAINLY DID
WRITE ME ONE FINE LETTER.

"PUT THE EMPHASIS
ON 'FINE' NOT ON 'ONE'

BECAUSE THEY'RE ALL FINE."

"DEAR BESS, I SHALL SURE BE GLAD

"TO GO TO SALISBURY'S
FOR DINNER SUNDAY

BUT DON'T THINK I'M A TERRIBLE
TIGHTWAD IF WE WALK."

HARRY WAS IN LOVE,
BUT BESS HELD HERSELF ALOOF.

Gentry:
SHE HAD LOTS OF BEAUX

AND HER MOTHER ALWAYS THOUGHT...

SO I'M TOLD...

THAT BESS COULD DO BETTER
THAN HARRY, A FARM BOY.

I ONCE ASKED MAY WALLACE,
HARRY TRUMAN'S SISTER-IN-LAW

IF IT WAS TRUE
THAT MRS. WALLACE...

HER MOTHER-IN-LAW,
MADGE WALLACE...

DIDN'T THINK THAT
HARRY WAS GOOD ENOUGH FOR BESS.

AND SHE SAID,
"OH, YES, THAT'S RIGHT.

"SHE DIDN'T THINK
HARRY WAS GOOD ENOUGH FOR BESS.

BUT SHE DIDN'T THINK ANYONE
WAS GOOD ENOUGH FOR BESS."

Narrator:
MADGE WALLACE WOULD NEVER THINK
HARRY WAS GOOD ENOUGH.

ONCE A BEAUTIFUL GIRL
FROM A MUCH-ADMIRED FAMILY

SHE HAD BECOME A RECLUSIVE,
TROUBLED WOMAN

GROWN MORE AND MORE DEPENDENT
ON HER ONLY DAUGHTER

EVER SINCE THE TRAGIC DEATH
OF HER HUSBAND.

Hamby:
PRECISELY WHY DAVID WALLACE
GOT UP VERY EARLY ONE MORNING

CLIMBED INTO THE FAMILY BATHTUB

PUT A GUN TO HIS HEAD
AND PULLED THE TRIGGER

WE DON'T REALLY KNOW.

SOME ACCOUNTS HAVE IT
HE WAS DEPRESSED

BECAUSE HE WAS HEAVILY IN DEBT

BUT WHY WOULD
SUCH A FINE MAN DO THIS?

McCullough:
BESS'S FATHER WAS AN EXTREMELY
POPULAR, CHARMING MAN

WHO OFTEN RODE THE HORSE
AT THE HEAD OF POLITICAL PARADES

BUT HE WAS AN ALCOHOLIC

AND LIKE THE CHARACTER
IN THE POEM, RICHARD COREY

HE WENT HOME ONE NIGHT AND PUT
A BULLET THROUGH HIS HEAD.

AND HIS WIFE, BESS'S MOTHER,
CAME APART.

SHE NEVER WAS ABLE
TO COPE AGAIN.

Narrator:
HER HUSBAND'S SUICIDE
SCANDALIZED THE SMALL TOWN.

"MADGE WALLACE BECAME," SOMEONE
SAID, "A PRISONER OF SHAME."

Hamby:
IT CAST A PALL
OVER THE REST OF HER LIFE.

MRS. WALLACE GAVE BESS
THE IMPRESSION

THAT IT WAS BESS'S DUTY
TO TAKE CARE OF HER.

HER MOTHER BECAME
VERY RELIANT ON HER.

Narrator:
BESS WAS JUST 18.

A NEIGHBOR REMEMBERED HOW

IN THE HOURS IMMEDIATELY
FOLLOWING HER FATHER'S SUICIDE

BESS WAS WALKING UP AND DOWN
IN BACK OF THE HOUSE

WITH CLENCHED FISTS.

"DEAR BESSIE,
I CERTAINLY ENJOYED MYSELF

"THE EVENING I WAS THERE

"AND YOU MAY BE ASSURED
THAT I SHALL REPEAT THE OFFENSE

"AS OFTEN AS I CAN,
OR YOU WILL ALLOW ME.

"THE CAKE AND COFFEE
COULDN'T BE BEAT.

THERE'S NOTHING BETTER
THAN CAKE, BUT MORE CAKE."

BESS WAS 25 WHEN HARRY
FIRST BEGAN TO COURT HER.

SHE WAS A YOUNG WOMAN
ON THE VERGE OF SPINSTERHOOD

THE BONDS FORGED
BY MATERNAL NEED AND FILIAL DUTY

DRAWING EVER MORE TIGHTLY
AROUND HER.

BUT HARRY IDOLIZED HER.

ALL THROUGH ELEMENTARY
AND HIGH SCHOOL

HE HAD SHYLY LOVED HER
FROM AFAR.

EVEN AS A YOUNG MAN
IN KANSAS CITY

HE HAD DREAMED
ALWAYS AND ONLY OF BESS.

NOW HE WAS 26 AND HE HAD
NEVER HAD A GIRLFRIEND.

Hamby:
TRUMAN, FROM THE TIME
HE WAS A KID

HAD ALWAYS BEEN SOMEWHAT UNEASY
WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX.

MAYBE BESS'S DISTANCE
AND HIS IDEALIZATION OF HER

PROVIDED AN EXCUSE FOR NOT
GETTING INVOLVED WITH WOMEN

FOR... FOR A LONG TIME.

HE'S BEEN HOOKED ON THIS WOMAN

EVER SINCE HE MET HER
AT THE AGE OF FIVE.

AND HE HAS NEVER BEEN ABLE
TO GET INTERESTED

IN ANY OTHER WOMEN SINCE.

Narrator:
HARRY SAW BESS WHENEVER
HE COULD, NEARLY EVERY SUNDAY.

THEY ENJOYED CONCERTS, PLAYS AND
CONTINUED TO EXCHANGE LETTERS.

"DEAR BESSIE,
YOU MAY BE VERY, VERY SURE

"THAT YOUR LETTERS
CANNOT POSSIBLY COME

TOO OFTEN
OR TOO REGULAR FOR ME."

"DEAR BESSIE, MY VOICE
IS SOMEWHAT WEARY

"FROM YELLING AT THE HORSES.

"PLEASE WRITE ME
WHEN YOU HAVE THE TIME

AS I ENJOY YOUR LETTERS
VERY MUCH."

FINALLY HARRY DREW UP
HIS COURAGE AND PROPOSED...

IN A LETTER.

"DEAR BESSIE,
YOU MAY NOT HAVE GUESSED IT

"BUT I'VE BEEN CRAZY ABOUT YOU

"EVER SINCE WE WENT
TO SUNDAY SCHOOL TOGETHER.

"BUT I NEVER HAD THE NERVE
TO THINK YOU'D EVEN LOOK AT ME.

"I DON'T THINK SO NOW

"BUT I CAN'T HELP FROM TELLING
YOU WHAT I THINK OF YOU.

"WERE I AN ITALIAN OR A POET

"I WOULD USE ALL THE LUSCIOUS
LANGUAGE OF TWO CONTINENTS.

"I AM NOT EITHER

"BUT ONLY A KIND OF GOOD-
FOR-NOTHING AMERICAN FARMER.

"IF YOU TURN ME DOWN, I'LL NOT
BE THOROUGHLY DISAPPOINTED

"FOR IT'S NO MORE THAN I EXPECT.

"PLEASE WRITE AS SOON
AS YOU FEEL THAT WAY.

"THE SOONER,
THE BETTER PLEASED I AM.

MORE THAN SINCERELY, HARRY."

IT TOOK BESS
THREE WEEKS TO RESPOND.

SHE REFUSED,
AND HARRY WROTE TO THANK HER

FOR NOT RIDICULING HIM.

"YOU KNOW, YOU TURNED
ME DOWN SO EASY

"I AM ALMOST HAPPY ANYWAY.

"I WAS NEVER FOOL ENOUGH
TO THINK THAT A GIRL LIKE YOU

COULD EVER CARE
FOR A FELLOW LIKE ME."

BUT HARRY WOULDN'T GIVE UP.

HE BOUGHT A SECONDHAND
STAFFORD TOURING CAR

TO TAKE BESS COURTING.

WHEN HE LEARNED
THAT SHE LIKE TENNIS

HARRY BUILT HER A GRASS TENNIS
COURT OUT BEHIND THE FARMHOUSE

AND THREW A TENNIS PARTY
IN HER HONOR.

SHE DIDN'T COME.

"I REALLY WORKED ALL SUNDAY

GETTING THAT COURT
READY FOR YOU," HE WROTE HER.

"WE ALSO HAD A SUPPLY
OF WATERMELONS ON HAND.

"BUT YOU CAN MAKE IT
SOME SATURDAY

AND MAMA SAYS YOU MUST
COME TO DINNER NEXT TIME."

McCullough:
PERSISTENCE IS A VERY STRONG
THEME IN HARRY TRUMAN.

HE DOESN'T GIVE UP VERY EASILY.

HE REALLY SET HIS MIND
THAT BESS WAS THE ONE

AND SHE ALWAYS WOULD BE...
NEVER ANY VARIATION IN THAT.

HE JUST KEPT AT IT.

Narrator:
TWO YEARS
AFTER SHE TURNED HIM DOWN

BESS BEGAN TO CHANGE HER MIND.

SHE TOLD HARRY THAT IF SHE EVER
MARRIED ANYONE, IT WOULD BE HIM.

"DEAR BESS, IT DOESN'T SEEM REAL
THAT YOU SHOULD CARE FOR ME.

"I'VE ALWAYS THOUGHT
THAT THE BEST MAN IN THE WORLD

"IS HARDLY GOOD ENOUGH
FOR ANY WOMAN

"BUT WHEN IT COMES TO THE BEST
GIRL IN ALL THE UNIVERSE

"CARING FOR
AN ORDINARY GINK LIKE ME

"WELL, YOU JUST HAVE
TO LET ME GET USED TO IT.

I'M ALL PUFFED UP
AND HILARIOUS AND HAPPY."

BUT BESS WOULD NEVER
MARRY A FARMER.

THE FARM WAS $12,000 IN DEBT

AND HARRY WAS STILL
WORKING FOR HIS FATHER.

THEN IN 1914, JOHN TRUMAN

STRAINING TO REMOVE
A BOULDER FROM A ROAD

SEVERELY INJURED HIMSELF.

X-RAYS REVEALED A TUMOR
BLOCKING HIS INTESTINE.

DOCTORS RECOMMENDED SURGERY
BUT HELD OUT LITTLE HOPE.

THE OPERATION FAILED.

HARRY SAW HIS FATHER
GROW WEAKER AND WEAKER.

NEAR DEATH, THE WIRY,
ONCE-AMBITIOUS MAN

LOOKED BACK ON HIS LIFE.

"I HAVE BEEN," HE TOLD HIS SON,
"A FAILURE."

ON THE EVENING
OF NOVEMBER 2, 1914

HARRY RESTED
AT HIS FATHER'S BEDSIDE.

"I HAD BEEN SITTING WITH HIM,
AND WATCHING A LONG TIME"

TRUMAN SAID LATER.

"WHEN I WOKE UP, HE WAS DEAD."

YEARS LATER,
WHEN A WRITER ASKED TRUMAN

IF HIS FATHER HAD BEEN A FAILURE

HARRY TOLD HIM,
"HOW COULD HE BE A FAILURE

IF HIS SON BECAME
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES?"

Hamby:
THE DEATH OF JOHN TRUMAN
WAS A LIBERATION FOR HARRY.

ONCE HE GETS PAST
THE POINT OF GRIEF AND SHOCK

AT HIS FATHER'S DEATH

HE IS FINALLY FREE TO SET OUT
IN DIRECTIONS OF HIS OWN.

AND HE DECIDES PRETTY QUICKLY

THAT THOSE DIRECTIONS ARE GOING
TO BE AWAY FROM THE FARM.

Narrator:
AFTER HEARING TALES OF EASY
MONEY TO BE MADE IN OKLAHOMA

HARRY HEADED SOUTH.

McCullough:
HE IS GOING TO DO
AS HIS FATHER HAD DONE

ONLY MAKE WHAT
HIS FATHER HAD TRIED WORK.

HIS FATHER GAMBLED.

HIS FATHER GAMBLED AND LOST.

HE WAS GOING TO GAMBLE AND WIN.

Narrator:
HARRY BORROWED SEVERAL THOUSAND
DOLLARS AGAINST HIS LIVESTOCK

AND GAMBLED IT ON A ZINC MINE.

HE DECIDED HE'D GET RICH QUICK
TO CATCH UP WITH BESS

BECAUSE BESS WAS WELL-TO-DO.

Narrator:
"DEAR BESS, OUR FOREMAN SAYS

"WE HAVE A MUCH BETTER MINE
THAN HE EXPECTED.

"WHEN I SEE YOU, I HOPE TO TELL
YOU THAT WE ARE GOING FULL BLAST

AND MAKING ORE SO FAST
IT MAKES OUR HEAD SWIM."

Hamby:
HE SEEMS TO ASSUME THAT THINGS
ARE NOT GOING TO WRONG.

YOU WORK HARD, LADY LUCK WILL BE
ON YOUR SIDE AND YOU'LL MAKE IT.

BUT WHAT HARRY
DOESN'T UNDERSTAND

AND WHAT HE'S NEVER GOOD AT

IS THAT YOU BUY LOW
AND YOU SELL HIGH.

"DEAR BESS, THE MINE
HAS GONE BY THE BOARD.

"I HAVE LOST OUT
ON IT ENTIRELY.

"THERE WAS NEVER ONE OF OUR NAME

"WHO HAD SENSE ENOUGH
TO MAKE MONEY.

"I AM NO EXCEPTION.

"YOU WOULD DO BETTER, PERHAPS

"IF YOU PITCHED ME
INTO THE ASH HEAP

"AND PICK SOMEONE
WITH MORE SENSE AND ABILITY

AND NOT SUCH A SOFT HEAD."

BUT HE SANK ANOTHER 5,000
IN AN OIL WELL COMPANY

AND CONVINCED BESS
TO RISK SOME MONEY, TOO.

"DEAR BESS, PEOPLE SEEM TO THINK
OUR PROJECT HAS SOME MERIT.

"WE GOT $225 YESTERDAY.

HOPE TO SEE YOU SUNDAY AND BE SO
FULL OF OIL THAT I'LL FLOAT."

Hamby:
HE IS ALWAYS OPTIMISTIC.

HE COMES OUT OF
THIS CULTURE THAT SAYS

PEOPLE CAN GET AHEAD
IF THEY WORK HARD

AND THEN IT ALSO SAYS
IF THEY HAVE A LITTLE LUCK, TOO.

Narrator:
HARRY'S COMPANY RAN OUT
OF MONEY AND WENT BUST.

BESS LOST EVERYTHING
SHE HAD INVESTED.

HARRY SOLD HIS STAKE
TO A BETTER-FINANCED OUTFIT.

THE NEW COMPANY KEPT DRILLING...

AND STRUCK IT RICH.

IF HARRY HAD HUNG ON,
DRILLED JUST A LITTLE DEEPER

HE WOULD HAVE BEEN
A MILLIONAIRE.

"DEAR BESS, I SEEM TO HAVE
A GRAND AND ADMIRABLE ABILITY

"FOR CALLING TAILS
WHEN HEADS COME UP.

"MY LUCK SHOULD SURELY CHANGE.

"SOMETIME I SHOULD WIN.

"I HAVE TRIED TO STICK.

"WORKED, REALLY DID,
LIKE THUNDER FOR TEN YEARS

"TO GET THAT OLD FARM IN LINE

"AND I HAVE HAD
A CROP FAILURE EVERY YEAR.

THOUGHT I'D CHANGE MY LUCK...
AND SEE WHERE IT'S GOTTEN ME."

HARRY TRUMAN WAS 33 YEARS OLD

AND HAD FAILED AT EVERYTHING
HE HAD TRIED.

BUT HARRY DIDN'T FEEL
SORRY FOR HIMSELF FOR LONG.

HE CLOSED HIS LETTER
BY ASKING BESS:

"CAN I COME OVER TUESDAY NIGHT?

"JUST REMEMBER
HOW CRAZY I AM ABOUT YOU

AND FORGET ALL THE REST."

WHEN AMERICA WENT TO WAR IN 1917

YOUNG MEN FROM SMALL TOWNS
ALL ACROSS THE NATION

RESPONDED WITH PATRIOTIC FERVOR.

HARRY TRUMAN WAS ONE OF THEM.

THAT SPRING

HARRY LEFT THE FARM IN THE HANDS
OF HIS MOTHER AND SISTER

AND JOINED THE ARMY.

AND AT LONG LAST,
BESS AGREED TO MARRY HIM

BUT NOW, HARRY REFUSED.

"I DON'T THINK IT WOULD BE
RIGHT FOR ME," HE TOLD HER

"TO ASK YOU TO TIE YOURSELF
TO A PROSPECTIVE CRIPPLE."

THE GREAT WAR HAD ALREADY
TAKEN THE LIVES

OF AN ENTIRE GENERATION
OF EUROPE'S YOUNG MEN.

ONE MILLION MEN DIED
AT THE SOMME...

NEARLY ANOTHER MILLION MORE
AT VERDUN.

BUT FOR HARRY,
LIKE OTHER RAW RECRUITS

WAR STILL SHIMMERED
WITH ROMANCE.

HE LATER SAID THAT
HE WAS STIRRED BY THE FLAME.

"I FELT THAT I WAS GALAHAD
AFTER THE GRAIL."

McCullough:
THERE WAS NO NEED FOR TRUMAN
TO HAVE EVER GONE TO WAR.

HE WAS TECHNICALLY BLIND
IN ONE EYE.

HIS EYESIGHT WAS SO BAD

THAT HE COULD NEVER
HAVE GOTTEN IN AT ALL

BUT FOR THE FACT THAT
HE MEMORIZED THE EYE CHART

IN ADVANCE OF THE EXAMINATION.

BUT HE WANTED TO GO.

HE WAS DETERMINED TO GO.

Narrator:
HARRY HAD NEVER BEEN TO COLLEGE

NEVER BEEN IN A FIGHT
IN HIS LIFE

BUT HE EARNED THE RANK
OF CAPTAIN, WAS SENT TO FRANCE

AND GIVEN COMMAND
OF FOUR RAPID-FIRE GUNS...

AND 194 MEN.

ON THE MORNING OF JULY 11, 1918

CAPTAIN HARRY TRUMAN
INTRODUCED HIMSELF

TO THE NOTORIOUS BATTERY "D"

A ROWDY BUNCH, MOSTLY IRISH
FROM KANSAS CITY

SOME OF THE MOST
INSUBORDINATE SOLDIERS

IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY.

"NEVER," HARRY SAID LATER,
"HAVE I FELT SO NERVOUS."

Man:
WE'D BEEN A PRETTY TOUGH BUNCH.

WE'D GOTTEN RID
OF THREE CAPTAINS.

BUT THE FIRST NIGHT,
HE ADDRESSED THE BATTERY.

HE SAYS, "I DIDN'T
COME OVER HERE

"TO GET ALONG WITH YOU FELLOWS.

YOU'RE GOING TO GET ALONG
WITH ME."

I SAID TO AN IRISHMAN, "WHAT DO
YOU THINK OF THE NEW CAPTAIN?"

HE SAYS, "90 DAYS, 90 DAYS."

Narrator:
"YOU COULD SEE,"
ONE OF THE MEN REMEMBERED

"THAT HE WAS SCARED TO DEATH."

McCullough:
WORLD WAR I WAS THE CRUCIBLE
FOR TRUMAN.

IT WAS THE FORMATIVE EXPERIENCE
OF HIS LIFE.

IT CHANGED EVERYTHING FOR HIM:

CHANGED HIM, CHANGED HIS
UNDERSTANDING OF HIMSELF.

Narrator:
AT THE END OF AUGUST, CAPTAIN
TRUMAN LED HIS MEN INTO BATTLE

FOR THE FIRST TIME.

BATTERY "D" OPENED FIRE
ON A COMPANY OF GERMAN SOLDIERS

ENCAMPED FOUR MILES AWAY.

BEFORE THE GERMANS
COULD RETURN THE FIRE

TRUMAN ORDERED HIS MEN
TO TAKE A NEW POSITION.

BUT THEY COULDN'T MOVE WITHOUT
THE HORSES TO PULL THE CANNONS.

Wooden:
HARRY HAD GIVEN
THE FIRST SERGEANT ORDERS

TO HAVE THE HORSES UP
AT A CERTAIN HOUR

BUT THE FIRST SERGEANT WAS 30
MINUTES LATE GETTING UP THERE.

WE'D HAVE BEEN GONE
IF HE HAD HAVE.

THAT'S WHERE
THE TROUBLE STARTED.

Narrator:
IT WAS DARK AND RAINING
WHEN THE GERMANS OPENED FIRE.

BATTERY "D" WAS TRAPPED,
ITS BIG GUNS MIRED IN THE MUD.

THE MEN PANICKED.

MANY RAN.

McCullough:
AND TRUMAN IS CAUGHT
IN THE MIDDLE

AND HE SEES EVERYBODY TAKING OFF

AND HE STANDS THERE AND HE CALLS
THEM EVERY NAME HE CAN THINK OF

AND HE KNEW A LOT OF NAMES.

Narrator:
"YOU NO-GOOD IRISH
SONS OF BITCHES," HE HOLLERED

AND ORDERED HIS SOLDIERS
TO REGROUP.

THE MEN, STUNNED BY HIS RAGE,
INSPIRED BY HIS COURAGE

DID AS THEY WERE TOLD.

THROUGH THE DARK AND RAIN

TRUMAN MARCHED THEM
OUT OF DANGER.

"DEAR BESS, THE MEN THINK
I AM NOT MUCH AFRAID OF SHELLS

BUT THEY DON'T KNOW
I WAS TOO SCARED TO RUN."

BATTERY "D" HAD ESCAPED
WITHOUT A SINGLE CASUALTY.

McCullough:
AND THEY THEREAFTER
SAW HIM DIFFERENTLY

BECAUSE HE HAD STOOD HIS GROUND

AND AFTER A WHILE,
THEY BEGAN TO REALIZE

THAT THIS FELLOW
WITH THE EYEGLASSES

AND THE BANK-CLERK LOOK
ABOUT HIM

WAS IN FACT A MAN
OF REAL DETERMINATION.

Narrator:
CAPTAIN HARRY, THE MEN DECIDED,
WAS GOOD LUCK.

"WE HAVE A CAPTAIN,"
ONE SOLDIER WROTE HIS FATHER

"WHO CANNOT BE BEAT."

McCullough:
HE WAS ABOUT AS UNHEROIC IN
HIS EYEGLASSES AS ONE COULD BE.

BUT THERE IS A PHOTOGRAPH OF HIM
THAT IS ON HIS I.D. CARD

AND HE HAS HIS GLASSES OFF

AND YOU LOOK AT THAT PHOTOGRAPH
AND YOU SEE THE STRENGTH

YOU SEE WHAT
A RUGGED CHARACTER HE IS.

HARRY VAUGHAN ONCE SAID

THAT IF YOU WANT TO UNDERSTAND
HARRY TRUMAN

YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND

THAT HE'S ONE TOUGH
SON OF A BITCH OF A MAN

AND IF YOU LOOK AT THAT PICTURE,
YOU CAN SEE THE IRON.

YOU CAN SEE WHAT HIS MEN MUST
HAVE RECOGNIZED AND UNDERSTOOD.

Narrator:
AT NIGHT, HARRY WOULD SIT
AND STARE AT A PHOTOGRAPH

HE'D BROUGHT WITH HIM TO EUROPE.

"DEAR BESS, I HAVE TWO
BREAST POCKETS IN MY BLOUSE.

"NATURALLY YOU CAN GUESS

"WHOSE PICTURE STAYS
IN THE LEFT-HAND ONE.

"IT HAS NEVER LEFT ME,
NOR WILL IT EVER.

"I HAVE LOOKED AT IT
MANY, MANY TIMES

"AND IMAGINED THAT YOU WERE
THERE IN SPIRIT

"AS I KNEW YOU WERE,
AND IT HELPED A LOT.

"I HOPE YOU HAVE
A MOST HAPPY BIRTHDAY

"AND THAT YOU WILL NEVER SEE
ANOTHER ONE WITHOUT ME

"TO HELP CELEBRATE

AND THEN, MAY THEY GO ON
WITHOUT END."

BY NOVEMBER, THE WAR
TO END ALL WARS WAS OVER.

CAPTAIN TRUMAN AND THE BOYS
FROM BATTERY "D"

HAD SEEN SOME OF THE BLOODIEST
FIGHTING IN AMERICAN HISTORY.

"DEAR BESS, YOU KNOW
I HAVE SUCCEEDED IN DOING

"WHAT WAS MY GREATEST
AMBITION TO DO

"AT THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR...

"THAT IS TO TAKE A BATTERY
THROUGH AND NOT LOSE A MAN.

"WE FIRED SOME 10,000 ROUNDS
AT HEINIE

"AND WERE SHELLED OURSELVES
TIME AND AGAIN

BUT NEVER DID THE HUNS
SCORE A HIT ON ME."

Hamby:
TRUMAN'S WARTIME SERVICE
WAS AWFULLY IMPORTANT TO HIM

BECAUSE IT WAS THE GREATEST
SUCCESS HE HAD HAD IN HIS LIFE

UP TILL THAT POINT.

HE COMES OUT OF IT HAVING
ESTABLISHED HIMSELF AS A LEADER

SOMETHING HE NEVER COULD HAVE
SAID ABOUT HIMSELF

AT ANY POINT EARLIER
IN HIS LIFE.

Narrator:
IN JANUARY 1919, HARRY WATCHED

AS PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON
ARRIVED IN PARIS

TO A TUMULTUOUS RECEPTION.

WORLD LEADERS WERE GATHERING
TO ENSURE A LASTING PEACE.

EMPIRES HAD FALLEN.

THE MAP OF EUROPE WAS
ABOUT TO BE REDRAWN

BUT HARRY TRUMAN SIMPLY WANTED
TO GO BACK TO MISSOURI.

"FOR MY PART," HE WROTE

"I DON'T GIVE A WHOOP WHETHER
THERE'S A LEAGUE OF NATIONS

"OR WHETHER RUSSIA HAS A RED
GOVERNMENT OR A PURPLE ONE

"AND IF THE PRESIDENT
OF THE CZECHOSLOVAKS

"WANTS TO PRY THE THRONE
FROM UNDER THE KING OF BOHEMIA

LET HIM PRY, BUT SEND US HOME."

BUT IT WOULD BE MONTHS

BEFORE THE ARMY WOULD LET HARRY
GO BACK TO MISSOURI.

HE TOURED FRANCE,
SAW THE RIVIERA AND PARIS

THE EIFFEL TOWER, NOTRE DAME...

THE FOLIES-BERGERE.

40 YEARS LATER, HARRY WOULD
REMEMBER IT AS... "DISGUSTING."

AT THE TIME, HE WROTE

THAT IT WAS WHAT YOU'D EXPECT
TO SEE IN KANSAS CITY

ONLY MORE SO.

SEVEN WEEKS AFTER RETURNING
HOME, ON JUNE 28, 1919

A DAY SO HOT THE FLOWERS
IN THE CHAPEL WILTED

HARRY TRUMAN MARRIED
BESS WALLACE

AT TINY TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCH
IN INDEPENDENCE.

HARRY WAS 35.

29 YEARS HAD PASSED SINCE HE HAD
FIRST SEEN BESS IN SUNDAY SCHOOL

EIGHT YEARS
SINCE HE FIRST PROPOSED.

HE HAD NEVER DATED
ANOTHER WOMAN.

ONE OF TRUMAN'S MEN
FROM BATTERY "D" WROTE HIM

"I HOPE YOU HAVE THE SAME
SUCCESS IN THIS NEW WAR

AS YOU HAD IN THE OLD."

AFTER A HONEYMOON
ON THE GREAT LAKES

HARRY MOVED ALL HIS BELONGINGS
INTO HIS MOTHER-IN-LAW'S HOUSE.

Hamby:
I THINK IT WAS
VERY IMPORTANT TO BESS

THAT HE WAS WILLING TO LIVE WITH
HER OBLIGATIONS TO MRS. WALLACE

AND, ABSOLUTELY, LIVE
WITH MRS. WALLACE

WHO WAS AN AWFULLY HARD PERSON
TO LIVE WITH.

HARRY SPENT MUCH
OF HIS ADULT LIFE

ALMOST BEING
A PUNCHING BAG FOR HER.

HE NEVER TALKED BACK TO HER.

HE FORCED HIMSELF TO THINK ONLY
THE NICEST THOUGHTS ABOUT HER

AT LEAST AS FAR AS ANYTHING
THAT'S EVER BEEN RECORDED.

Narrator:
ALTHOUGH HIS NEW BRIDE ASSURED
HIM THE SITUATION WAS TEMPORARY

HARRY WOULD LIVE WITH BESS'S
FAMILY FOR THE NEXT 15 YEARS.

IN 1919, AS AMERICA CELEBRATED
THE END OF WORLD WAR I

HARRY TRUMAN WAS JUST ANOTHER
SOLDIER IN SEARCH OF A JOB.

EDDIE JACOBSON,
HARRY'S OLD ARMY BUDDY

WAS OUT OF WORK, TOO.

EDDIE SUGGESTED THEY GO
INTO BUSINESS TOGETHER

IN DOWNTOWN KANSAS CITY.

JUST BEFORE CHRISTMAS

THEY OPENED UP A LITTLE
HABERDASHERY ON 12th STREET

SELLING GENTS' FURNISHINGS.

KANSAS CITY HAD GROWN FAMOUS
FOR ITS SOUL-STIRRING JAZZ.

HARRY DIDN'T TAKE MUCH
TO THE MUSIC...

NEVER EVEN LEARNED TO DANCE...

BUT JAZZ MADE
THE DOWNTOWN SWING...

AND THAT WAS GOOD FOR BUSINESS.

EVERYBODY SEEMED TO
HAVE MONEY TO SPEND.

"WE SOLD SHIRTS AT $16,"
EDDIE REMEMBERED.

Woman:
HARRY WAS THE SALESMAN
AND EDDIE WAS THE BUYER.

THEY REALLY UNDERSTOOD
EACH OTHER IN THE BUSINESS.

THERE WERE NO CONFLICTS.

AND THEY WERE GOOD BUDDIES.

THEY PLAYED POKER
EVERY SATURDAY NIGHT

TRUMAN CALLED EDDIE
"YOU BALDHEADED S.O.B."

THEY WERE CUT
FROM THE SAME MIDWESTERN CLOTH

EXCEPT THAT THE RELIGIOUS
BACKGROUND WAS NOT THE SAME.

Narrator:
EDDIE JACOBSON WAS JEWISH

BORN ON NEW YORK CITY'S
LOWER EAST SIDE.

ALTHOUGH HARRY AND EDDIE
WERE FRIENDS

HARRY COULDN'T BRING EDDIE HOME
FOR DINNER.

BESS'S MOTHER OBJECTED.

HARRY AND EDDIE
MADE A GOOD TEAM.

THEY WORKED HARD, FROM 8:00 IN
THE MORNING TO 9:00 AT NIGHT.

BUT THE LITTLE HABERDASHERY
STRUGGLED

AND IN 1922,
AFTER JUST TWO YEARS

CAUGHT IN A POSTWAR RECESSION,
IT WENT UNDER.

HARRY WAS 38 AND DEEP IN DEBT.

"WENT INTO BUSINESS ALL
ENTHUSIASTIC," HE WROTE.

"LOST ALL I HAD
AND ALL I COULD BORROW.

FEELING FAIRLY BLUE."

HARRY WAS FACING FAILURE
ONCE AGAIN

BUT HIS LUCK WAS FINALLY
ABOUT TO CHANGE.

OLD ARMY PAL JIM PENDERGAST
THOUGHT TRUMAN'S WAR RECORD

WOULD MAKE HIM A GOOD CANDIDATE
FOR POLITICAL OFFICE

AND PUT IN A CALL
TO HIS UNCLE TOM.

TOM PENDERGAST WAS A RAWBONED

THICK-NECKED,
SPAT-WEARING IRISHMAN.

CRASS AND COLORFUL,
PENDERGAST WAS A HARD DRINKER

AND A RECKLESS GAMBLER.

IN TIME HE WOULD LOSE, SOME
SAID, $6 MILLION ON THE PONIES.

BUT HE KNEW HOW TO WIN
AT POLITICS.

A TOUGH BACKSTAGE OPERATOR

HE WOULD BUILD A POLITICAL
MACHINE SO STRONG

AND CONTROL IT
WITH SUCH AN IRON GRIP

THAT ONE DAY PUNDITS WOULD CALL
KANSAS CITY "TOM'S TOWN."

PENDERGAST MADE MONEY

SELLING THE COUNTY CONCRETE
AND REAL ESTATE

MONOPOLIZING THE MARKET

AND LINING HIS POCKETS
WITH LUCRATIVE KICKBACKS.

BUT IN KANSAS CITY IN THE '20s

THERE ARE MANY WAYS
TO GET RICH.

GAMBLING, BOOTLEG LIQUOR,
PROSTITUTION, NARCOTICS...

PENDERGAST WAS INTO ALL OF IT.

HE WAS DEEPLY INVOLVED
IN THE KANSAS CITY RACKETS

AND MANIPULATED
JACKSON COUNTY POLITICS.

IN 1922,
WHEN PENDERGAST NEEDED SOMEONE

TO STAND FOR COUNTY COMMISSIONER

OR "JUDGE,"
AS THE POSITION WAS CALLED

PENDERGAST CHOSE
WAR HERO HARRY TRUMAN.

HARRY SAW HIS CHANCE AND,
WITHOUT HESITATION, GRABBED IT.

Man:
PENDERGAST TURNED TO TRUMAN

TO SORT OF PERFUME
THE PENDERGAST MACHINE

BY GETTING A PERSON
WHO HAD INTEGRITY

WHO ALSO HAD STRONG SUPPORT
AMONG VETERANS OF WORLD WAR I.

Narrator:
BUT PENDERGAST DID NOT YET
CONTROL ALL OF JACKSON COUNTY.

HARRY WOULD HAVE TO CAMPAIGN
HARD, AND HE WAS GREEN.

HE COUNTED ON PENDERGAST,
HIS WAR RECORD

AND THE BOYS FROM BATTERY "D."

McCullough:
HE WAS PATHETIC AS A SPEAKER.

HE COULD HARDLY EXPRESS
HIMSELF AT ALL

AND HIS PALS FROM THE ARMY
ALL WENT OUT

AND CAMPAIGNED HARD FOR HIM AND
THEY WOULD CHEER AT EVERY RALLY

AND THEY WOULD TRY
AND WHIP UP EXCITEMENT

FOR THEIR BELOVED CAPTAIN HARRY.

AND AT ONE POINT, THEY DECIDED
IT WOULD BE DRAMATIC

IF TRUMAN ARRIVED BY PLANE, SO
THEY GOT A WORLD WAR I BIPLANE

AND ONE OF THE ARMY PALS
FLEW THE PLANE.

TRUMAN CAME SAILING
THROUGH THE AIR

LANDED, CLIMBED OUT OF THE PLANE

STAGGERED ACROSS THE FIELD,
VIOLENTLY ILL, TO A FENCE

WHERE HE THREW UP
IN FRONT OF EVERYBODY.

AND THAT WAS SORT OF HIS FIRST
GREAT ENTRANCE AS A POLITICIAN.

Narrator:
HIS SPEECHES WERE BLUNT

HIS VOICE FLAT, HIS STYLE
COARSE, EVEN CRUDE.

BUT HE LIKED POLITICKING WITH
THE PEOPLE OF JACKSON COUNTY...

THE TALK, THE JOKES,
THE CAMARADERIE.

HE WAS TIRELESS AND ENERGETIC

AND HE WON...
BY JUST 279 VOTES.

HE WOULD BE ELECTED TWO MORE
TIMES IN THE NEXT TEN YEARS.

AFTER YEARS OF DRIFT AND FAILURE

HARRY TRUMAN HAD FINALLY
SETTLED INTO A CAREER.

COUNTY COMMISSIONER
WAS A BIG JOB.

HARRY WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR 700
EMPLOYEES AND $7 MILLION A YEAR.

Man:
HE WAS FAMOUS AT THAT TIME
FOR BEING A BUILDER

AND HE BUILT SOME GREAT HIGHWAYS
IN JACKSON COUNTY.

THAT WAS AT A TIME
WHEN THEY USED TO SAY

"MISSOURI?! STAY OUT OF MISSOURI
AND STAY OUT OF THE MUD."

Narrator:
TRUMAN LOVED THE JOB:

THE POWER...

THE PRESTIGE...

THE CHANCE TO DO GOOD THINGS.

HE WORKED WITH IRISH
AND ITALIAN CATHOLICS

AND BLACK COMMUNITY LEADERS

SLOWLY MOVING AWAY
FROM SMALL-TOWN PREJUDICES.

HE EARNED A REPUTATION
FOR EFFICIENCY, HONESTY

WON THE RESPECT
OF THE NEWSPAPERS

BUT HE COULD NOT WIN
THE PRAISE OF BESS'S MOTHER

WHO DISAPPROVED OF POLITICS.

BUT HARRY NEVER COMPLAINED.

HIS LIFE HAD AT LAST
FOUND DIRECTION.

IN 1924, MARGARET, HIS FIRST
AND ONLY CHILD, WAS BORN.

HARRY WAS NEARLY 40

WITH A DAUGHTER HE ADORED,
A WIFE HE DEARLY LOVED

AND DOZENS OF FRIENDS.

HE JOINED THE ELKS, THE MASONS,
THE AMERICAN LEGION

THE AMERICAN VETERANS
OF FOREIGN WARS

THE INTERNATIONAL
ACQUAINTANCE LEAGUE

AND SPENT EVERY MONDAY NIGHT

IN A BACK ROOM OVER A BANK
PLAYING POKER.

BUT HE WAS TROUBLED.

BROUGHT UP TO HONOR

THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN RIGHT AND WRONG

HARRY FOUND IT MORE
AND MORE DIFFICULT

TO DEAL WITH THE MAN
TO WHOM HE OWED HIS JOB.

BY 1930, TOM PENDERGAST
DOMINATED KANSAS CITY POLITICS

WHILE HIS INVOLVEMENT IN KANSAS
CITY RACKETEERING HAD BECOME

EVEN MORE UNSAVORY.

THE RUTHLESS GANGSTER
JOHNNY LAZIA WAS HIS LIEUTENANT.

KANSAS CITY BECAME NOTORIOUS FOR
SHOOT-OUTS, ARSON, KIDNAPPINGS.

HARRY HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH
MOBSTERS, BUT HE TURNED HIS BACK

WHILE PENDERGAST SKIMMED
MILLIONS IN PUBLIC MONEY.

TORN BETWEEN LOYALTY
TO PENDERGAST

AND HIS OWN SELF-RESPECT

HE BEGAN SUFFERING FROM ACUTE
HEADACHES, DIZZINESS, INSOMNIA.

PENDERGAST DEMANDED
THAT HARRY RIG COUNTY CONTRACTS.

HARRY INSISTED ON FAIR BIDDING.

HIS HONOR, HE SAID,
WAS AT STAKE.

PENDERGAST TOLD HARRY HIS HONOR
WASN'T WORTH A PINCH OF SNUFF.

HARRY'S ANXIETY GREW SO GREAT

THAT HE QUIETLY TOOK A ROOM AT
A HOTEL IN DOWNTOWN KANSAS CITY

AND POURED OUT HIS TROUBLES
ON PAGES HE KEPT

BUT WOULD NEVER SHOW ANYONE.

"AM I JUST A CROOK," HE WROTE

"TO COMPROMISE IN ORDER
TO GET THE JOB DONE?

"I WONDER IF I DID RIGHT.

"I SAVED $3,500,000

"BUT I HAD TO PUT A LOT
OF NO-GOOD SONS OF BITCHES

"ON THE PAYROLL,
AND PAY OTHER SONS OF BITCHES

"MORE MONEY FOR SUPPLIES
THAN THEY WERE WORTH

"IN ORDER TO SATISFY
THE POLITICAL POWERS.

I BELIEVE I DID DO RIGHT."

HARRY REFUSED TO CONDEMN
PENDERGAST HIMSELF.

"HE OWNED A BAWDY HOUSE,
A SALOON

AND GAMBLING ESTABLISHMENT,"
HARRY WROTE

BUT HE'S ALL MAN."

HARRY DID AGREE TO GIVE COUNTY
JOBS TO MACHINE LOYALISTS

RELATIVES AND FRIENDS.

BUT HE RESOLVED NEVER TO TAKE
A BRIBE OR KICKBACK HIMSELF.

McCullough:
TRUMAN ACCEPTED HIS ASSOCIATION
WITH THE PENDERGASTS

AS THE PRICE HE HAD TO PAY
TO BE IN POLITICS

NOT UNLIKE, ONE MIGHT SAY

ACCEPTING LIVING
WITH MADGE WALLACE

AND IN HIS MOTHER-IN-LAW'S HOUSE

AS THE PRICE HE HAD TO PAY
TO MARRY BESS.

Narrator:
IN 1932, WHEN HARRY WENT
WITH PENDERGAST

TO THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION
IN CHICAGO

HE SAW FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT
FOR THE FIRST TIME.

Franklin Roosevelt:
GIVE ME YOUR HELP

IN THIS CRUSADE TO RESTORE
AMERICA TO ITS OWN PEOPLE.

Narrator:
IN ACCEPTING
HIS PARTY'S NOMINATION

THE 51-YEAR-OLD ROOSEVELT
ACHIEVED A LIFELONG AMBITION.

HARRY S. TRUMAN WAS 48,
UNKNOWN OUTSIDE OF MISSOURI.

NOW, FOR THE FIRST TIME

HE BEGAN TO REVEAL
HIS OWN AMBITIONS.

HE LET IT BE KNOWN

THAT HE WANTED TO RUN
FOR GOVERNOR OR CONGRESS

BUT PENDERGAST HAD
OTHER CANDIDATES IN MIND.

THEN IN 1934, WHEN PENDERGAST
WAS LOOKING FOR A NEW SENATOR

SOME OF THE BOSS'S AIDES
RECOMMENDED HARRY.

"DO YOU MEAN TO TELL ME,"
PENDERGAST BELLOWED

"YOU ACTUALLY BELIEVE

THAT HARRY TRUMAN CAN BE ELECTED
TO THE UNITED STATES SENATE?!"

AFTER THREE OTHER MEN
TURNED HIM DOWN

PENDERGAST SETTLED
FOR HARRY TRUMAN

AND BACKED HIM
IN THE MISSOURI PRIMARY.

TRUMAN'S OPPONENTS CALLED
HIM "PENDERGAST'S BELLHOP."

THE ELECTION TURNED
ON KANSAS CITY

WHERE PENDERGAST MADE CERTAIN

THAT TRUMAN GOT ALL BUT 11,000
OF ITS 148,000 VOTES.

PENDERGAST ACTUALLY STUFFED THE
BALLOT BOXES WITH ILLEGAL VOTES

AND PEOPLE
THAT WEREN'T REGISTERED.

Narrator:
THE NEW UNITED STATES SENATOR
FROM MISSOURI WAS 50 YEARS OLD

AND HAD NEVER BEEN TO WASHINGTON
FOR MORE THAN A FEW DAYS.

McCullough:
SO OFF HE GOES TO WASHINGTON AND
TOM PENDERGAST'S PARTING WORDS

TO THE NEW SENATOR
FROM MISSOURI ARE

"KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT
AND ANSWER YOUR MAIL."

AND HE ARRIVES IN WASHINGTON
WITH A SHADOW OVER HIM...

A CLOUD OVER HIM...
AS THE "SENATOR FROM PENDERGAST"

AND THERE ARE CERTAIN SENATORS
WHO WON'T EVEN SPEAK TO HIM

BECAUSE HE HAS SUCH A STIGMA
ATTACHED TO HIM.

Narrator:
HARRY, BESS AND MARGARET SETTLED
INTO THE NATION'S CAPITAL

MOVING INTO AN INEXPENSIVE
FOUR-ROOM APARTMENT.

BUT BESS WASN'T HAPPY THERE.

SHE LASTED JUST FIVE MONTHS

BEFORE SHE RETURNED
TO INDEPENDENCE.

HER MOTHER WANTED HER HOME.

SHE AND MARGARET SHUTTLED
BACK AND FORTH TO WASHINGTON

WHERE THE TRUMANS RENTED ONE
SMALL APARTMENT AFTER ANOTHER.

THROUGHOUT HARRY'S YEARS
IN THE SENATE

BESS SPENT MUCH OF HER TIME
IN INDEPENDENCE

LEAVING SENATOR TRUMAN
HEARTSICK AND LONELY.

"DEAR BESS,
I'VE BEEN WANDERING AROUND

"LIKE A LOST SOUL THIS MORNING.

"IT'S A WRENCH
TO BE WITHOUT YOU.

I NEVER MISSED YOU SO MUCH."

"DEAR BESS, YOUR CARD WAS
A LIFESAVER THIS MORNING.

I NEVER IN MY LIFE SPENT
SUCH A LONESOME NIGHT."

"DEAR BESS, YOUR LETTER CAME
ON THE SECOND MAIL

SO EVERYTHING IS ALL RIGHT."

"DEAR BESS, YOUR LETTER
WAS IN THE FIRST MAIL."

"DEAR BESS, I DO WISH
YOU'D LET ME HEAR..."

"DEAR BESS, DREAMED
ABOUT YOU LAST NIGHT.

"THOUGHT WE WERE GOING
THROUGH A FLOOD TOGETHER.

WE GOT THROUGH
WITHOUT DISASTER."

"DEAR BESS, IT WAS GOOD TO HEAR
YOUR VOICE LAST NIGHT..."

"DEAR BESS,
I WAS SO LONESOME LAST NIGHT.

EVEN IF MY COMBINATION OF WORDS
MAKES YOU SICK SOMETIMES..."

"DEAR BESS, HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

"IF YOUR DRESS DOESN'T FIT YOU

SEND IT BACK
AND WE'LL GET A LARGER ONE."

"DEAR BESS, YOU DON'T KNOW
HOW MUCH I APPRECIATED

"THE LETTER THAT CAME
IN THE MORNING'S MAIL.

"I WAS SO DEVILISHLY HOMESICK.

"I COULD SEE YOU STANDING
OUT THERE IN THE YARD

"WATCHING ME DRIVE AWAY

AND I DON'T THINK
YOU KISSED ME GOOD-BYE."

Narrator:
IT WOULD BE YEARS BEFORE SENATOR
TRUMAN GAINED ENOUGH CONFIDENCE

TO WORK HIMSELF OUT FROM UNDER
PENDERGAST'S SHADOW.

HE CE IN, A FRIEND REMEMBERED,
WITH A REAL INFERIORITY COMPLEX.

"I WAS AS TIMID,"
TRUMAN LATER WROTE

"AS A COUNTRY BOY ARRIVING

ON THE CAMPUS
OF A GREAT UNIVERSITY."

WITH AMERICA CAUGHT IN THE GRIPS
OF THE DEPRESSION

TRUMAN FELL IN LINE

WITH FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT'S
NEW DEAL PROGRAMS.

HE CALLED ROOSEVELT
"THE GREATEST OF THE GREATS."

BUT ROOSEVELT HIMSELF HAD NO USE

FOR THE JUNIOR SENATOR
FROM MISSOURI.

IT TOOK FIVE MONTHS BEFORE
THE WHITE HOUSE SUMMONED TRUMAN

FOR A 15-MINUTE MEETING.

AFTER JUST SEVEN MINUTES,
TRUMAN WAS SHOWN THE DOOR.

McCullough:
ROOSEVELT WOULD HAVE NOTHING
TO DO WITH HIM.

ROOSEVELT REALLY GAVE HIM
THE BACK OF HIS HAND.

PEOPLE ON THE WHITE HOUSE STAFF

GAVE HIM THE BACK
OF THEIR HANDS.

HE COULDN'T GET APPOINTMENTS.

HE WASN'T SOMEBODY
THAT THEY TOOK VERY SERIOUSLY.

Narrator:
TRUMAN SAT FOR MONTHS
IN THE SENATE CHAMBER

WITHOUT MAKING A SINGLE SPEECH.

HE WAS KNOWN
AS "GO ALONG, GET ALONG HARRY."

McCullough:
HE HAS TO PROVE
TO THE PEOPLE IN THE SENATE

THAT HE'S SOMEBODY
TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY

THAT HE'S A HARD WORKER
AND THAT HE'S HONEST

AND THAT HE'S GOING
TO DO THE JOB.

AND HE GAVE IT
EVERYTHING HE HAD.

HE WOULD WORK LONGER DAYS,
HARDER DAYS THAN ANYBODY.

HE WAS IN THERE
BEFORE ANYBODY SHOWED UP.

HE WAS ASSIGNED TO COMMITTEES

AND HE WOULD SHOW UP
WHEN NOBODY ELSE WOULD SHOW UP

FOR DREARY COMMITTEE SESSIONS
AND DREARY COMMITTEE HEARINGS

VERY OFTEN THE ONLY ONE THERE
LISTENING TO HOURS AND HOURS

OF DEADLY TESTIMONY
ABOUT DEADLY SUBJECTS

BUT HE WAS GOING TO DO THE JOB.

HE WAS GOING TO LEARN
THE BUSINESS.

AND, AS TIME WENT BY

IN A MATTER
OF ABOUT THREE OR FOUR YEARS

THEY BEGAN TO REALIZE

WHAT KIND OF A FELLOW
THEY HAD ON THEIR HANDS.

Narrator:
SLOWLY, TRUMAN BEGAN
TO PROVE HIMSELF.

BUT EVEN AS HE BECAME
MORE AND MORE INDEPENDENT

HE REMAINED LOYAL
TO TOM PENDERGAST.

HE KEPT A FRAMED PORTRAIT OF
THE MISSOURI BOSS IN HIS OFFICE

EVEN THOUGH
PENDERGAST WAS IN TROUBLE.

PENDERGAST WAS SERIOUSLY ILL...

HIS GAMBLING OUT OF CONTROL,
HIS DEBTS IN THE MILLIONS.

IN 1939, A GRAND JURY
INDICTED HIM FOR TAX EVASION.

CONVICTED, HE WAS SENTENCED
TO PSON FOR 15 MONTHS

AND BANNED FROM POLITICS
FOR FIVE YEARS.

THE SCANDAL TAINTED TRUMAN

AND IT COULDN'T HAVE COME
AT A WORSE TIME;

IN 1940,
HE WAS UP FOR REELECTION.

HIS OPPONENTS DERIDED HIM

AS A FRAUDULENT SENATOR
ELECTED BY GHOST VOTES...

A PENDERGAST LACKEY.

TRUMAN TRIED TO CONVINCE VOTERS

THAT PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT
SUPPORTED HIM

BUT ROOSEVELT NEVER DID.

McCullough:
ROOSEVELT WANTED TO DISTANCE
HIMSELF FROM HARRY TRUMAN.

ROOSEVELT CONSIDERED TRUMAN

AN EMBARRASSMENT
TO THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.

Narrator:
WITHOUT THE SUPPORT OF
THE PRESIDENT, OR PENDERGAST

TRUMAN HAD TO GO IT ALONE.

MOST OBSERVERS DIDN'T
GIVE HIM A CHANCE.

BUT HE NEVER GAVE UP...

AND EKED OUT A NARROW VICTORY.

HE WON BY JUST 8,000 VOTES.

TRUMAN RETURNED
TO THE SENATE HIS OWN MAN

BUT HE WOULD REMAIN
A BACKBENCHER

UNTIL ONCE AGAIN, A WAR WOULD
REVEAL HIS STRENGTH AS A LEADER

AND CATAPULT HIM
INTO THE LIMELIGHT.

Narrator:
1940... NAZI ARMIES
SWEPT ACROSS EUROPE.

GREAT BRITAIN WAS UNDER ATTACK.

THE UNITED STATES WASN'T
IN IT YET...

BUT AMERICA WAS GETTING READY

BUILDING PLANES...

MUNITIONS...

TANKS...

ARMY CAMPS.

BACK IN WASHINGTON,
TRUMAN WAS RECEIVING COMPLAINTS

ABOUT WASTE, MISMANAGEMENT,
AND EVEN FRAUD

AND ALL BY HIMSELF,
HE DECIDED TO LOOK INTO IT.

Man:
WITHOUT LETTING ANYBODY IN HIS
PARTY KNOW WHAT HE WAS DOING

HE DECIDED
TO GO SEE FOR HIMSELF.

AND HE TOOK
A LONG AUTOMOBILE DRIVE...

AS I RECALL, HE DROVE A DIRTY
OLD DODGE IN THOSE DAYS...

AND HE CLIMBED IN HIS DODGE,
DROVE SOUTH.

HE MUST HAVE HAD A LIST OF
THE CAMPS THAT WERE BEING BUILT

AND WHEREVER HE WENT,
HE STOPPED AT ONE OF THESE.

HE WENT IN
AND STARTED ASKING QUESTIONS.

NOBODY EVER ASKED HIM WHO HE WAS

OR WHY HE WAS ASKING
THESE QUESTIONS.

HE'D TALK TO WORKERS.

HE'D TALK TO FOREMEN.

Narrator:
TRUMAN WAS APPALLED
BY WHAT HE SAW.

"THERE WERE HUNDREDS OF MEN,"
HE SAID

"JUST STANDING AROUND COLLECTING
THEIR PAY, DOING NOTHING."

Sparks:
HE SAW BIG PILES OF LUMBER
JUST LYING THERE

NOBODY WAS USING IT;

TRUCKS STANDING STILL
AND RUSTING.

Narrator:
CONGRESS HAD AUTHORIZED
MORE THAN $10 BILLION

FOR DEFENSE CONTRACTS
IN JUST SIX MONTHS.

FROM HIS OWN
HIGHLY PERSONAL INVESTIGATION

TRUMAN FEARED
THE MONEY WAS BEING SQUANDERED.

ON FEBRUARY 10, 1941

SENATOR TRUMAN PROPOSED
THE FORMATION OF A COMMITTEE

TO INVESTIGATE THE ENTIRE
NATIONAL DEFENSE PROGRAM.

Sparks:
THE WHITE HOUSE DIDN'T LIKE
THE IDEA AT ALL.

THEY DIDN'T WANT ANYBODY POKING
INTO WHAT THEY WERE DOING

BUT THEY THOUGHT AT THE OUTSET

THAT THEY COULD
CONTROL HARRY TRUMAN

THAT HE WOULD DO ABOUT ANYTHING

THE LEADERSHIP
OF THE SENATE WANTED HIM TO DO.

THEY FOUND OUT DIFFERENT.

Narrator:
ON DECEMBER 8,
AMERICA WENT TO WAR.

TRUMAN WAS ALL AT ONCE
THRUST CENTER STAGE.

LABELED AS THE LACKEY

OF ONE OF THE MOST
CORRUPT BOSSES IN AMERICA

HE WOULD NOW MOVE
TO STAMP OUT CORRUPTION

IN THE LARGEST WAR MACHINE
EVER ASSEMBLED.

TRUMAN TOOK ON
THE MOST POWERFUL MEN IN AMERICA

AND THE COUNTRY'S
LARGEST INDUSTRIES...

STEEL, ALUMINUM,
RUBBER, AIRPLANES.

McCullough:
HE HAD A DISTRUST
OF BIG BUSINESS

A DISTRUST OF WALL STREET

AND HE WENT AFTER THE PEOPLE WHO
WERE REALLY SELLING SHODDY GOODS

OR DOING THINGS
THAT WERE CLEARLY UNPATRIOTIC.

Sparks:
IN A HEARING, HE SHOWED
ABSOLUTELY NO FEAR.

HE MADE IT CLEAR
THAT HE MEANT BUSINESS.

HE WAS NOT AFRAID
TO SAY ANYTHING TO ANYBODY.

HE WAS FEARED.

Truman:
THE COMMITTEE INVESTIGATING
THE NATIONAL DEFENSE PROGRAM

HAS FOUND WASTE, INEFFICIENCY,
MISMANAGEMENT AND PROFITEERING.

Narrator:
HE QUESTIONED
WITNESSES RELENTLESSLY

ATTACKING THEM FOR BAD PLANNING,
SLOPPY ADMINISTRATION, GRAFT.

HIS REPUTATION SOARED.

THE COMMTEE BECAME KNOWN
AS THE TRUMAN COMMITTEE.

HE PERSONALLY SAVED
THE NATION BILLIONS OF DOLLARS.

REPORTERS NAMED HIM

ONE OF THE TEN MOST VALUABLE MEN
IN WASHINGTON.

"THE SUDDEN EMERGENCE
OF HARRY TRUMAN IN THE SENATE"

TIME MAGAZINE WROTE, "IS
A QUEER ACCIDENT OF DEMOCRACY."

EVEN PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT WANTED
SOME OF THE CREDIT.

"YES, YES," ROOSEVELT SAID

"I PUT HIM IN CHARGE OF THAT
WAR-INVESTIGATING COMMITTEE...

DIDN'T I?"

Hechler:
HERE WAS ONE OF THE PRODUCTS

OF ONE OF THE MOST CORRUPT
POLITICAL MACHINES

IN THE NATION...
THE PENDERGAST MACHINE...

YET HE WAS ABLE TO RISE ABOVE IT

AND THAT'S ONE OF THE REMARKABLE
THINGS ABOUT HARRY TRUMAN.

Narrator:
AT LAST, TRUMAN HAD FOUND
A HOME IN THE SENATE.

POPULAR, NATIONALLY KNOWN,
HE BECAME AN INSIDER...

A RESPECTED MEMBER OF ONE OF THE
MOST POWERFUL CLUBS IN AMERICA.

HIS PRIVATE LIFE, TOO,
HAD SETTLED

INTO A COMFORTABLE ROUTINE.

MARGARET TRUMAN, "MISS SKINNY,"
HARRY LIKED TO CALL HER

AND WAS ALREADY TALKING
HADOF A SINGING CAREER.NS

HE LOOKED ALWAYS,
HIS DAUGHTER SAID

AS IF HE HAD JUST STEPPED
FROM A BANDBOX.

HIS SUITS WERE ALWAYS
CLEANED AND PRESSED;

HIS STYLE IMMACULATE.

TO BESS, HE REMAINED
COMPLETELY DEVOTED.

"DEAR BESS, WELL,
I DOUBT YOU WILL REMEMBER IT

"BUT TOMORROW IS AN ANNIVERSARY
OF VITAL IMPORTANCE.

"23 YEARS HAVE BEEN
EXTREMELY SHORT

"AND FOR ME,
ALTOGETHER MOST HAPPY ONES.

"A FAILURE AS A FARMER, A MINER,
AN OIL PROMOTER AND A MERCHANT

"BUT FINALLY HIT THE GROOVE
AS A PUBLIC SERVANT

AND THAT DUE MOSTLY TO YOU
AND LADY LUCK."

SENATOR TRUMAN WAS CONTENT

BUT IN THE SUMMER OF 1943, HE
BEGAN TO HEAR DISTURBING TALK.

CERTAIN PEOPLE WANTED HIM
TO RUN FOR VICE-PRESIDENT.

Narrator:
ON JULY 18, 1944, WHEN THE
DEMOCRATS CONVENED IN CHICAGO

THE RUMORS THAT
HARRY TRUMAN WAS GOING TO BE

THE NEXT VICE-PRESIDENT
WERE STILL JUST RUMORS.

HE HAD, IN FACT,
ARRIVED AT TONVENTION

PREPARED TO NOMINATE
ANOTHER MAN.

"I DON'T WANT TO BE
VICE-PRESIDENT"

HE WOULD TELL ANYONE WHO ASKED.

HE WAS CONVINCED THAT THE
PRESIDENT DID NOT LIKE HIM.

BUT IN 1944

THE PRESIDENT WOULD NOT DICTATE
THE CHOICE FOR VICE-PRESIDENT.

IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS, HARRY
TRUMAN'S FATE WOULD BE DECIDED

BY A GROUP OF POWERFUL DEMOCRATS
MEETING BEHIND CLOSED DOORS.

McCullough:
THE FUTURE OF THE COUNTRY

AND HIS OWN
IMMEDIATE FUTURE AND FATE

ARE ALL IN THE HANDS
OF FORCES BEYOND HIS CONTROL

AND HE CAN'T BE ANYTHING
BUT A KIND OF A CHIP

ON THE SURFACE OF THE WATER,
BEING SWEPT ALONG.

Narrator:
AS THE CONVENTION GOT UNDERWAY

THE DEMOCRATS PREPARED
TO GIVE THEIR NOMINATION

FOR THE FOURTH TIME
TO FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT.

MANY OF THEM ALREADY KNEW
IT WOULD BE THE LAST.

THE PRESIDENT WAS ILL.

DIAGNOSED WITH HEART DISEASE

HE HAD NEVER ASKED,
AND WAS NEVER TOLD

THE EXTENT OF HIS ILLNESS

BUT THOSE CLOSE TO HIM
WERE FRIGHTENED

BY THE DEATHLIKE PALLOR

THAT SHADOWED
THE ONCE-EBULLIENT FACE.

Woman:
IT WAS NOT SPOKEN OF, THE
FACT THAT ROOSEVELT MIGHT DIE.

THAT WAS A DEEP, DARK SECRET.

IT WAS WARTIME,
AND NO ONE WANTED TO TALK ABOUT

THE PRESIDENT FAILING
IN ANY WAY

BUT I THINK THAT HAD TO BE
BEHIND EVERYBODY'S MINDS.

Man:
IT WAS IN THE MINDS
OF MANY DELEGATES

THAT WHOEVER WAS NOMINATED
FOR VICE-PRESIDENT

COULD VERY WELL BECOME PRESIDENT
WITHIN THE NEXT FOUR YEARS.

THE ENTIRE FOCUS
OF THAT CONVENTION

WAS ON WHO WOULD BE NOMINATED
FOR THE VICE-PRESIDENCY.

Crowd:
WE WANT WALLACE!
WE WANT WALLACE!

WE WANT WALLACE!

Narrator:
THE CURRENT VICE-PRESIDENT,
HENRY WALLACE

WAS THE MAN TO BEAT.

A CHAMPION
OF CIVIL RIGHTS AND LABOR

HE WAS IMMENSELY POPULAR
WITH LIBERALS

BUT CONSERVATIVE DEMOCRATS
OPPOSED HIM.

MANY OF THEM TURNED TO JIMMY
BYRNES FROM SOUTH CAROLINA...

A FORMER SENATOR
AND SUPREME COURT JUSTICE.

AN AVOWED SEGREGATIONIST,
HE WAS UNACCEPTABLE TO LIBERALS.

WE WANT WALLACE!
WE WANT WALLACE!

Narrator:
WITH THE DEMOCRATS DIVIDED

PARTY LEADERS WERE SEARCHING
FOR A COMPROMISE.

PARTY CHAIRMAN
BOB HANNEGAN WANTED

NEITHER WALLACE NOR BYRNES.

Roll:
MY FATHER AND THE OTHER
POLITICAL ADVISERS FELT

THAT JIMMY BYRNES WOULD BE
A LIABILITY TO THE TICKET.

SOUTHERNERS WERE
A DRAWBACK AT THAT TIME.

LABOR WAS NOT
PARTICULARLY FOND OF HIM

AND MY FATHER WAS
VERY CONCERNED

ABOUT WALLACE
AS A POSSIBLE PRESIDENT.

HE FELT
THAT HE WAS SORT OF FLAKY

AND FROM A POLITICIAN'S
STANDPOINT

MY FATHER COULDN'T CONTROL HIM.

SO, MY FATHER FELT THAT TRUMAN
WOULD BE SOMEWHAT BLAMELESS...

THAT HE WOULD HAVE
NO REAL DRAWBACKS.

Hamby:
SO HE EMERGES
AS A COMPROMISE CANDIDATE:

"THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE,"
SOME PEOPLE SAY.

HE HAS CONSERVATIVE FRIENDS,
SOUTHERNERS LIKE HIM

BUT HE'S BEEN A GOOD NEW DEALER.

HE'S GOT LABOR UNION CONTACTS.

HE EMERGES AS THE PERSON
EVERYONE CAN AGREE ON.

IT WAS SIMPLY

ACTUALLY A DIPPING INTO
ALMOST THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL

YOU COULD ALMOST SAY,
TO APPOINT AS VICE-PRESIDENT

AND TO SELECT AS VICE-PRESIDENT
ON THE TICKET

A MAN WHO DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING
AGAINST HIM.

Convention speaker:
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN
OF THE CONVENTION...

Narrator:
UNKNOWN TO THE DELEGATES

THE PARTY BOSSES WERE DETERMINED
TO MAKE TRUMAN VICE-PRESIDENT.

TWO WEEKS BEFORE, THEY HAD MADE
A TRIP TO THE WHITE HOUSE.

McCullough:
ONE JULY NIGHT IN 1944

THE BIG BOSSES MET
WITH FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT

AND IT WAS A VERY HOT NIGHT,
VERY HUMID

WITH THE LONG FRENCH DOORS
OPEN TO THE AIR

AND THE CURTAINS BLOWING IN
WHAT LITTLE BREEZE THERE WAS

AND THEY ALL SAT AROUND IN
THEIR SHIRTSLEEVES, PERSPIRING

TALKING ABOUT WHO OUGHT TO BE
THE VICE-PRESIDENTIAL CHOICE.

AND THE BOSSES ALL SAID
IT COULD NOT BE WALLACE

IT COULD NOT BE BYRNES,
AND IT OUGHT TO BE TRUMAN.

ROOSEVELT LATER TOLD
HIS SON JIMMY

THAT, IN FACT,
HE REALLY DIDN'T CARE.

HE WAS A TIRED, SICK, ILL MAN

AND HIS MIND
AND WHAT ENERGY HE HAD

WAS ALL CONCENTRATED ON THE WAR.

I THINK MY FATHER AND OTHER
PARTY LEADERS DID THE CHOOSING

AND ROOSEVELT
WENT ALONG WITH IT.

I DON'T THINK HE CARED
AT THIS POINT.

I THINK IT WAS...

I DON'T THINK IT WASATTER
OF GREAT CONCERN TO HIM.

IF IT HAD BEEN,
HE WOULD HAVE KNOWN VERY WELL

HOW TO PUT THE MATTER TO REST.

Narrator:
THE MOST IMPORTANT DEMOCRATS
WERE NOW LINED UP BEHIND TRUMAN

AND AT THE CONVENTION,
BOB HANNEGAN TOLD THE SENATOR

THE VICE-PRESIDENTIAL
NOMINATION WAS HIS.

Roll:
ONCE MY FATHER AND HIS FRIENDS
HAD PRETTY MUCH SET TRUMAN UP

THEN THEY HAD TO CONVINCE TRUMAN
THAT HE WAS GOING TO RUN.

AND HE WAS VERY MUCH
OPPOSED TO IT

AND HE SAID HE WOULDN'T DO IT.

McCullough:
HE DIDN'T WANT TO BE PRESIDENT

AND HE CERTAINLY DIDN'T WANT
TO BE PRESIDENT

AFTER FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT.

HE DIDN'T WANT TO COME IN

AND TRY AND HAVE TO FILL
THOSE ENORMOUS SHOES.

HE DIDN'T THINK HE WAS QUALIFIED

TO BE PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES.

HE WAS VERY HAPPY WHERE HE WAS,
IN THE SENATE.

HE HAD GONE THROUGH THE TRAUMA
OF THE PENDERGAST YEARS

WHERE HIS NAME HAD BEEN
RUBBED IN THE MUD

ALONG WITH PENDERGAST MACHINE,
AND IT HURT HIS FAMILY.

HE WAS A VERY
DEVOTED FAMILY MAN.

McCullough:
BESS HAD NONE OF THAT KIND
OF POLITICAL AMBITION.

SHE HAD NO DESIRE TO SEE
HER HUSBAND BECOME PRESIDENT.

SHE CERTAINLY HAD NO DESIRE
TO BE THE FIRST LADY.

SHE DIDN'T LIKE THE LIMELIGHT

AND ONE OF THE REASONS THAT
THEY DIDN'T WANT THE NOMINATION

WAS A FEAR THAT HER FATHER'S
SUICIDE WOULD BECOME PUBLIC

THAT THE COUNTRY WOULD FIND OUT

THAT THIS DISGRACEFUL THING
HAD HAPPENED IN HER PAST.

Narrator:
BUT THE MOMENTUM WAS BUILDING
TOWARD A TRUMAN VICE-PRESIDENCY

AND BESS TRUMAN
WOULD HAVE TO STAND ASIDE.

ON JULY 20, THE PARTY BOSSES
SUMMONED TRUMAN

TO A SUITE
IN THE BLACKSTONE HOTEL

TO LISTEN IN ON A PHONE CALL
THAT, UNKNOWN TO THE SENATOR

THEY HAD REHEARSED IN ADVANCE
WITH THE PRESIDENT.

MY FATHER GOT THE PRESIDENT
HIMSELF, PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT

TO CALL HIM ON THE LINE

AND WHILE HE WAS ON THE LINE,
HE LET TRUMAN LISTEN.

Narrator:
THE PRESIDENT'S VOICE
BOOMED SO LOUD

EVERYONE IN THE ROOM COULD HEAR:

"HAVE YOU GOT THAT FELLOW LINED
UP YET?" THE PRESIDENT ASKED.

"NO," THE PRESIDENT WAS TOLD.

"HE IS THE CONTRARIEST
GODDAMN MULE FROM MISSOURI

I EVER DEALT WITH."

"YOU TELL THE SENATOR,"
ROOSEVELT SAID

"THAT IF HE WANTS TO BREAK UP
THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY

IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WAR,
THAT'S HIS RESPONSIBILITY."

AND THEN HE BANGED DOWN
THE PHONE.

"WELL," TRUMAN SAID
PACING UP AND DOWN THE FLOOR

"IF THAT'S THE SITUATION,
I'LL HAVE TO SAY YES.

BUT WHY THE HELL DIDN'T
HE TELL ME IN THE FIRST PLACE?"

Convention announcer:
HARRY TRUMAN HAS RECEIVED
MORE THAN A MAJORITY.

I DO NOW DECLARE HIM TO BE

THE NOMINEE OF THE DEMOCRATIC
PARTY FOR VICE-PRESIDENT

AND THE NEXT VICE-PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES.

Narrator:
ON FRIDAY, JULY 21, 1944

HARRY TRUMAN ACCEPTED
HIS PARTY'S NOMINATION

FOR VICE-PRESIDENT.

Roll:
I THINK HE WAS SOMEWHAT EXCITED.

I DON'T THINK MRS. TRUMAN
WAS HAPPY AT ALL.

I DON'T RECALL HER EVER SMILING
THE WHOLE TIME.

SHE WAS IN A BOX
NOT TOO FAR FROM US

AND I DON'T RECALL ANY SMILES
DOWN THERE.

I THINK SHE WAS
VERY UNHAPPY ABOUT IT.

THERE'S NOT MUCH MORE
THAT I CAN SAY TO YOU

EXCEPT THAT I ACCEPT THE HONOR
WITH ALL THE HUMILITY

THAT A CITIZEN OF
THE UNITED STATES CAN ASSUME

IN THIS POSITION.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

Narrator:
"AFTER DAD'S SPEECH,"
MARGARET TRUMAN LATER WROTE

"WE WERE BESIEGED BY HORDES

"OF SHOUTING, SWEATING
PHOTOGRAPHERS.

"EVERYONE WANTED TO TOUCH US.

"THANKFULLY, THE POLICE FORMED
A KIND OF PHALANX AROUND US

"AND WE WERE ABLE TO GET
INTO A WAITING CAR OUTSIDE

"WHERE MOM LOOKED AT DAD,
GLARED AT HIM, AND SAID:

"'ARE WE GOING TO HAVE
TO GO THROUGH THIS

FOR ALL THE REST OF OUR LIVES?'"

AS THEY HEADED BACK
TO INDEPENDENCE

BESS TRUMAN REFUSED
TO SPEAK TO ANYONE.

Margaret:
DAD, HERE'S A NICE LETTER
FROM MARION.

THAT'S NICE OF MARION.

SHE HAD A GOOD TIME IN CHICAGO.

HERE'S ONE FROM YOUR TEACHER.

OH, MISS CARR.

MISS CARR.

AND HERE'S ONE
FROM MR. BUDA
FROM ST. LOUIS.

LISTEN TO WHAT HE SAYS.

"PLEASE CONVEY
MY CONGRATULATIONS
TO YOUR LOYAL WIFE

"CHARMING DAUGHTER
AND DEAR MOTHER

"WHOSE GREAT JOY
AND HAPPINESS IS SHARED

BY THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS."

ISN'T THAT NICE?

THAT CERTAINLY IS.

Roll:
ONCE HE WAS IN IT,
HE WAS ALL THE WAY IN IT.

SAY, DADDY, DON'T YOU WISH
YOU'D GONE FISHING LAST WEEK?

WELL, I DID GO

ON A SORT OF FISHING
TRIP TO CHICAGO

OR AT LEAST IT
RESULTED THAT WAY.

HE WAS TOO MUCH
OF A POLITICIAN HIMSELF

NOT TO GO FOR IT ALL THE WAY.

Narrator:
TRUMAN CAMPAIGNED WITH HIS
USUAL ENERGY AND DETERMINATION

TRAVELING THOUSANDS OF MILES,
SKIPPING MEALS

WASHING HIS SOCKS IN THE BASIN
OF HIS SLEEPING CAR.

Hamby:
HE'S DESIGNATED
AS THE PARTY WORKHORSE.

"THIS DUTY HAS BEEN INFLICTED
ON ME AND I'M GOING TO DO IT.

BUT I'M APPREHENSIVE
ABOUT THE FUTURE."

Narrator:
THE NIGHT THAT ROOSEVELT
AND TRUMAN WERE ELECTED

HARRY TRUMAN COULD HARDLY SLEEP.

THE SENATE WILL COME TO ORDER.

Narrator:
THE VICE-PRESIDENT,
TRUMAN WOULD SAY

IS A "POLITICAL EUNUCH."

THE SENATE WILL COME TO ORDER.

Narrator:
HE PRESIDED OVER THE SENATE

WRITING LETTERS HOME DURING
THE LONG SENATORIAL DEBATES

DROPPING BY FOR
A LATE-AFTERNOON DRINK

WITH HIS OLD FRIENDS
IN CONGRESS.

HE SEEMED WHOLLY UNAFFECTED
BY HIS NEW TITLE...

"HOMESPUN AS EVER,"
ONE SENATOR REMARKED.

ONE AFTERNOON, AT A LUNCHEON
AT THE NATIONAL PRESS CLUB

THE VICE-PRESIDENT SAT DOWN
AT THE PIANO

TO PLAY THE "MISSOURI WALTZ."

Hamby:
SUDDENLY, A YOUNG, BEAUTIFUL
ACTRESS, LAUREN BACALL

PERCHES HERSELF ON TOP
OF THE PIANO

FOR SOME PUBLICITY PORTRAITS

SHOWING A RATHER DARING AMOUNT
OF LEG BY 1945 STANDARDS.

TRUMAN DOESN'T QUITE KNOW
HOW TO REACT TO THIS.

HE DOES WHAT IS PROBABLY THE
ONLY INTELLIGENT THING TO DO

WHICH IS TO KEEP SMILING
AND KEEP PLAYING THE PIANO.

Narrator:
FLASHBULBS EXPLODED.

THE AUDIENCE CHEERED.

THE PHOTOS WERE
AN INTERNATIONAL SENSATION.

BESS WAS FURIOUS.

Hamby:
IT DID HAVE KIND OF
A LOOSE ASSOCIATION

WITH THE IDEA
OF THE VICE-PRESIDENT

BEING THE PIANO PLAYER
IN A HOUSE OF ILL-REPUTE.

Narrator:
THROUGHOUT HIS VICE-PRESIDENCY

TRUMAN WAS ALWAYS KEPT OUTSIDE
ROOSEVELT'S INNER CIRCLE.

F.D.R. NEVER TOOK TRUMAN
INTO HIS CONFIDENCE.

THE VICE-PRESIDENT MET ALONE
WITH THE PRESIDENT

JUST TWO TIMES.

HE COULD NEVER SHAKE,
TRUMAN SAID, THE FEELING

THAT THE ROOSEVELT WHITE HOUSE
CONSIDERED HIM "SMALL POTATOES."

Hamby:
HE HAS WHAT YOU MIGHT ALMOST
CALL A LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP

WITH ROOSEVELT BY THIS TIME.

HE ADMIRES HIM ON THE ONE HAND

DOESN'T QUITE TRUST HIM
ON THE OTHER HAND.

AND THE FACT IS THAT ROOSEVELT
DIDN'T PAY MUCH ATTENTION

TO HIS NEW VICE-PRESIDENT.

Narrator:
EVEN WHEN THEY HAD MET
FOR A PRIVATE LUNCHEON

AT THE WHITE HOUSE
DURING THE CAMPAIGN

ROOSEVELT TOLD TRUMAN
NOTHING OF IMPORTANCE

POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS
AND MAKING SMALL TALK.

McCullough:
AND IT WAS AT THAT POINT

THAT TRUMAN SAW ROOSEVELT
CLOSE UP FOR THE FIRST TIME

AND SAW HOW BADLY HE LOOKED...

SAW THE CIRCLES UNDER HIS EYES,
SAW THE DROOP OF HIS SHOULDERS

AND NOTICED THAT
WHEN ROOSEVELT WENT

TO POUR HIS CREAM
INTO HIS COFFEE

THAT HIS HAND TREMBLED
SO HE COULD HARDLY DO IT.

Narrator:
"I HAD BEEN AFRAID
FOR MANY WEEKS

THAT SOMETHING MIGHT HAPPEN,"
TRUMAN ADMITTED

"BUT I DIDN'T ALLOW MYSELF
TO THINK ABOUT IT."

Man:
I THINK TRUMAN AND EVERYBODY
ELSE AT ONE LEVEL KNEW

THAT ROOSEVELT WOULDN'T
LIVE OUT HIS TERM.

BUT THERE WAS A SHARED DENIAL
THAT WAS OVERWHELMING.

IT CAME FROM ROOSEVELT
AND FROM TRUMAN.

SO THAT WHAT THE RESULT WAS

WAS THAT THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY
NO PREPARATION

OF THE VICE-PRESIDENT
BY A VERY SICK PRESIDENT

FOR THE PRESIDENCY.

AND TRUMAN, HE DIDN'T TAKE
THE MOST MODEST KIND OF EFFORT

TOWARD IMAGINING HIMSELF
AS PRESIDENT

AND PREPARING HIMSELF
FOR THE PRESIDENCY.

Hamby:
HE TELLS A FRIEND OF HIS
IN MISSOURI

THAT ROOSEVELT HAS
THE PALLOR OF DEATH ON HIS FACE.

HE'S VERY WORRIED

THAT HE'S GOING TO HAVE
THE PRESIDENCY THRUST ON HIM

AND THAT IT MIGHT HAPPEN
AT ANY MOMENT.

Narrator:
ON APRIL 12, 1945, TRUMAN
RUSHED TO THE WHITE HOUSE.

FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT WAS DEAD.

VICE-PRESIDENT FOR JUST 82 DAYS

HARRY S. TRUMAN WAS NOW
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

HE WAS FRIGHTENED AND INSECURE.

"I'M NOT BIG ENOUGH
FOR THIS JOB," TRUMAN SAID.

AFTER TAKING THE OATH, TRUMAN
GATHERED HIS CABINET AROUND HIM.

HE BARELY KNEW THESE MEN.

NOW HE ASKED FOR THEIR SUPPORT.

SECRETARY OF WAR
HENRY STIMSON REMAINED

WHILE THE REST
SILENTLY DRIFTED AWAY.

"HE WANTED ME TO KNOW
ABOUT AN IMMENSE PROJECT"

TRUMAN WROTE LATER,
"TO DEVELOP A NEW EXPLOSIVE

"OF ALMOST UNBELIEVABLE
DESTRUCTIVE POWER.

"THAT WAS ALL HE FELT FREE
TO SAY AT THE TIME

AND HIS STATEMENT
LEFT ME PUZZLED."

HARRY TRUMAN WAS PRESIDENT

AND HE KNEW NOTHING
ABOUT THE ATOMIC BOMB.

Narrator:
THE DAY AFTER
FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT DIED

PRESIDENT HARRY TRUMAN
MET WITH REPORTERS.

"BOYS, IF YOU EVER PRAY,
PRAY FOR ME NOW," HE TOLD THEM.

"I DON'T KNOW
WHETHER YOU FELLOWS

"EVER HAD A LOAD OF HAY
FALL ON YOU

"BUT WHEN THEY TOLD ME YESTERDAY
WHAT HAD HAPPENED

"I FELT LIKE THE MOON,
THE STARS AND ALL THE PLANETS

HAD FALLEN ON ME."

ON HIS FIRST FULL DAY IN OFFICE,
TRUMAN SURPRISED EVERYONE

WITH HIS SHOW
OF ENERGY AND CONFIDENCE.

Hamby:
OUTWARDLY, TRUMAN WORKS
VERY HARD AT LOOKING CONFIDENT

AT SEEMING TO BE IN CHARGE.

PRIVATELY, HE CLEARLY
FEELS QUITE INSECURE

ABOUT HIS NEW ROLE.

HE LETS CLOSE FRIENDS
AND CONFIDANTES KNOW

THAT THIS IS
A TERRIBLE CHALLENGE HE FACES.

Narrator:
"I'M SCARED," HE ADMITTED
TO HIS MOTHER AND SISTER.

"MAYBE IT WILL COME OUT
ALL RIGHT."

HIS FIRST CHANCE TO PROVE
THAT HE WAS UP TO THE JOB

CAME ON APRIL 16

WHEN HE ADDRESSED
A JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS.

Announcer:
IN JUST A MOMENT SPEAKER RAYBURN
WILL INTRODUCE PRESIDENT TRUMAN.

Narrator:
ANXIOUS TO REASSURE AMERICANS,
AND HIMSELF, TRUMAN FUMBLED.

HE LAUNCHED IMMEDIATELY
INTO HIS SPEECH

AND ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY,
AMERICANS LISTENING ON THE RADIO

HEARD THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE
CORRECT HIM BY HIS FIRST NAME.

Truman:
MR. SPEAKER...

Rayburn:
JUST A MOMENT... LET ME
PRESENT YOU, WILL YOU, HARRY?

MEMBERS OF THE CONGRESS

I HAVE THE GREAT PLEASURE
AND THE HIGH PRIVILEGE

OF PRESENTING TO YOU THE
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

IN HIS INFINITE WISDOM

ALMIGHTY GOD HAS SEEN FIT
TO TAKE FROM US A GREAT MAN

WHO LOVED AND WAS BELOVED
BY ALL HUMANITY.

NO MAN COULD POSSIBLY FILL
THE TREMENDOUS VOID

LEFT BY THE PASSING
OF THAT NOBLE SOUL.

Narrator:
IN SPITE OF HIS NERVOUS SLIP

THE SPEECH WAS
A RESOUNDING SUCCESS.

AMERICANS EVERYWHERE WARMED
TO THIS SEEMINGLY SIMPLE

STRAIGHTFORWARD MAN
FROM MISSOURI.

HIS SMALL-TOWN, FOLKSY MANNER
STOOD IN STRIKING CONTRAST

TO THE PATRICIAN MANNERS
OF FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT

AND MANY AMERICANS
FOUND THE CHANGE REFRESHING.

"AFTER A DIET OF CAVIAR,"
AN AIDE SAID

"YOU LIKE TO GET BACK
TO HAM AND EGGS."

Donovan:
HARRY WAS FRESH AND FAST
AND DARTING ABOUT.

THE CONTRAST SORT OF HIT THEM.

TRUMAN WAS PEPPERY,
AND HE'D WALK ALONG THE STREET

AND A TRUCK DRIVER,
I REMEMBER ON ONE OCCASION

SAID, "GOOD LUCK, HARRY!"

Narrator:
THE PRESS WAS SOON
PRAISING HIM FOR HIS CANDOR

AND CABINET OFFICIALS
FOR HIS HARD WORK.

TRUMAN, MANY AMERICANS WERE
SAYING, WAS A MAN OF THE PEOPLE.

Donovan:
THE THING I REMEMBER MOST
IS HIS HANDSHAKE.

I NEVER FELT SUCH A HANDSHAKE.

IT FINALLY DAWNED ON ME,
THIS MAN HAD...

WAS A REAL DIRT FARMER.

HE WORKED BEHIND THE PLOW
FOR TEN YEARS.

Hamby:
TRUMAN WAS THE ORDINARY
AMERICAN DEMOCRAT, SMALL "D."

BUT DID THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

WANT SOMEONE WHO WAS
SIMPLY ORDINARY TO LEAD THEM?

DID THEY BELIEVE
THAT SOMEONE OF THAT TYPE COULD?

THIS IS A PROBLEM
THAT TRUMAN WOULD FACE

THROUGHOUT HIS PRESIDENCY.

Narrator:
WHEN TRUMAN TOOK
THE OATH OF OFFICE

AMERICANS WERE FIGHTING
THE GREATEST WAR IN HISTORY.

ALL AT ONCE HE WAS COMMANDER-
IN-CHIEF OF 16 MILLION MEN

AND A TERRIFYING ARSENAL OF
WARSHIPS, TANKS AND PLANES

ARRAYED AGAINST THE JAPANESE
IN THE PACIFIC

AND NAZI GERMANY IN EUROPE.

BUT WHAT HE KNEW ABOUT WAR

CAME FROM HIS EXPERIENCE
AS A SOLDIER IN WORLD WAR I

AND FROM BOOKS
HE HAD READ AS A CHILD.

AMERICANS EVERYWHERE
WONDERED HOW HARRY TRUMAN

WOULD END THE WAR...
AND AT WHAT COST.

DURING TRUMAN'S
FIRST DAYS IN OFFICE

ALLIED ARMIES
WERE SWEEPING TOWARD GERMANY...

THE SOVIET UNION
CLOSED IN FROM THE EAST

THE AMERICANS FROM THE WEST.

BUT WITH THE NAZIS
ON THE VERGE OF SURRENDER

TRUMAN FEARED THAT THE SOVIETS
COULD NO LONGER BE TRUSTED.

THE WAR-INSPIRED ALLIANCE
BETWEEN RUSSIA AND AMERICA

WAS BEGINNING TO COME APART.

ON APRIL 22, SOVIET FOREIGN
MINISTER VYACHESLAV MOLOTOV

PAID A CALL ON THE WHITE HOUSE.

MOLOTOV WAS A WILY DIPLOMAT

A HARDENED VETERAN
OF THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION.

TRUMAN HAD BEEN PRESIDENT
FOR JUST TEN DAYS.

HE HAD NEVER NEGOTIATED
A TREATY BEFORE

NEVER MET A RUSSIAN IN HIS LIFE

AND KNEW NEXT TO NOTHING
ABOUT AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY.

LaFeber:
TRUMAN WAS INSECURE
AND IGNORANT.

IGNORANT NOT IN THE SENSE
OF BEING UNINTELLIGENT...

THE MAN WAS VERY INTELLIGENT...

IGNORANT IN THE SENSE OF
NOT KNOWING WHAT WAS GOING ON.

BUT OF COURSE, NOBODY
REALLY KNEW WHAT WAS GOING ON

EXCEPT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT,
AND HE WAS DEAD.

THE MAJOR PROBLEM
WAS THAT THE RED ARMY OCCUPIED

MUCH OF EASTERN EUROPE
AND WAS DRIVING TOWARDS BERLIN.

AND CONSEQUENTLY, WHAT
TRUMAN FACED WAS ESSENTIALLY

A RUSSIAN OCCUPATION OF EASTERN
AND PART OF CENTRAL EUROPE.

Narrator:
SOVIET DICTATOR JOSEF STALIN

SAW THE COUNTRIES
OF EASTERN AND CENTRAL EUROPE

AS A BAND OF PROTECTION AGAIT
ANY ATTEMPT TO INVADE RUSSIA.

TRUMAN FEARED STALIN
WOULD USE THE RED ARMY

TO FORCE THEM
TO BECOME COMMUNIST.

"WHOEVER OCCUPIES A TERRITORY,"
STALIN SAID

"ALSO IMPOSES ON IT
HIS OWN SOCIAL SYSTEM

AS FAR AS HIS ARMY CAN REACH."

WHEN TRUMAN AND MOLOTOV
SAT DOWN TO TALK

THE FATE OF EASTERN EUROPE
STILL HUNG IN THE BALANCE.

TRUMAN BELIEVED THE SOVIETS
HAD ALREADY VIOLATED

AN AGREEMENT
NEGOTIATED BY ROOSEVELT

GUARANTEEING FREE ELECTIONS
IN POLAND.

THE NEW PRESIDENT
DIDN'T HESITATE

TO TELL THE SOVIET MINISTER
JUST WHAT HE THOUGHT.

Shulman:
TRUMAN GAVE HIM
A TONGUE-LASHING...

"WHY DON'T YOU PEOPLE BEHAVE?

WHY DON'T YOU RESPECT YOUR
OBLIGATIONS?" AND SO ON.

AND, ACCORDING TO CHIP BOLIN,
WHO TOLD ME ABOUT THIS

WHO WAS THE INTERPRETER
AND WAS ON THE SCENE

SAID MOLOTOV, IN HIS STIFF WAY,
DREW BACK AND SAID

"I'VE NEVER
BEEN TALKED TO LIKE THIS."

"WELL, YOU FOLKS BEHAVE AND YOU
WON'T BE TALKED TO LIKE THIS."

TRUMAN THEN
WALKED OUT OF THE ROOM

SAW A TOP STATE DEPARTMENT AIDE

AND SAID TO THE
STATE DEPARTMENT AIDE

"I JUST GAVE HIM
A STRAIGHT ONE-TWO TO THE JAW."

AND THEN HE STOPPED
AND LOOKED AT THIS MAN AND SAID

"DO YOU THINK I DID RIGHT?"

Narrator:
"I'M HERE TO MAKE DECISIONS,"
TRUMAN SAID.

"WHETHER THEY PROVE RIGHT OR
WRONG, I'M GOING TO MAKE THEM."

WITHIN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS,
TRUMAN WOULD HAVE TO MAKE

ONE OF THE MOST
TERRIBLE DECISIONS IN HISTORY.

WHILE NAZI GERMANY
WAS CRUMBLING

THE JAPANESE REMAINED
A DANGEROUS, UNYIELDING ENEMY.

THEY HAD ALREADY TAKEN
OVER 50,000 AMERICAN LIVES

AND MORE AND MORE
WERE DYING EVERY DAY.

BUT AMERICA HAD BEEN
DEVELOPING A WEAPON

THAT MIGHT FORCE THE JAPANESE
TO SURRENDER.

JUST 13 DAYS IN OFFICE,
TRUMAN WAS HANDED A MEMORANDUM

BY SECRETARY OF WAR STIMSON.

"WITHIN FOUR MONTHS,"
TRUMAN READ

"WE SHALL IN ALL PROBABILITY
HAVE COMPLETED

THE MOST TERRIBLE WEAPON EVER
KNOWN IN HUMAN HISTORY."

STIMSON WENT ON TO TELL TRUMAN

ABOUT THE SECRET SITE
IN NEW MEXICO

WHERE SCIENTISTS HAD BEEN
WORKING ROUND THE CLOCK

FOR THE PAST TWO AND A HALF
YEARS TO FASHION A WEAPON

OUT OF THE ELEMENTAL FORCES
OF THE UNIVERSE.

BUT IT WOULD STILL BE MONTHS,
STIMSON SAID

BEFORE ANYONE WOULD KNOW

WHETHER THE ATOMIC BOMB
WOULD WORK.

Narrator:
ON MAY 8, TRUMAN'S 61st BIRTHDAY

NAZI GERMANY SURRENDERED.

"ISN'T THAT
SOME BIRTHDAY PRESENT?"

HE WROTE HIS 92-YEAR-OLD MOTHER.

NOW ONLY JAPAN REMAINED.

THE VICTORY WON IN THE WEST
MUST NOW BE WON IN THE EAST.

THE WHOLE WORLD MUST BE CLEANSED
OF THE EVIL

FROM WHICH HALF THE WORLD
HAS BEEN FREED.

Narrator:
BUT TRUMAN FEARED THE JAPANESE
WOULD NOT SURRENDER

WITHOUT A LONG
AND BLOODY STRUGGLE.

ALREADY THEY HAD BEEN
SEVERELY PUNISHED

AND YET SHOWED
NO SIGNS OF YIELDING.

WHILE TRUMAN WAS VICE-PRESIDENT

AMERICAN B-29s HAD RAINED
THOUSANDS OF TONS OF BOMBS

ON THE ISLAND NATION.

FIVE WEEKS BEFORE HE TOOK OFFICE

AMERICAN PLANES DROPPED
2,000 TONS OF NAPALM ON TOKYO

BURNING 16 SQUARE MILES
OF THE CITY TO THE GROUND.

IN A SINGLE DAY,
100,000 JAPANESE WERE KILLED.

Man:
THE FIRE-BOMBING RAIDS

PREPARES THE WAY FOR
EVEN MORE DEVASTATING BOMBING.

WHAT HAS CHANGED IN THE WAR

IS A REDEFINITION
OF WHAT IS A LEGITIMATE TARGET...

LEGITIMATE TARGET
IS NOT SIMPLY A CITY

BUT PEOPLE IN THE CITY

WHO ARE PRIMARILY NONCOMBATANTS

IN WHAT IS A REDEFINED,
VIRTUALLY TOTAL WAR

SO THAT EVERYBODY
BECOMES A TARGET.

Narrator:
THE BOMBING DESTROYED NEARLY ALL
OF JAPAN'S BIGGEST CITIES

AND KILLED MORE THAN
A HALF A MILLION CIVILIANS.

STILL, THE JAPANESE FOUGHT ON.

McCullough:
TRUMAN KNEW THAT
THEY WERE DEFEATED.

THEY KNEW THEY WERE DEFEATED;
THAT REALLY WASN'T THE QUESTION.

THE QUESTION WAS,
WOULD THEY SURRENDER?

Narrator:
THE BATTLE
FOR THE ISLAND OF OKINAWA

350 MILES SOUTH OF JAPAN

PAINTED A BLOODY PORTRAIT
FOR TRUMAN

OF JUST HOW FEROCIOUS
JAPANESE RESISTANCE COULD BE.

THE FIGHTING RAGED ON
FOR MONTHS.

10,000 AMERICANS WERE KILLED,
27,000 WOUNDED.

AND ENTRENCHED IN THE JUNGLES
AND CAVES OF THE ISLAND

MORE THAN 100,000
JAPANESE SOLDIERS

WERE BURNED OR BOMBED TO DEATH
RATHER THAN SURRENDER.

Lifton:
OKINAWA WAS A BLOODY BATTLE...

ONE OF THE BLOODIEST BATTLES
OF A VICIOUS WAR.

AND OKINAWA WAS AN EXAMPLE

OF HOW MUCH OF
A LAST-DITCH BATTLE

THE JAPANESE COULD PUT UP...

AND THE KIND OF BATTLE
THEY MIGHT PUT UP

ON THEIR HOME ISLANDS,
IN MAN-TO-MAN COMBAT.

SO OKINAWA COULD BE
TAKEN AS AN INDICATOR

THAT JAPAN NEEDED DIRE
MEASURES TO DEFEAT IT.

Narrator:
ON JUNE 1, WITH THE STRUGGLE
FOR OKINAWA REACHING A CLIMAX

TRUMAN RECEIVED A REPORT

FROM A COMMITTEE
HE HAD APPOINTED

TO STUDY THE ATOMIC BOMB.

THE COMMITTEE URGED THE
PRESIDENT TO USE THE WEAPON...

WITHOUT WARNING.

IT DID NOT RECOMMEND
ANY ALTERNATIVES.

Bernstein:
THE USE OF THE BOMB
WAS NOT A TOPIC OF DEBATE.

THE ISSUE WAS NEVER,
SHOULD THE BOMB BE USED?

FOR US, THE BOMB,
WHETHER WE APPROVE OR NOT

IS A QUESTION THAT
SHOULD HAVE BEEN ASKED.

FOR THEM, LIVING HISTORY
FORWARD AND NOT BACKWARD

WHAT'S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND

IS THAT THE USE OF THE BOMB
WAS NOT A QUESTION;

IT WAS AN ANSWER.

IF THE WEAPON COULD
STOP THE KILLING

THEN, IT WAS FELT,
IT HAD TO BE USED.

WAS IT RIGHT?

WAS IT WRONG?

I DON'T THINK
THAT WAS THE ISSUE.

I THINK THEY SAW IT
AS NECESSARY.

Narrator:
TRUMAN DID NOT KNOW

THAT SOME OF THE SCIENTISTS
WHO HAD HELPED CREATE THE BOMB

WERE NOW ACTIVELY ATTEMPTING
TO LIMIT ITS USE.

THEY ADVOCATED
A DEMONSTRATION BOMB

THAT WOULD CONVINCE
THE JAPANESE TO SURRENDER.

THEIR PETITIONS NEVER
REACHED THE PRESIDENT

BUT IT IS UNLIKELY THEY
COULD HAVE CHANGED HIS MIND.

I KNOW OF NO OCCASION

WHEN PRESIDENT TRUMAN
EVER SPOKE ABOUT DOUBTS

ON... ON USING THE BOMB.

ALL HIS ADVISERS,
WITHOUT EXCEPTION

RECOMMENDED THE USE OF THE BOMB

JUST AS SOON AS
IT WAS AVAILABLE.

AND HE AGREED WITH THEM.

Narrator:
BUT THE ATOMIC BOMB
STILL REMAINED UNTESTED.

NO ONE KNEW IF IT WOULD WORK.

JUNE 18, TRUMAN AGREED

TO PLANS TO INVADE
JAPAN IN EARLY NOVEMBER.

TENS OF THOUSANDS
OF AMERICAN SOLDIERS

WERE RETURNING FROM
THE BATTLEFIELDS OF EUROPE.

FOR MOST,
IF THE INVASION WENT FORWARD

IT WOULD BE JUST WEEKS

BEFORE THEY WOULD BE
SENT BACK INTO BATTLE...

THIS TIME,
FIGHTING THE JAPANESE.

McCullough:
WE WERE GOING TO INVADE
THE HOME ISLANDS

AND THE LOSS OF LIFE
WOULD BE TERRIBLE.

AND FOR TRUMAN

WHETHER IT WAS GOING TO BE
20,000 LIVES OR 100,000 LIVES

WAS NOT REALLY THE QUESTION.

THE QUESTION WAS
TO STOP THE KILLING.

Hamby:
TRUMAN WAS ONE OF THE FEW
PRESIDENTS OF THE 20th CENTURY

TO HAVE ACTUALLY
EXPERIENCED WARTIME COMBAT.

HE HAD SEEN CORPSES STACKED UP.

HE KNEW WHAT WAR WAS LIKE.

HE WAS VERY, VERY ANXIOUS
TO GET WORLD WAR II OVER WITH

AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.

Narrator:
ONLY 30 DAYS IN OFFICE,
TRUMAN WAS STILL ADJUSTING

TO THE ANXIETIES
OF BEING PRESIDENT

STILL TELLING HIS ADVISERS
THAT HE DIDN'T WANT THE JOB.

AND BESS NEVER
WANTED TO BE FIRST LADY.

AFTER JUST ONE MONTH
IN THE WHITE HOUSE

BESS AND MARGARET
WENT HOME TO INDEPENDENCE.

McCullough:
BESS DID NOT LIKE
LIVING IN THE WHITE HOUSE.

SHE FELT VERY UNCOMFORTABLE,
VERY ILL AT EASE

WITH ALL THE FANFARE AND
THE ATTENTION OF THE PRESS.

PARTICULARLY WHEN PHOTOGRAPHERS
PRESSED IN AROUND HER

SHE WOULD FREEZE AND BECOME
KIND OF "OLD STONE FACE"

AND GET AN EXPRESSION THAT
LOOKED AS IF HER FEET HURT.

THE SPOTLIGHT, THE LIMELIGHT

DID NOT APPEAL
TO BESS TRUMAN, EVER.

AND SHE WOULD RETURN HOME
TO INDEPENDENCE

AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE

LEAVING THE PRESIDENT FEELING
VERY ALONE, OFTEN DESOLATE.

IT'S HARD FOR SOME
PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND

WHAT SHE WAS LIKE AND WHY THE
PRESIDENT WAS SO DEVOTED TO HER.

BUT HE ADORED HER.

THERE'S NO QUESTION ABOUT THAT.

Roll:
I THINK SHE WAS
A VERY SHY PERSON

VERY ILL AT EASE IN
THAT KIND OF AN ENVIRONMENT.

WHEN SHE WAS IN THE WHITE HOUSE

SHE USED TO HAVE HER OLD BRIDGE
CLUB FROM MISSOURI COME UP.

AND I THINK PROBABLY

THAT'S THE ONLY TIME
SHE WAS REALLY COMFORTABLE.

THERE REALLY WAS
NOT A GOOD NICHE FOR HER.

AND I DON'T THINK SHE EVER
REALLY ENJOYED THE PUBLIC EYE.

Narrator:
BESS TRUMAN'S
FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE

CONFIRMED HER WORST FEARS.

Newsreel announcer:
AT THE NATIONAL AIRPORT,
AMBULANCES WITH WINGS...

ONE EACH FOR NAVY AND ARMY

READY TO BE CHRISTENED
BY MRS. HARRY S. TRUMAN

IN HER FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE.

BUT MRS. TRUMAN IS
IN FOR A SURPRISE.

OH, DEAR!

Announcer:
REFUSING TO BE RATTLED

THE NEW FIRST LADY JOINS
IN THE CROWD'S LAUGHTER.

BY AN OVERSIGHT, THE CHAMPAGNE
BOTTLE, UNLIKE THIS ONE

HASN'T BEEN PROPERLY PREPARED...

ETCHED TO BREAK
THE GLASS ON IMPACT.

ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL.

Narrator:
TRUMAN SMILED WHEN
HE SAW THE NEWSREEL

AS DID MOST OF AMERICA

BUT BESS IS SAID TO
HAVE TOLD HER HUSBAND

SHE WISHED SHE HAD
SWUNG THE BOTTLE AT HIM.

ON JULY 7, THE START OF
HIS FOURTH MONTH IN OFFICE

TRUMAN STEAMED
ACROSS THE ATLANTIC

ON THE UNITED STATES
CRUISER AUGUSTA.

POTSDAM, GERMANY.

"DEAR BESS,
I SURE DREAD THIS TRIP

"WORSE THAN ANYTHING
I'VE HAD TO FACE.

BUT IT HAS TO BE DONE."

WITH SCIENTISTS AT LOS ALAMOS
POISED TO TEST THE ATOMIC BOMB

TRUMAN WAS ABOUT TO BEGIN
A SERIES OF NEGOTIATIONS

THAT WOULD DETERMINE THE
FATE OF THE POSTWAR WORLD.

HE HAD BEEN
TO EUROPE ONLY ONCE BEFORE

AS A SOLDIER ON
THE WESTERN FRONT.

NOW HE WAS PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES

PREPARING TO MEET TWO OF THE
LEGENDS OF THE 20th CENTURY...

WINSTON CHURCHILL
AND JOSEPH STALIN.

"MR. GREAT BRITAIN" AND "MR.
RUSSIA," TRUMAN CALLED THEM.

McCullough:
TRUMAN HAD TO STEP
ONTO THE WORLD STAGE

WITH TWO OF THE MOST
COLOSSAL FIGURES OF THE CENTURY

TWO CONSUMMATE PERFORMERS,
CONSUMMATE ACTORS

WHO ARE VERY ACCUSTOMED
TO COMMANDING THE STAGE.

AND WHO IS HE?

Narrator:
"DEAR BESS, THE PRIME MINISTER
CAME TO SEE ME THIS MORNING."

McCullough:
TRUMAN IS SUFFERING

FROM A CONSIDERABLE
AMOUNT OF STAGE FRIGHT.

HE KNOWS THAT CHURCHILL HAD
BEEN FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY

WHEN HARRY TRUMAN WAS STILL
PLOWING FIELDS BACK IN MISSOURI.

HE KNOWS ALSO
THE AFFECTION, THE BOND

BETWEEN ROOSEVELT AND CHURCHILL

AND WONDERS IF EVER HE CAN
ATTAIN THAT KIND OF RESPECT.

Narrator:
CHURCHILL LIKED TRUMAN

BUT THE MAN FROM MISSOURI
WAS NOT IMPRESSED

BY THE PRIME
MINISTER'S FLATTERY.

"CHURCHILGAVE ME
A LOT OF HOOEY"

TRUMAN WROTE IN HIS DIARY.

"WELL, I'M SURE WE CAN GET ALONG

IF HE DOESN'T TRY
TO GIVE ME TOO MUCH SOFT SOAP."

FOLLOWING CHURCHILL'S VISIT,
TRUMAN ASKED TO SEE BERLIN.

FOR MONTHS,
THE GERMAN CAPITAL HAD BEEN

THE TARGET OF ALLIED BOMBS.

TRUMAN RECORDED HIS
REACTIONS IN HIS DIARY.

"I NEVER SAW SUCH DESTRUCTION.

"I THOUGHT OF CARTHAGE...

"ROME...

BABYLON."

"WHAT A PITY THE HUMAN ANIMAL

"IS NOT ABLE TO PUT HIS MORAL
THINKING INTO PRACTICE.

I FEAR THAT MACHINES ARE AHEAD
OF MORALS BY SOME CENTURIES."

Man on intercom:
Eight, seven, six...

Narrator:
WHILE TRUMAN WAS TOURING BERLIN

THE FIRST ATOMIC BOMB
WAS EXPLODED

OVER THE DESERTS OF NEW MEXICO.

Man:
now.

TRUMAN RETURNED FROM HIS TOUR
OF A DEVASTATED BERLIN

TO FIND SECRETARY OF WAR
STIMSON, WITH A CODED TELEGRAM.

"OPERATED ON THIS MORNING,"
IT READ.

"DIAGNOSIS NOT YET COMPLETE,
BUT RESULTS SEEM SATISFACTORY

AND ALREADY
EXCEED EXPECTATIONS."

THE PRESIDENT NOW KNEW THAT
THE ATOMIC BOMB WOULD WORK.

PLANS WERE ALREADY IN MOTION

TO DROP A SECOND BOMB
AS SOON AS POSSIBLE...

THIS ONE ON JAPAN.

THE NEXT DAY,
STALIN CAME TO CALL.

"A FEW MINUTES BEFORE 12:00,"
TRUMAN WROTE

"I LOOKED UP FROM MY DESK

"AND THERE STOOD STALIN
IN THE DOORWAY.

"I GOT TO MY FEET
AND ADVANCED TO MEET HIM.

HE PUT OUT HIS HAND AND SMILED."

ONE DAY, TRUMAN AND STALIN WOULD
CONFRONT EACH OTHER AS ENEMIES

IN THE MOST DANGEROUS
IDEOLOGICAL CONFLICT

IN ALL OF HISTORY.

BUT ON JULY 17, THE UNITED
STATES AND THE SOVIET UNION

WERE ALLIES WHO HAD JUST
DEFEATED A TERRIBLE ENEMY.

BOTH MEN WERE
CORDIAL AND FRIENDLY.

Hamby:
TRUMAN WAS RATHER
IMPRESSED BY STALIN.

HE THOUGHT THAT
HERE WAS A TOUGH GUY.

STALIN STRUCK HIM
AS FRANK AND STRAIGHTFORWARD...

A SORT OF POLITICAL BOSS TYPE

WHO WOULD KEEP HIS WORD
ONCE HE GAVE IT.

Narrator:
TRUMAN SAID LATER
THAT STALIN REMINDED HIM

OF THE MISSOURI KINGPIN
TOM PENDERGAST.

McCullough:
JOSEPH STALIN WAS
NOTHING LIKE TOM PENDERGAST.

THIS WAS ONE OF

THE MOST BLOODTHIRSTY,
MURDERING, EVIL MEN OF OUR TIME.

BUT TRUMAN HAD
THAT VERY AMERICAN IDEA

THAT OLD AMERICAN IDEA

THAT IF HE COULD
JUST MEET THE FELLOW

SHAKE HIS HAND, LOOK HIM
IN THE EYE, SIZE HIM UP

THAT THEY COULD WORK
TOGETHER, WORK THINGS OUT

AND EVERYTHING WOULD BE OKAY.

Narrator:
"I CAN DEAL WITH STALIN,"
TRUMAN WROTE.

"HE IS HONEST
BUT SMART AS HELL."

STALIN WAS LESS SANGUINE.

HE TOLD AN AIDE
THAT TRUMAN WAS WORTHLESS.

THE SOVIET DICTATOR
HAD ALREADY DETERMINED

THAT HE WOULD SURRENDER
NOTHING OF ANY CONSEQUENCE

WHEN THE BARGAINING BEGAN.

THAT EVENING, JULY 17, TRUMAN,
STALIN AND CHURCHILL SAT DOWN

TO DISCUSS
THE FATE OF EASTERN EUROPE.

LaFeber:
THE SOVIET ARMY IS OCCUPYING

EASTERN EUROPE AND
PARTS OF CENTRAL EUROPE

AND THE QUESTION IS:

HOW DO YOU NEGOTIATE
THE RUSSIAN ARMIES

OUT OF CENTRAL
AND EASTERN EUROPE?

Narrator:
OVER THE NEXT 17 DAYS, TRUMAN
WOULD TRY TO CONVINCE STALIN

TO WITHDRAW HIS ARMIES AND ALLOW
THE COUNTRIES OF EASTERN EUROPE

TO HOLD FREE ELECTIONS.

"DEAR BESS,
THE FIRST SESSION WAS YESTERDAY.

"IT MAKES PRESIDING OVER
THE SENATE SEEM TAME.

"THE BOYS SAY
I GAVE THEM AN EARFUL.

"I HOPE SO.

"I WAS SO SCARED.

"I DIDN'T KNOW

WHETHER THINGS WERE GOING
ACCORDING TO HOYLE OR NOT."

WHILE TRUMAN WAS
NEGOTIATING IN GERMANY

THEENOLA GAY, A SPECIALLY
MODIFIED, LIGHTWEIGHT B-29

WAS SOARING HIGH ABOVE
THE ISLAND OF TINIAN

FAR AWAY IN THE PACIFIC

REHEARSING MANEUVERS
TO DROP THE ATOMIC BOMB.

A LIST OF FOUR TARGET CITIES
HAD BEEN PREPARED.

IT WAS NOW ALL BUT CERTAIN

THAT THE BOMB WOULD
BE USED ON ONE OF THEM

WITHIN THE NEXT THREE WEEKS.

Elsey:
IT WAS ABSOLUTELY INEVITABLE.

IT WAS A WEAPON
THAT COULD BRING THE WAR

TO AN EARLY... AN IMMEDIATE END.

AND IN MY VIEW,
HAD ANY PRESIDENT...

TRUMAN OR ANYONE ELSE...
NOT USED THE BOMB

THAT MAN WOULD HAVE BEEN
SUBJECT TO IMPEACHMENT.

HERE'S A DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENT

AND THE PLAN IS ABOUT
TO MOVE ALL OUR ARMY NOW

INTO THE PACIFIC

TO INVADE JAPAN WITH
WHO KNOWS WHAT CASUALTIES

AND YEARS LATER, THE PUBLIC... OR
A FEW MONTHS LATER OR SOMETIME...

IT LEAKS OUT
THAT THE PRESIDENT HAD

A BOMB THAT WOULD
HAVE ENDED ALL OF THAT

WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED
TO THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY?

WHAT WOULD HAVE
HAPPENED TO TRUMAN?

LaFeber:
IT WAS QUITE CLEAR THAT THE BOMB
WOULD NOT ONLY SHORTEN THE WAR

BUT IT COULD BE
THE KIND OF WEAPON

THAT THE OTHER POWERS WITH
WHICH TRUMAN HAD TO DEAL

WOULD BE IN AWE OF.

CONSEQUENTLY,
THERE WAS NO QUESTION

ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT TRUMAN
WAS GOING TO USE THE BOMB.

THE QUESTION WAS
WHEN AND HOW AND WHERE.

Narrator:
AT POTSDAM, THE NEGOTIATIONS
WERE GOING NOWHERE.

THE FIRST THREE SESSIONS
HAD ENDED IN STALEMATE.

ON JULY 19, IN THE SPIRIT OF
THEIR WAR-INSPIRED PARTNERSHIP

TRUMAN THREW A PARTY
FOR CHURCHILL AND STALIN

AND FLEW IN TWO YOUNG
AMERICAN G.I.s TO ENTERTAIN:

PIANIST EUGENE LIST
AND VIOLINIST STUART CANIN.

Canin:
I WAS SO NERVOUS
WHEN I STARTED TO PLAY.

I THINK I WAS SHAKING.

NOW, I'VE BEEN A PROFESSIONAL
VIOLINIST FOR 50 YEARS

AND I HAVE NEVER PLAYED
FOR AN AUDIENCE LIKE THAT.

I MEAN, I COULD BARELY
HOLD THE BOW ON THE STRING.

I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'VE EVER
SEEN A LITTLE UPRIGHT PIANO

BUT IT HAS KIND OF
A BUM PIANO RACK

AND THE MUSIC WAS NOT
STAYING PUT VERY WELL

AND TRUMAN LEAPED UP

AND HE JUST TURNED
THE PAGES FOR GENE

WHICH WAS
QUITE EXCITING TO HAVE

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES TURN PAGES FOR YOU.

Narrator:
ONE NIGHT, THE PRESIDENT
SAT DOWN AT THE PIANO

AND PLAYED FOR CANIN AND LIST

A PIECE HE HAD PRACTICED
FOR LONG HOURS

AS A BOY
IN INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI.

Canin:
THE MAN HAD
GREAT FEELING FOR MUSIC.

HE DIDN'T ALWAYS HAVE THE
TECHNIQUE TO DO WHAT HE WANTED

BUT THE FEELING WAS THERE

AND YOU COULD SENSE
THAT HE REALLY LOVED MUSIC.

HE SAID, "I WONDER

"HOW MUCH BETTER OFF
THE COUNTRY WOULD HAVE BEEN

IF I HAD BECOME
A CONCERT PIANIST?"

AMAZING FOR
A PRESIDENT TO SAY THAT!

McCullough:
HE TOOK MUSIC
VERY MUCH TO HEART.

HE ADORED GOOD MUSIC.

HE ONCE WROTE TO BESS

"DID YOU EVER HEAR AN OVERTURE
PERFORMED BY A FINE ORCHESTRA

"AND IMAGINE THAT THINGS
WERE AS THEY OUGHT TO BE

INSTEAD OF AS THEY ARE?"

Narrator:
ON JULY 21

TWO DAYS AFTER TRUMAN'S PARTY
FOR CHURCHILL AND STALIN

THE PRESIDENT RECEIVED

A DESCRIPTION OF THE TEST
OF THE ATOMIC BOMB.

FOR THE FIRST TIME

HE BECAME FULLY AWARE
OF ITS AWESOME POWER.

TRUMAN WAS TOLD THAT 13 POUNDS
OF EXPLOSIVES HAD EVAPORATED

A STEEL TOWER 60 FEET HIGH

LEFT A CRATER IN THE NEW MEXICAN
DESERT MORE THAN TWO MILES WIDE

KNOCKED DOWN MEN
10,000 YARDS AWAY

AND WAS VISIBLE
FOR MORE THAN 200 MILES.

TRUMAN WROTE IN HIS DIARY

"WE HAVE DISCOVERED
THE MOST TERRIBLE BOMB

"IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD.

"IT MAY BE THE FIRE DESTRUCTION

PROPHESIED AFTER NOAH
AND HIS FABULOUS ARK."

"I HAVE TOLD THE SECRETARY
OF WAR, MR. STIMSON

"TO USE IT SO THAT
MILITARY OBJECTIVES

"AND SOLDIERS AND SAILORS
ARE THE TARGET

AND NOT WOMEN AND CHILDREN."

Hamby:
HE TELLS HIMSELF IN A DIARY
ENTRY THAT HE WROTE AT THAT TIME

THAT, "OF COURSE,
THE BOMB WILL BE USED

"AGAINST A MILITARY TARGET

"BECAUSE NO MATTER HOW BAD
THE JAPANESE HAVE BEEN

WE CAN'T KILL
WOMEN AND CHILDREN."

BUT HE HAD TO HAVE SOME
UNDERSTANDING AT POTSDAM

THAT HE WAS KIDDING HIMSELF.

IT WAS WISHFUL THINKING.

Lifton:
HE'S AWARE THAT IT'LL BE MUCH
MORE THAN A MILITARY TARGET.

IT'LL KILL LARGE NUMBERS
OF ORDINARY CIVILIANS.

BUT YOU MUST REMEMBER

HE, LIKE ALL OTHER AMERICANS,
SAW THIS AS A WAR AGAINST EVIL

AND THERE WAS A LOT OF
EVIL OUT THERE, REAL EVIL

ON THE PART OF THE NAZIS AND
JAPANESE MILITARISM AND FASCISM.

IN THAT SENSE, HE CAN BELIEVE
THAT THE BOMB IS JUSTIFIED

AND THAT THIS GREATEST WEAPON
EVER DEVELOPED HAS A PLACE

IN OVERCOMING OR COMBATING EVIL.

Narrator:
THE DAY AFTER TRUMAN
LEARNED OF THE BOMB'S POWER

HE CONFRONTED STALIN
WITH NEW CONFIDENCE.

SECRETARY OF WAR STIMSON
WROTE IN HIS DIARY

THAT THE PRESIDENT WAS
"TREMENDOUSLY PEPPED UP."

IN HIS HIGH-STAKES GAME
WITH THE SOVIET DICTATOR

TRUMAN NOW HAD
A NEW CARD TO PLAY.

LaFeber:
AND CHURCHILL LATER SAID
THAT TRUMAN...

ONCE HE HEARD THE NEWS
THAT THE ATOMIC BOMB WORKED...

WAS "A CHANGED MAN."

IT WAS QUITE CLEAR
TO TRUMAN NOW THAT HE HAD

AS HE WOULD LATER SAY, "AN ACE
IN THE HOLE AND AN ACE SHOWING."

THAT IS TO SAY, THE ACE IN
THE HOLE WAS A ATOMIC BOMB;

THE ACE SHOWING WAS AMERICAN
ECONOMIC AND MILITARY POWER.

Narrator:
ON JULY 24,
TRUMAN ROSE FROM HIS CHAIR

AND WALKED SLOWLY
AROUND THE TABLE

TO HAVE A PRIVATE WORD
WITH THE SOVIET DICTATOR.

"I CASUALLY MENTIONED TO STALIN

THAT WE HAD A NEW WEAPON
OF UNUSUAL DESTRUCTIVE FORCE"

TRUMAN LATER WROTE.

"ALL HE SAID WAS THAT HE WAS
GLAD TO HEAR IT, AND HOPED

WE WOULD MAKE 'GOOD USE
OF IT AGAINST THE JAPANESE.'"

Elsey:
STALIN WAS SO BLAND AND
SEEMINGLY UNCONCERNED ABOUT IT

THAT, ON THE AMERICAN SIDE

THERETHE IMPORT OFSTION
AS WHAT TRUMAN WAS SAYING.OOD

LaFeber:
WHAT WE KNOW NOW
IS THAT STALIN KNEW

EXACTLY ABOUT
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BOMB

BECAUSE OF SOVIET SPIES
AT LOS ALAMOS, IN NEW MEXICO.

WE ALSO KNOW THAT AS SOON AS
STALIN WALKED OUT OF THAT ROOM

STALIN IMMEDIATELY GOT
IN TOUCH WITH THE MAN

WHO WAS THE DIRECTOR OF
THE SOVIET ATOMIC BOMB PROJECT

AND SAID THAT HE MUST GET TO
WORK AND ACCELERATE THE PROJECT.

Narrator:
MEANWHILE

THE PREPARATION TO BOMB JAPAN
MOVED INEXORABLY FORWARD.

TWO ATOMIC BOMBS
WERE NEARLY READY.

SEVEN MORE WERE ON THE WAY.

ON JULY 25, TRUMAN GAVE CONTROL
OF THE BOMBS TO THE MILITARY

AND ORDERED THAT THEY BE USED

AS SOON AS
THE POTSDAM CONFERENCE WAS OVER.

THE NEXT DAY

THE JAPANESE WERE GIVEN
ONE LAST CHANCE TO SURRENDER.

"WE CALL UPON THE GOVERNMENT
OF JAPAN TO PROCLAIM NOW

THE UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER OF
ALL THE JAPANESE ARMED FORCES"

IT WAS ANNOUNCED FROM POTSDAM.

"THE ALTERNATIVE FOR JAPAN IS
PROMPT AND UTTER DESTRUCTION."

THE ULTIMATUM WAS CALLED
THE "POTSDAM DECLARATION."

TWO DAYS LATER,
THE JAPANESE REJECTED IT.

Bernstein:
THE UNITED STATES WAS DEMANDING

AN UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER

AND IN PARTICULAR THAT IMPLIED
THAT THE IMPERIAL SYSTEM

NAMELY THE EMPEROR,
WOULD BE TERMINATED.

TRUMAN HAD BEEN INFORMED
BY A NUMBER OF HIS ADVISERS

THAT THE UNCONDITIONAL
SURRENDER DEMAND

MIGHT MAKE IT MORE DIFFICULT
TO ACHIEVE PEACE.

TRUMAN RECEIVED ADVICE, ON
VARIOUS OCCASIONS, TO PROVIDE

AN EXPLICIT PROVISION THAT
THE EMPEROR COULD BE MAINTAINED.

TRUMAN DECIDED NOT TO
INCLUDE THAT PROVISION.

Lifton:
UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER HAD BEEN

A CENTRAL THEME
INHERITED FROM ROOSEVELT.

IT EVOKED THE AMERICAN SPIRIT

OF FIGHTING AND WINNING
THIS WAR AGAINST EVIL

SO HE HELD TO IT.

Narrator:
THE ATOMIC BOMB
WAS NOW FULLY ASSEMBLED.

THE MOST DANGEROUS WEAPON
ON EARTH

WAS WAITING TO BE RELEASED.

THE POTSDAM CONFERENCE
LASTED 17 DAYS.

AS THE NEWSREEL CAMERAMEN
TOOK THEIR FINAL SHOTS

TRUMAN SMILED.

THE PRESIDENT REMAINED
FOND OF STALIN.

HE WOULD LATER WRITE, "I LIKED
THE LITTLE SON OF A BITCH."

BUT NOTHING
HAD BEEN ACCOMPLISHED.

LaFeber:
I THINK THE POTSDAM CONFERENCE
CAN BE SEEN

AS THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF
THE RUSSIAN-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP.

TRUMAN AND STALIN DON'T HAVE

A WHOLE LOT TO SAY
TO EACH OTHER ANYMORE.

THEIR ARMIES ARE ESSENTIALLY
DOING THE TALKING.

Narrator:
THE ALLIES AGREED TO DIVIDE
A DEFEATED GERMANY

INTO JOINT ZONES OF OCCUPATION

BUT STALIN REFUSED TO WITHDRAW
HIS TROOPS

FROM EASTERN AND CENTRAL EUROPE
AND PERMIT FREE ELECTIONS.

THE ISSUE WAS TABLED
FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION.

AT LAST, TRUMAN WAS HEADING HOME

TRYING TO RELAX AFTER THE
GRUELING ROUND OF NEGOTIATIONS.

HE STROLLED THE DECK,
ATTENDED CHURCH SERVICES

ENJOYED A CONCERT
BY THE SHIP'S BAND.

ON HIS FOURTH DAY AT SEA

THE MISSION WHICH WOULD FOREVER
MARK HIS PLACE IN HISTORY BEGAN.

AUGUST 6, 2:45 A.M.

THEENOLA GAY,
CARRYING A FOUR-TON ATOMIC BOMB

WAS HEADING OUT OVER
THE PACIFIC OCEAN TOWARD JAPAN.

SOME WOULD LATER ARGUE THAT
JAPAN MIGHT HAVE BEEN FORCED

TO SURRENDER WITHOUT THE BOMB;

THE PRESIDENT MIGHT HAVE WARNED
THE JAPANESE

WITH A DEMONSTRATION BOMB;

MIGHT HAVE BLOCKADED THEIR
ISLANDS UNTIL THEY SURRENDERED;

MIGHT HAVE ASSURED THE JAPANESE

THAT THEY COULD KEEP
THEIR EMPEROR.

TRUMAN WOULD LATER SAY

THAT TO END THE WAR QUICKLY,
WITHOUT INVADING JAPAN

THE BOMB HAD TO BE USED

AND HE USED IT.

8:15 A.M.

THE ATOMIC BOMB DROPPED CLEAR
OF THEENOLA GAY.

43 SECONDS LATER,
IT EXPLODED OVER HIROSHIMA.

HARRY TRUMAN WAS EATING LUNCH

WHEN HE WAS HANDED
A DECODED MESSAGE.

CLEAR-CUT.

SUCCESSFUL IN ALL RESPECTS."

TRUMAN REACTED IMMEDIATELY.

"THIS," HE SAID, "IS
THE GREATEST THING IN HISTORY."

Elsey:
THE CREW BURST INTO APPLAUSE
AND CHEERING

WHEN HE ANNOUNCED
THIS WILL END THE WAR.

SINCE MOST OF THE CREWMEN
WERE ANTICIPATING

THAT THEY'D HAVE TO GO OUT
AND ENGAGE WITH THE JAPANESE

YOU CAN SEE WHY THERE WAS GREAT
GLEE ON THE PART OF THE CREW

THE OFFICERS, EVERYONE...
EVERYONE PRESENT.

Narrator:
THAT AFTERNOON,
TRUMAN ISSUED A WARNING

TO THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT.

Truman:
IF THEY DO NOT NOW ACCEPT
OUR TERMS

THEY MAY EXPECT A RAIN OF RUIN
FROM THE AIR

THE LIKE OF WHICH HAS NEVER
BEEN SEEN ON THIS EARTH.

Narrator:
TWO DAYS LATER,
SECRETARY OF WAR STIMSON

SHOWED THE PRESIDENT
AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS OF HIROSHIMA.

TRUMAN DID NOT YET KNOW
THAT THE ATOMIC BOMB HAD KILLED

MORE THAN 80,000 MEN, WOMEN
AND CHILDREN

AND THAT TENS OF THOUSANDS MORE
WOULD DIE

FROM RADIATION SICKNESS
IN THE DAYS AND YEARS TO COME.

Hamby:
YOU SEE THESE PICTURES
OF HIROSHIMA

JUST LEVELED FOR ALMOST
AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE.

CLEARLY, HE'S DISTRESSED
BY THAT.

Narrator:
HE TOLD STIMSON

"THIS PLACES A TERRIBLE
RESPONSIBILITY UPON MYSELF

AND UPON THE WAR DEPARTMENT."

THREE DAYS AFTER THE ATOMIC BOMB
WAS DROPPED ON HIROSHIMA

THE SOVIET UNION DECLARED WAR
ON JAPAN

BUT STILL THERE WAS NO WORD
OF SURRENDER.

AUGUST 9, 11:00 A.M.

A SECOND ATOMIC BOMB WAS DROPPED

ON THE JAPANESE SEAPORT
OF NAGASAKI.

IN ONE-TENTH OF ONE-MILLIONTH
OF A SECOND

THE CITY WAS DESTROYED.

ANOTHER 40,000 PEOPLE
WERE KILLED.

Hamby:
TRUMAN HAD NOT
PUT ANY LIMITATION

ON THE USE OF THE SECOND BOMB.

ESSENTIALLY, AFTER HE SIGNS
THE ORDER AT POTSDAM

IT'S ALL ON AUTOMATIC PILOT

AND UNLESS HE CHANGES HIS MIND,
UP TO THE MILITARY.

Narrator:
THE DAY AFTER
NAGASAKI WAS DESTROYED

TRUMAN TOOK THE AUTHORITY
TO USE THE ATOMIC BOMB

BACK FROM THE MILITARY

AND PLACED IT ONCE AGAIN
IN HIS OWN HANDS.

AUGUST 14.

THE SIMPLE REASON TRUMAN ALWAYS
GAVE FOR USING THE ATOMIC BOMB

WAS TO END THE WAR
AND SAVE LIVES.

NOW, AFTER NEARLY FOUR YEARS,
JAPAN SURRENDERED.

THE WAR WAS OVER.

YEARS LATER,
TRUMAN WOULD OFTEN SAY

THAT HE NEVER BROODED OVER
HIS DECISION TO DROP THE BOMB.

"ONCE THE DECISION WAS MADE,"
HE WROTE LATER

"I DIDN'T WORRY ABOUT IT
AFTERWARD."

Hamby:
TIME AND AGAIN, TRUMAN CLAIMED,
"I NEVER LOST A MINUTE'S SLEEP.

"I NEVER FELT ANY REGRET.

I DID WHAT HAD TO BE DONE."

BUT, CLEARLY, THIS WAS A
SOMEWHAT MORE UPSETTING EVENT

THAN HE LET ON.

Narrator:
THE DAY AFTER THE BOMB FELL
ON NAGASAKI

TRUMAN HAD TOLD HIS CABINET

THAT "THE THOUGHT OF WIPING OUT
ANOTHER 100,000 PEOPLE

WAS TOO HORRIBLE."

HE HATED THE IDEA OF KILLING
"ALL THOSE KIDS."

Bernstein:
YOU CAN NEVER FEEL COMFORTABLE

ABOUT KILLING 100,000
OR MORE PEOPLE.

AND I'M SURE THAT WAS TRUE
FOR HARRY S. TRUMAN

WHO FOUGHT VIGOROUSLY
ALWAYS TO DENY IT.

Lifton:
HE WASN'T A MAN WHO COULD ALLOW
SELF-QUESTIONING.

HE WASN'T A MAN
WHO COULD ALLOW REFLECTION.

HE COULD NEVER REALLY TAKE IN
FULLY WHAT HE HAD DONE

AND WHAT THAT MEANT
FOR THE WORLD.

HERE WAS A GOOD MAN,
A LOVING MAN

WHO MADE A DECISION TO USE THE
CRUELEST WEAPON IN HUMAN HISTORY

ON A DENSELY POPULATED CITY

AND SPENT THE REST OF HIS LIFE
JUSTIFYING THAT DECISION.

Narrator:
"I MADE THE ONLY DECISION

I EVER KNEW HOW TO MAKE,"
TRUMAN WROTE.

"I DID WHAT I THOUGHT
WAS RIGHT."

NEXT TIME ON
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE...

HE WOULD END
THE GREATEST WAR IN HISTORY

ONLY TO FIND
THAT PEACE WAS HELL.

HE WOULD HAVE TO CONTEND
WITH AN AGGRESSIVE STALIN

AN UNCOOPERATIVE CONGRESS
AND A DISTANT WIFE.

McCullough:
AND THE PRESIDENT WAS BEING
BESIEGED ON ALL SIDES.

HE HAD TO BLOW HIS STACK
ABOUT SOMETHING.

THE CONCLUSION OF "TRUMAN"...

NEXT TIME
ON AMERICAN EXPERIENCE.

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