American Experience (1988–…): Season 10, Episode 2 - Truman: Part II - full transcript

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Narrator:
IN THE FALL OF 1945,
AMERICA WAS STILL CELEBRATING

THE END OF THE GREATEST WAR
IN HISTORY...

AND HARRY S. TRUMAN WAS
THE UNLIKELY LEADER

OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST NATION.

"NEVER IN MY WILDEST DREAMS,"
TRUMAN WROTE



"DID I EVER THINK
OR WISH FOR SUCH A POSITION."

McCullough:
HE CAME FROM
AN OBSCURE BACKGROUND

WITHOUT MONEY, WITHOUT
THE PRIVILEGE OF EDUCATION

WITH NO SENSE THAT
HE IS A FIGURE OF DESTINY

TO BECOME IN HIS LIFETIME

THE MOST POWERFUL
HUMAN BEING ON EARTH.

Narrator:
HE WAS ONLY
A HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE

A FARMER UNTIL HE WAS 33

A HABERDASHER
GONE BANKRUPT AT 38.

NO ONE IN WASHINGTON
HAD EVER HEARD OF HARRY TRUMAN

BEFORE HE WAS 50.

Man:
HERE WAS A LITTLE HABERDASHER
FROM MISSOURI

A SMALL BUSINESSMAN.

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



THERE WAS AN ENORMOUS
FEELING OF LETDOWN.

Narrator:
AMERICANS HAD DOUBTED
HARRY TRUMAN

AND HARRY TRUMAN
HAD DOUBTED HIMSELF.

BUT THEY HAD RALLIED BEHIND HIM,
AND HE HAD LED THEM TO VICTORY.

BUT NOW,
EVEN AS AMERICANS CELEBRATED

THEIR PATRIOTIC HARMONY
WAS BEGINNING TO COME APART.

TRUMAN WOULD FIND IT EASIER
TO LEAD THE COUNTRY IN WAR

THAN TO GOVERN IT IN PEACE.

HE WOULD SAY, "SHERMAN
WAS WRONG: PEACE IS HELL."

Narrator:
12 MILLION G.I.s
WERE COMING HOME.

THEY WANTED JOBS
AND HOUSES AND CARS...

COFFEE, BUTTER
AND MEAT ON THE TABLE.

AFTER YEARS OF GOING WITHOUT

THEY LONGED TO GET ON
WITH THEIR LIVES.

BUT HARRY TRUMAN KNEW

HE COULDN'T GIVE THEM
ALL THEY WANTED.

Man:
YOU CAN'T IMAGINE A PRESIDENT
HAVING MORE ON HIS SHOULDERS

THAN PRESIDENT TRUMAN DID

IN THOSE DAYS
AFTER THE END OF THE WAR.

THE WHOLE THING CAME DOWN
ON HIS HEAD.

THERE HAD NOT BEEN PLANNING
VERY WELL ON POSTWAR POLICY

BECAUSE THE ECONOMISTS
HAD BEEN GIVEN TO UNDERSTAND

THAT THE WAR MIGHT LAST
UNTIL 1946 IN ANY CASE...

THE WAR WITH JAPAN.

ALL OF A SUDDEN THE ATOMIC BOMB
THREW EVERYTHING OUT OF KILTER.

Narrator:
FOR FOUR LONG YEARS,
AMERICANS EVERYWHERE

HAD WORKED TOGETHER
TO FIGHT AND DEFEAT FASCISM.

NOW THAT SPIRIT OF COOPERATION
HAD VANISHED.

LABOR AND BUSINESS WERE ONCE
AGAIN AT EACH OTHER'S THROATS.

THE GOVERNMENT HAD KEPT
A TIGHT LID ON WAGES AND PRICES

AND IN RETURN, THE UNIONS
HAD AGREED NOT TO STRIKE.

NOW, THEIR PATRIOTIC
SACRIFICE OVER

WORKERS WALKED OFF THE JOB.

THEY WANTED HIGHER WAGES

AND THEY WANTED TRUMAN
TO HOLD THE LINE ON PRICES.

Reuther:
THE EXPECTATIONS
OF WORKING PEOPLE ZOOMED

TO MAKE UP FOR
ALL THE YEARS THAT WERE LOST.

YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU KEEP PEOPLE
IN A STRAITJACKET

FOR AS MANY YEARS AS THE WAR
LASTED, YOU HAVE AN EXPLOSION.

Narrator:
TRUMAN WAS DETERMINED
TO KEEP PRICES FROM RISING

BUT FACING INCREASING PRESSURE
FROM BUSINESSMEN

WHO WANTED TO SET PRICES
THEMSELVES, TRUMAN WAVERED.

HE HELD THE LINE ON SOME PRICES
AND LET OTHERS GO UP.

Man:
HE DOESN'T GIVE THE COUNTRY
ANY SENSE OF DIRECTION

AND HE COMES TO BE THE PERSON

THAT A PUBLIC FED UP WITH
ONE STRIKE AFTER ANOTHER

BLAMES FOR LABOR DISORDER.

Narrator:
BUT THE PRESIDENT WAS DETERMINED

TO PROVE THAT HE COULD LEAD THE
NATION, THAT HE COULD CARRY ON

IN THE TRADITION
OF FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT.

TRUMAN PROPOSED AN INCREASE
IN THE MINIMUM WAGE

AID FOR HOUSING

AND A BILL FOR THE FIRST
PREPAID MEDICAL INSURANCE

IN THE NATION'S HISTORY.

BUT A COALITION OF REPUBLICANS

AND CONSERVATIVE
SOUTHERN DEMOCRATS

REFUSED HIM EVERYTHING.

THE PRESIDENCY, TRUMAN WROTE,
WAS "LIKE RIDING A TIGER.

A MAN HAS TO KEEP ON RIDING
OR BE SWALLOWED."

CHRISTMAS MORNING, 1945.

TRUMAN WOKE TO FIND THE CAPITAL
COVERED IN ICE AND SNOW.

BESS AND MARGARET
WERE IN INDEPENDENCE

AND THE PRESIDENT MISSED THEM.

Man:
I'VE NEVER KNOWN AN INDIVIDUAL

WHO LOVED HIS WIFE
AND HIS DAUGHTER

AND HIS FAMILY SO DEEPLY

BUT THEY, OF COURSE,
WERE ALWAYS INTERESTED

IN TRYING TO GET EXCUSES
TO GO BACK TO INDEPENDENCE.

Narrator:
ANXIOUS TO SEE HIS FAMILY

DESPERATE TO ESCAPE
THE TURMOIL IN WASHINGTON

HE ORDERED THE PRESIDENTIAL
PLANE TO FLY HIM HOME.

EDITORIALS WOULD CALL THE FLIGHT
"FOOLHARDY," "ABSURD"

"ONE OF THE MOST HAZARDOUS
SENTIMENTAL JOURNEYS

EVER UNDERTAKEN."

THE PLANE, BUFFETED BY SLEET
AND SNOW, ARRIVED AN HOUR LATE.

Hamby:
WHEN HE FINALLY GETS
TO THE WALLACE HOUSE

ON DELAWARE STREET,
BESS IS FURIOUS AT HIM

FOR TAKING SO LONG
TO GET OUT THERE

FOR TAKING, UH...
SUCH A BIG RISK.

Narrator:
THREE DAYS LATER

BACK IN WASHINGTON, FORLORN,
TRUMAN WROTE BESS A LETTER:

"WELL, I'M HERE
IN THE WHITE HOUSE...

"THE GREAT WHITE SEPULCHER
OF AMBITIONS AND REPUTATIONS...

"YOU CAN NEVER APPRECIATE
WHAT IT MEANS TO COME HOME

"AS I DID THE OTHER EVENING

"AFTER DOING AT LEAST A HUNDRED
THINGS I DIDN'T WANT TO DO

"AND HAVE THE ONLY PERSON
IN THE WORLD

"WHOSE APPROVAL
AND GOOD OPINION I VALUE

LOOK AT ME LIKE I'M SOMETHING
THE CAT DRAGGED IN."

HE FINISHED THE LETTER,
BUT BESS NEVER GOT IT.

HE LEFT IT TUCKED
DEEP INSIDE HIS DESK DRAWER.

THE NEW YEAR BROUGHT
A NEW WAVE OF STRIKES...

5,000 BEFORE THE YEAR WAS OVER.

AS A DEMOCRAT, TRUMAN
NEEDED UNION SUPPORT

BUT HE HAD REMOVED
THE LID ON PRICES

APPEASING BUSINESSMEN,
AND THE UNIONS WERE ANGRY.

THE COST OF ALMOST EVERYTHING
SKYROCKETED

AND WORKING MEN
AND WOMEN DEMANDED

THAT THEIR WAGES KEEP UP.

AT ONE POINT, MORE THAN
A MILLION WORKERS

WALKED OFF THE JOB
AT THE SAME TIME.

TRUMAN BELIEVED THAT THE UNIONS
WERE HOLDING THE COUNTRY HOSTAGE

AND PERSONALLY BETRAYING HIM.

Reuther:
WHILE HARRY SUPPORTED LABOR
AND THE RIGHT TO STRIKE

HE WAS NEVER HAPPY
WHEN THERE WAS A STRIKE.

HE WAS SEEING IT
AS A SMALL BUSINESSMAN

AND IT COULD WRECK
A SMALL BUSINESS.

HE JUST DIDN'T LIKE
STRIKES OF ANY KIND

AND HE WAS
VERY FRANK ABOUT THAT.

Narrator:
THEN, IN MAY,
THE RAILWAY WORKERS WENT OUT

FORCING THE COUNTRY
TO A STANDSTILL.

TRUMAN WAS FURIOUS.

WHILE NEGOTIATORS SEARCHED
FOR A COMPROMISE

A FRUSTRATED TRUMAN PROPOSED

A SOLUTION NO PRESIDENT
HAD EVER DARED:

HE THREATENED TO DRAFT
THE STRIKING RAILWAY WORKERS

INTO THE ARMY.

THAT KIND OF A THREAT WASN'T
EVEN MADE DURING THE WAR!

AND I THINK EVERYONE
IN THE LABOR MOVEMENT

WERE QUITE SHOCKED BY THAT

BUT THEY FELT, "WELL, THIS IS
AN OFF-THE-CUFF TRUMAN THREAT

BUT HE WON'T
CARRY THROUGH ON THAT."

Narrator:
BUT TRUMAN STUCK BY HIS PLAN.

WHEN HIS ATTORNEY GENERAL
QUESTIONED ITS CONSTITUTIONALITY

TRUMAN TOLD HIM

"WE'LL DRAFT 'EM
AND THINK ABOUT THE LAW LATER."

McCullough:
IT WAS AS HIGH-HANDED,
AS UNCONSTITUTIONAL A MEASURE

AS IMAGINABLE.

BUT HE MEANT IT, BECAUSE
HE SAW THE COUNTRY BEING...

THE VERY LIFE OF THE COUNTRY
AT STAKE.

Narrator:
NEVER BEFORE HAD THERE BEEN
A TOTAL NATIONWIDE RAIL STRIKE.

MORE THAN
17,000 PASSENGER TRAINS...

24,000 FREIGHT TRAINS...

NEARLY ALL OF THEM
HAD STOPPED RUNNING.

THE COUNTRY WAS PARALYZED.

TELEGRAMS FLOODED
THE WHITE HOUSE:

"ZERO HOUR IS HERE."

"WHO IS TO RULE OUR NATION?"

"WHY DON'T YOU GO AHEAD AND ACT
IN THIS NATIONAL CRISIS?"

"LESS TALK AND MORE ACTION."

Hamby:
TRUMAN'S ANNOYED AT CRITICISM.

HE THINKS PEOPLE ARE NOT TAKING
HIM SERIOUSLY ENOUGH

AND MAYBE HE'S STILL GOT

THIS SNEAKING SUSPICION
TO OVERCOME

THAT HE'S NOT QUITE
UP TO THE JOB.

TRUMAN FACED EVERY NEW CHALLENGE
WITH FEELINGS OF INADEQUACY.

THIS LEADS TO A BUILDUP OF ANGER

THAT ERUPTS EVERY
ONCE IN A WHILE

WITH PARTICULARLY VIVID
CONSEQUENCES IN THE PRESIDENCY.

Narrator:
DEEPLY TROUBLED, TRUMAN
SAT DOWN AT HIS DESK

AND DRAFTED
ONE OF THE STRANGEST SPEECHES

EVER TO COME
FROM A PRESIDENT'S PEN.

"I AM TIRED OF GOVERNMENT
BEING FLOUTED," HE WROTE.

"LET US GIVE THE COUNTRY
BACK TO THE PEOPLE

"HANG A FEW TRAITORS, MAKE OUR
OWN COUNTRY SAFE FOR DEMOCRACY

"TELL RUSSIA WHERE TO GET OFF...

COME ON, BOYS,
LET'S DO THE JOB."

Man:
HE CALLED ME AND SAID

"I WANT TO GET YOUR REACTION
TO THIS SPEECH."

AND I STARTED OUT,
AND I SAID, "OH, MY GOD...

THIS IS THE WORST I EVER SAW."

I BELIEVE IT WAS HIS WAY
OF LETTING OFF STEAM.

AND I FINALLY ASKED HIM, SAID

"DO YOU INTEND TO GIVE
THAT SPEECH?"

AND HE SAID, "WELL,
NOT QUITE THIS SPEECH."

Narrator:
ON MAY 25, 1946

EVEN WHILE NEGOTIATIONS
TO SETTLE THE STRIKE CONTINUED

THE PRESIDENT WENT BEFORE
A JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS.

THIS IS NO LONGER A DISPUTE
BETWEEN LABOR AND MANAGEMENT.

IT HAS NOW BECOME A STRIKE

AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT
OF THE UNITED STATES ITSELF.

I REQUEST THE CONGRESS
IMMEDIATELY

TO AUTHORIZE THE PRESIDENT

TO DRAFT INTO THE ARMED FORCES
OF THE UNITED STATES

ALL WORKERS WHO ARE ON STRIKE
AGAINST THEIR GOVERNMENT.

Clifford:
HE WAS GETTING TO THE CRESCENDO

AND I GOT A CALL

THAT SAID, "THE RAILROAD STRIKE
HAS BEEN SETTLED."

AND I WROTE ON A PIECE OF PAPER

AND I TOOK IT TO LES BIFFLE,
THE SECRETARY

AND LES THEN TAKES IT UP.

ENORMOUSLY DRAMATIC.

WORD HAS JUST BEEN RECEIVED

THAT THE RAIL STRIKE
HAS BEEN SETTLED

ON TERMS PROPOSED
BY THE PRESIDENT.

GREAT CHEERS, GREAT CHEERS.

IT WAS... THEY WORKED OUT
THE DETAILS AFTERWARD

AND THE RAILROADS WERE RUNNING.

Narrator:
THE STRIKE WAS OVER.

BUT TRUMAN HAD PAID
A HIGH PRICE.

HIS GUT RESPONSE HAD COST HIM

THE SUPPORT OF THE UNIONS
HE SO DESPERATELY NEEDED.

Hamby:
THE LABOR LEADERS AND THE
LIBERALS IN GENERAL ARE SHOCKED

HORRIFIED, NOT WITHOUT REASON.

AND FROM THIS POINT ON

IT IS GOING TO BE
VERY, VERY TOUGH FOR TRUMAN

TO DRUM UP
LABOR-LIBERAL ENTHUSIASM

FOR THE DEMOCRATIC TICKET
IN THE '46 ELECTIONS.

Narrator:
THE 1946 MIDTERM ELECTIONS

WOULD BE, FOR TRUMAN,
A DISASTER.

REPUBLICANS BLAMED THE PRESIDENT
FOR AMERICA'S PROBLEMS

AND MOST AMERICANS
SEEMED TO AGREE.

TRUMAN'S POPULARITY PLUMMETED.

IT SEEMS TO ME THAT TRUMAN
REALLY HITS ROCK BOTTOM

IN THE 1946 CAMPAIGN.

FOR AN AWFUL LOT OF PEOPLE

HE'S STILL VERY MUCH
IN THE SHADOW OF F.D.R.

McCullough:
HE WASN'T COPING VERY WELL

AND PEOPLE WERE BEGINNING
TO MAKE FUN OF HIM:

"TO ERR IS TRUMAN."

"I'M JUST MILD ABOUT HARRY."

THERE WERE PERIODS THERE

WHEN TRUMAN DIDN'T
LOOK UP TO THE JOB.

REPUBLICANS WOULD SAY,
YEAH, HE WAS A LITTLE MAN

CAME OUT OF NOWHERE,
THE HABERDASHER.

Narrator:
THERE WERE SHORTAGES
OF PRACTICALLY EVERYTHING:

BREAD, MEAT, HOUSING.

AND INFLATION WAS THREATENING
TO UNDERMINE THE ECONOMY.

PRICES HAD SHOT UP SIX PERCENT
IN A SINGLE MONTH.

WAS THAT MILLIONS AND MILLIONS
OF POTENTIAL DEMOCRATIC VOTERS

PEOPLE WHO HAD VOTED
FOR ROOSEVELT

THEY SAID, "TO HECK WITH IT,
THEY BUNGLED IT."

AND THE REPUBLICANS SAID,
"HAD ENOUGH?"

THAT WAS THEIR SLOGAN.

PEOPLE AGREED WITH THEM.

TRUMAN GETS BLAMED.

THEY STAY HOME.

THE REPUBLICANS SWEEP TO POWER.

Narrator:
THE REPUBLICANS WON CONTROL
OF THE SENATE

THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
EVEN THE STATE GOVERNORSHIPS.

Lichtenstein:
THE ELECTIONS OF '46
WERE A REPUBLICAN SWEEP

A HUGE TURNAROUND, AND WHY?

NOT BECAUSE EVERYONE
VOTED REPUBLICAN

BUT BECAUSE THE DEMOCRATS,
THE NEW DEALERS

THE LABOR PEOPLE...
THEY STAYED HOME.

Narrator:
DISCREDITED BY HIS OWN PARTY

VOTED DOWN
BY THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

HARRY TRUMAN, PUNDITS WERE
SAYING, WAS AN EMBARRASSMENT.

THE DISASTROUS ELECTION OVER

TRUMAN FLED TO HIS VACATION
HIDEAWAY ON FLORIDA'S KEY WEST.

"DEAR BESS,
I'M SEEING NO OUTSIDERS.

"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN
HOW PUT OUT THEY GET.

"I'M DOING AS I DAMN PLEASE
FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS

"AND TO HELL WITH ALL OF THEM.

"THE ONLY REGRET I HAVE
IS THAT YOU ARE NOT HERE.

"YOU KNOW, I GUESS
I'M A DAMN FOOL

"BUT I'M HAPPIER
WHEN I CAN SEE YOU.

"EVEN WHEN YOU GIVE ME HELL

I'D RATHER HAVE YOU AROUND
THAN NOT."

BESS CONTINUED TO SPEND
AS MUCH TIME AS SHE COULD

WHEN ASKED HOW IT FELT
TO BE FIRST LADY, SHE REPLIED

"SO-SO."

SHE LOOKED, HER HUSBAND
SAID APPROVINGLY

"EXACTLY AS A WOMAN OF HER AGE
SHOULD LOOK."

WHEN BESS AND HARRY TRUMAN

HAD FIRST MOVED
INTO THE WHITE HOUSE

BESS'S MOTHER, MADGE WALLACE,
HAD MOVED IN, TOO.

AFTER MORE THAN A QUARTER
OF A CENTURY

SHE CONTINUED TO CALL
HER SON-IN-LAW "MR. TRUMAN."

SHE DIDN'T CARE MUCH FOR
THE PRESIDENT, SHE NEVER DID.

THAT WAS THE THING
THAT STICKS OUT IN MY MIND.

BUT SHE JUST NEVER, NEVER...
WE COULD NEVER FIGURE IT OUT

WHY SHE JUST DIDN'T CARE
FOR THE PRESIDENT.

Man:
I THINK THAT SHE FELT
THAT MISS BESS WAS ABOVE HIM.

EVEN THOUGH HE WAS PRESIDENT,
HE WAS BENEATH MISS BESS.

HE WAS A FAILURE
IN HIS HABERDASHERY.

SHE WOULD TELL YOU.

OH, SHE DIDN'T MIND
TELLING YOU

THAT EVEN THOUGH HE WAS THE
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

THAT SHE DIDN'T CARE MUCH
FOR HIM OR FOR HIS MOTHER.

I'M SORRY, BUT THAT'S
THE WAY IT WAS.

Narrator:
AS 1947 BEGAN

HARRY TRUMAN HAD BEEN PRESIDENT
FOR NEARLY TWO YEARS.

HUMILIATED IN
THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS

HE HAD LITTLE HOPE
OF ADVANCING THE LEGACY

OF FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT'S NEW DEAL

THROUGH THE STUBBORN,
REPUBLICAN-CONTROLLED CONGRESS.

BUT IN THE TWO YEARS TO COME

THE PRESIDENT WHO HAD BEEN
REJECTED AT HOME

WOULD MAKE DECISIONS THAT WOULD
DETERMINE THE FATE OF THE WORLD

FOR THE NEXT HALF CENTURY.

EUROPE WAS DEVASTATED.

THE WAR HAD LEFT A CONTINENT
IN RUINS.

AS POVERTY AND STARVATION SPREAD

CHAOS THREATENED TO OVERWHELM
THE WESTERN DEMOCRACIES.

SOME FEARED THE ELECTION
OF COMMUNIST GOVERNMENTS;

OTHERS, STALIN
AND THE RED ARMY.

THE RUSSIAN DICTATOR
REMAINED AN ENIGMA

HIS INTENTIONS UNCLEAR.

STALIN DID NOT YET HAVE
THE ATOMIC BOMB

BUT THE SOVIET UNION WAS
A GREAT MILITARY POWER

ITS ARMIES SPREAD
ACROSS EASTERN EUROPE

POISED TO ENFORCE STALIN'S WILL.

AT POTSDAM, TRUMAN HAD BEEN
IMPRESSED WITH STALIN

EVEN LIKED THE MAN.

WHEN THE WAR ENDED, THE
PRESIDENT, LIKE MOST AMERICANS

THAT STALIN WOULD NOT IMPOSE
COMMUNISM ON EASTERN EUROPE.

BUT TRUMAN'S OPTIMISM DWINDLED
AS HE SAW POLAND, ROMANIA

YUGOSLAVIA, BULGARIA,
EAST GERMANY

FALL BEHIND
A COMMUNIST IRON CURTAIN.

THAT THE RUSSIANS WERE NOT
A THREAT TO THE UNITED STATES.

BUT IN THE BEGINNING OF 1946

TRUMAN SAID HE WAS GROWING
TIRED BABYING THE SOVIETS.

"I DO NOT THINK WE SHOULD PLAY
COMPROMISE ANY LONGER"

HE WROTE HIS SECRETARY OF STATE.

"UNLESS RUSSIA IS FACED
WITH AN IRON FIST

ANOTHER WAR IS IN THE MAKING."

ONE MONTH LATER, STALIN DECLARED

THAT COMMUNISM AND CAPITALISM
WERE INCOMPATIBLE.

HE CALLED WAR INEVITABLE.

RUSSIA AND AMERICA WERE MOVING
INTO TWO OPPOSING CAMPS.

THE TURNING POINT CAME
IN GREECE AND TURKEY

WHERE TRUMAN FEARED
FURTHER COMMUNIST EXPANSION.

IN A CIVIL WAR IN GREECE

GREEK COMMUNISTS THREATENED
TO TOPPLE THE MONARCHY.

IN TURKEY, THE SOVIET UNION
WAS DEMANDING CONTROL

OF THE STRATEGIC
DARDANELLES STRAITS.

TWO LOCAL CONFLICTS
WOULD BECOME THE CATALYST

FOR A WORLDWIDE STRUGGLE
AGAINST COMMUNISM.

Man:
I THINK AT THIS POINT

TRUMAN BEGINS TO SEE STALIN
AS AN EXPANSIONIST DICTATOR.

AND AT THAT POINT YOU CAN BEGIN
TO SEE TRUMAN CHANGE

AND BELIEVE THAT THE ONLY THING
THAT THE SOVIETS UNDERSTAND

AS HE SAYS, IS STRENGTH,
NOT NEGOTIATIONS.

Narrator:
TRUMAN HAD CHANGED HIS MIND.

NOW HE WOULD HAVE TO CHANGE
THE MINDS

OF STILL-AMBIVALENT AMERICANS.

HE WOULD HAVE
TO CONVINCE CONGRESS

THAT A CRISIS
IN TWO FARAWAY COUNTRIES

THREATENED THE SECURITY
OF THE UNITED STATES...

THAT $400 MILLION
IN MILITARY AID WAS NEEDED

TO SAVE GREECE AND TURKEY.

LaFeber:
TRUMAN HAD TO GO
TO THIS REPUBLICAN CONGRESS

THAT HAD GOTTEN INTO POWER
IN THE ELECTIONS OF 1946

BY PROMISING TO CUT TAXES
AND TO CUT AID OVERSEAS.

TRUMAN WAS NOW
GOING TO HAVE TO GO

TO THESE PENNY-PINCHING
REPUBLICANS

AND GET $400 MILLION.

THE QUESTION WAS,
HOW DID YOU DO THIS?

Narrator:
UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE
DEAN ACHESON HAD THE ANSWER.

ACHESON WOULD ONE DAY BECOME
SECRETARY OF STATE

AND TRUMAN WOULD CALL HIM HIS
"TOP BRAIN MAN" IN THE CABINET.

IN 1947, ACHESON, TRUMAN

AND SECRETARY OF STATE GEORGE
MARSHALL GATHERED TOGETHER

A BIPARTISAN GROUP OF THE MOST
INFLUENTIAL MEN IN CONGRESS

AND ACHESON LAID OUT
TRUMAN'S REQUEST FOR AID

IN THE STARKEST TERMS.

Man:
IF YOU WANT THE CONGRESS
TO SUPPORT

THE APPROPRIATIONS NEEDED

THERE HAS TO BE A BIT
OF A CRISIS ATMOSPHERE.

AND SO ACHESON MADE
A VERY IMPASSIONED SPEECH

AND HE LAID IT ON VERY HEAVILY

ABOUT HOW THE RUSSIANS
WOULD SWEEP ACROSS EUROPE.

LaFeber:
WHAT ACHESON SAID WAS

IF THE SOVIETS COULD WIN
IN GREECE AND IN TURKEY

THEN THEY WOULD BE IN A POSITION

WHERE THERE WOULD BE
SOVIET PRESSURE ON ITALY

ON THE MEDITERRANEAN.

ONCE THAT PRESSURE
WAS ESTABLISHED

THERE WOULD BE PRESSURE
ON WESTERN EUROPE

AND PRETTY SOON THE UNITED
STATES WOULD BE STANDING ALONE.

SENATOR VANDENBERG, WHO WAS
A LEADER OF THE REPUBLICANS

SAID TO ACHESON AND TO TRUMAN

"IF YOU CAN GET
THAT KIND OF A VIEW ACROSS

TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE,
WE'LL SUPPORT YOU."

LaFeber:
THERE WAS THE STORY
THAT VANDENBERG SAID TO TRUMAN

"MR. PRESIDENT, YOU'RE GOING
TO HAVE TO SCARE HELL

OUT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE."

WHETHER OR NOT
VANDENBERG SAID THAT

THAT'S EXACTLY
WHAT HARRY TRUMAN DID.

Newsreel narrator:
PRESIDENT HARRY S. TRUMAN COMES

BEFORE A JOINT SESSION
OF CONGRESS

TO MAKE A MOMENTOUS
ANNOUNCEMENT.

A TENSE ATMOSPHERE PREVAILS, FOR
THE NATION'S LAWMAKERS REALIZE

THAT THIS MAY BE
THE CURTAIN RAISER FOR EVENTS

THAT WILL SHAPE THE DESTINY
OF AMERICA AND THE WORLD.

THE GRAVITY OF THE SITUATION
WHICH CONFRONTS THE WORLD TODAY

NECESSITATES MY APPEARANCE

BEFORE A JOINT SESSION
OF THE CONGRESS.

I BELIEVE THAT IT MUST BE
THE POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES

TO SUPPORT FREE PEOPLES WHO ARE
RESISTING ATTEMPTED SUBJUGATION

BY ARMED MINORITIES
OR BY OUTSIDE PRESSURES.

Man:
HE WAS REMINDING AMERICANS OF
WHAT GRADUALLY HAD BEEN SINKING

INTO THE PUBLIC CONSCIOUSNESS,
THAT THE AIM OF THE SOVIET UNION

WAS TO EXPAND ITS HEGEMONY
OVER AS MUCH OF THE WORLD

AS IT POSSIBLY COULD, AND
THAT WAS NOT TO BE PERMITTED.

WE WOULD HELP FREE PEOPLES
MAINTAIN THEIR FREEDOM.

IF WE FALTER IN OUR LEADERSHIP

WE MAY ENDANGER
THE PEACE OF THE WORLD

AND WE SHALL SURELY ENDANGER
THE WELFARE OF THIS NATION.

LaFeber:
TRUMAN, THE MIDWESTERN
POLITICIAN, UNDERSTOOD EXACTLY

HOW YOU SELL THESE KINDS OF
THINGS TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

BECAUSE WHAT HE DID WAS TO GIVE
A DEFINITION OF THE WORLD

THAT AMERICANS COULD UNDERSTAND

AND WHICH THEY COULD
BECOME COMMITTED TO

BECAUSE WHAT TRUMAN SAID WAS

"THE WORLD IS ESSENTIALLY
NOW DIVIDED IN TWO.

"ARE THE TOTALITARIAN
AND THE ENSLAVED PEOPLES.

ON THE OTHER SIDE
ARE THE FREE PEOPLES."

HE THEN LOOKED
AT THE REPUBLICANS

AND SAID,
"WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?

"IF YOU ARE ON THE SIDE
OF THE FREE PEOPLES

THAT PUT THE REPUBLICANS IN
A TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE POSITION

WHICH IS EXACTLY, OF COURSE

WHAT ACHESON AND TRUMAN
HAD IN MIND

AND TRUMAN GOT HIS $400 MILLION
WITHIN A MATTER OF WEEKS.

Newsreel announcer:
PRESIDENT TRUMAN SIGNS THE BILL

FOR $400 MILLION AID
TO GREECE AND TURKEY.

Narrator:
THE PRESIDENT HAD COMMITTED
AMERICANS TO A BATTLE

AGAINST COMMUNISM
ALL ACROSS THE WORLD.

THE POLICY BECAME KNOWN
AS THE TRUMAN DOCTRINE.

Man:
I WAS SCARED BY IT.

I WONDERED HOW FAR-REACHING
THIS WAS GOING TO BE.

WHAT DOES IT REALLY MEAN?

THIS IS A SWEEPING,
SWEEPING DECISION

ASKING FOR AN OPEN-ENDED
FAITH IN A POLICY

OF PROTECTING THE FREE PEOPLE
AND BRINGING FREEDOM

WHERE IT DIDN'T EXIST,
AROUND THE WORLD.

AND THAT WAS THE... THAT HAS
NO LIMITS... HAD NO LIMITS

AND IT WAS AWFULLY HARD TO KNOW
EXACTLY WHERE THOSE LIMITS WERE.

Shulman:
IT LED TO A MORE ABSOLUTE
VIEW OF THE CONFLICT.

AND I ONCE REMONSTRATED
WITH ACHESON ABOUT THIS

IN MY INNOCENCE...
I WAS VERY YOUNG THEN...

AND HE MADE IT CLEAR TO ME THAT
IF YOU WANT TO GET THINGS DONE

YOU HAVE TO GET
CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT

AND YOU HAVE TO DO
WHAT'S NECESSARY TO GET IT.

AND THIS WAS ESSENTIALLY
WHAT CAME TO BE

THE LANGUAGE
OF THE ADMINISTRATION.

IT BECAME
MORE AND MORE ALARMIST.

Narrator:
THE PRESIDENT WOULD RESIST
COMMUNIST AGGRESSION ABROAD.

HE HAD ISSUED A DECLARATION
OF COLD WAR.

BUT IN WESTERN EUROPE,
THERE WAS MORE TO FEAR

FROM STARVATION AND CHAOS
THAN FROM THE RED ARMY.

IT HAD BEEN THE WORST WINTER
IN LIVING MEMORY.

THE WAR HAD BEEN OVER
FOR MORE THAN TWO YEARS

AND WESTERN EUROPE SEEMED
ON THE VERGE OF COLLAPSE.

LaFeber:
IF WESTERN EUROPE WAS
NOT HELPED, AND QUICKLY

MASS STARVATION WOULD BREAK OUT,
AND THERE WAS THE REAL DANGER

THAT WESTERN EUROPE WOULD BEGIN
MOVING TO THE LEFT VERY RAPIDLY.

THE ANALYSIS MADE WITHIN THE
STATE DEPARTMENT AT THIS POINT

INDICATED THAT THE WAY TO DEAL
WITH THIS WAS NOT MILITARILY.

THE WAY TO DEAL WITH THIS
WAS ECONOMICALLY

TO PUMP IN BETWEEN EIGHT
AND 17 BILLION DOLLARS

SO THAT THE EUROPEANS
WOULD HAVE THE MONEY

TO BUY FOOD
FROM THE UNITED STATES...

Narrator:
TRUMAN HAD ALREADY MANAGED
TO PERSUADE A RELUCTANT CONGRESS

TO GIVE HIM $400 MILLION
FOR THE TRUMAN DOCTRINE.

NOW HE CONVINCED CONGRESS
TO GIVE HIM 13 BILLION MORE.

NO PRESIDENT HAD EVER RECEIVED
SO MUCH MONEY

TO AID PEOPLE
WHO WEREN'T AMERICANS.

HE CALLED HIS ECONOMIC AID
PROGRAM THE MARSHALL PLAN

AFTER HIS SECRETARY OF STATE,
GEORGE MARSHALL

A MAN WHO COMMANDED THE RESPECT
OF THE ENTIRE COUNTRY.

Elsey:
SOME OF THE WHITE HOUSE STAFF
SUGGESTED TO PRESIDENT TRUMAN

THAT THEY DIDN'T MUCH
LIKE THIS IDEA

OF GENERAL MARSHALL
GETTING CREDIT FOR IT.

"THE CONGRESS WILL DO ANYTHING
THAT GEORGE MARSHALL WANTS.

"IF MY NAME IS ON IT

"IT PROBABLY WILL BECOME
CONTROVERSIAL.

"I DON'T WANT IT
TO BECOME CONTROVERSIAL.

WE'LL HAVE NO MORE TALK
ABOUT CHANGING THE NAME."

LaFeber:
TRUMAN WOULD LATER SAY

THAT THE TRUMAN DOCTRINE
AND THE MARSHALL PLAN

WERE TWO HALVES
OF THE SAME WALNUT.

THE TRUMAN DOCTRINE WAS

THE MILITARY AND
POLITICAL COMMITMENT.

THE MARSHALL PLAN WAS THE $13
BILLION IN ECONOMIC COMMITMENT

TO REBUILD WHAT TRUMAN CALLED
"THE FREE PEOPLES OF THE WORLD."

IT BECAME VERY POPULAR
VERY QUICKLY.

NO ONE EXPECTED
THAT SORT OF ALTRUISM

THAT SORT OF SWEEPING THING
COMING OUT OF US.

THIS WAS MUCH BIGGER
THAN ANYBODY HAD REALIZED.

Donovan:
A GREAT APPEAL OF
THE MARSHALL PLAN WAS

THAT THESE BILLIONS THAT
WERE BEING APPROPRIATED

WERE BEING SPENT
IN THE UNITED STATES

TO FARMERS AND MANUFACTURERS.

THAT MONEY WASN'T
SPENT IN EUROPE.

IT WAS SPENT HERE, AND THAT WAS
A GREAT APPEAL TO CONGRESS.

Reuther:
THIS WAS A TERRIBLY
IMPORTANT DECISION.

ALSO, IT WAS A COMPASSIONATE
ONE, AND UNDERSTOOD AS SUCH.

IT WAS A REAL BADGE OF HONOR
FOR HARRY TRUMAN.

Narrator:
WHILE THE PRESIDENT
WAS RESCUING EUROPE

AND MOBILIZING AMERICANS
TO FIGHT COMMUNISM OVERSEAS

REPUBLICANS CHARGED THAT THERE
WERE COMMUNISTS HERE AT HOME...

IN TRUMAN'S OWN ADMINISTRATION.

IN THE '30s,
REPUBLICANS HAD CLAIMED

THAT THERE WERE COMMUNISTS
IN ROOSEVELT'S NEW DEAL.

NOW THEY WERE DEMANDING
THAT TRUMAN TAKE ACTION.

Clifford:
AND THERE WERE LOTS
OF PRESSURES DEVELOPING

ABOUT COMMUNISTS INFILTRATING
OUR WHOLE SYSTEM

AND HE FELT OBLIGED
TO DO SOMETHING.

HE DID NOT BELIEVE
THERE WERE DISLOYAL EMPLOYEES.

HE DID NOT BELIEVE THAT.

HE SAID ON A NUMBER OF
OCCASIONS, "OUR ENEMY IS ABROAD.

OUR ENEMY IS NOT HERE AT HOME."

LaFeber:
TRUMAN IS IN
A TERRIBLE POSITION HERE

BECAUSE IF HE HAD
NOT DONE ANYTHING

HE WOULD HAVE BEEN OPEN
TO THE ACCUSATION

THAT HE WAS TOUGH
ON COMMUNISM ABROAD

BUT HE WAS OVERLOOKING
COMMUNISTS

WITHIN HIS OWN GOVERNMENT,
WHATEVER FEW THERE WERE.

Narrator:
ON MARCH 21, 1947,
AGAINST HIS OWN BETTER JUDGMENT

THE PRESIDENT ISSUED AN
EXTRAORDINARY EXECUTIVE ORDER:

HE ESTABLISHED A LOYALTY PROGRAM

MAKING THE POLITICAL BELIEFS
OF EVERY FEDERAL EMPLOYEE

SUBJECT TO INVESTIGATION
BY THE F.B.I.

Woman:
TRUMAN, TRYING
TO MOBILIZE PUBLIC OPINION

FOR THE COLD WAR

EXAGGERATED
THE COMMUNIST MENACE.

HE PRESENTED THE COLD WAR
AS A KIND OF CRUSADE

AGAINST COMMUNIST
TOTALITARIANISM.

AND YOU DON'T BREAK UP
YOUR CRUSADE

INTO "THIS IS THE EUROPEAN
PART... WE'LL FOCUS ON THIS

AND LET'S NOT LOOK
AT THE AMERICAN PART."

IT WAS A TOTAL CRUSADE.

Narrator:
HARRY TRUMAN WAS LEADING AMERICA
IN A NEW KIND OF WAR

AND HE PREPARED THE COUNTRY

AS IT HAD NEVER
BEEN PREPARED BEFORE.

HE CREATED THE DEPARTMENT
OF DEFENSE.

HE ESTABLISHED THE NATIONAL
SECURITY COUNCIL

AND THE C.I.A... THE CENTRAL
INTELLIGENCE AGENCY...

PUTTING THE UNITED STATES IN
THE BUSINESS OF PEACETIME SPYING

FOR THE FIRST TIME
IN ITS HISTORY.

SOON THERE WOULD BE
ANOTHER FIRST:

NATO, AMERICA'S FIRST
PEACETIME ALLIANCE...

A BULWARK SET IN WESTERN EUROPE
AGAINST COMMUNISM.

TRUMAN WAS CHANGING THE WAY
AMERICANS LOOKED AT THE WORLD

AND AT THEMSELVES.

LaFeber:
I THINK TRUMAN'S
GREAT CONTRIBUTION

WAS TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET
AMERICANS TO COMMIT THEMSELVES

TO A WAR WHICH WAS COLD
RATHER THAN HOT

A WAR WHICH HAD
NOT BEEN DECLARED

A WAR WHICH IS EXTREMELY COMPLEX

AND YET WHICH TRUMAN DEFINED
AS A RATHER SIMPLE WAR

BETWEEN THE ENSLAVED
AND THE FREE PEOPLES.

THIS IS HOW HE GOT AMERICANS
TO COMMIT THEMSELVES

TO THE COLD WAR, IN WHICH
RUSSIAN AND AMERICAN SOLDIERS

WERE BEGINNING TO PEER ACROSS
BOUNDARIES AT EACH OTHER.

Narrator:
THE COLD WAR HAD BEGUN

AND IT WOULD LAST
FOR THE NEXT HALF CENTURY.

AFTER THREE YEARS IN OFFICE,
TRUMAN WAS AT LAST ENJOYING

BEING PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES.

DOZENS OF NEWSPAPERS DESCRIBED
THE "NEW" HARRY TRUMAN...

CALM...

FORCEFUL...

RADIATING AUTHORITY.

McCullough:
HE HAD DECIDED
THAT HE REALLY LIKED THE JOB

AND THAT HE WAS
PRETTY GOOD AT IT.

AND HE TOOK THE PRESIDENCY
VERY SERIOUSLY

BUT HE DIDN'T TAKE HARRY TRUMAN
ALL THAT SERIOUSLY ALL THE TIME.

AND SOMETIMES HE DIDN'T SEEM
VERY PRESIDENTIAL

AND OF COURSE
HIS OPPONENTS SAW THOSE

AS WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITIES
TO BELITTLE HIM.

Narrator:
REPORTERS MADE FUN OF HIS SHIRTS
AND HIS POKER GAMES

CRITICIZED HIS CRONIES AND
HIS FONDNESS FOR GOOD BOURBON.

BUT TRUMAN ALWAYS
REMAINED HIMSELF.

Shulman:
HE NEVER MADE ANY EFFORT

TO CREATE
A PUBLIC-RELATIONS IMAGE.

HE WAS WHAT HE WAS AND
HE NEVER PRETENDED OTHERWISE.

AND IT WAS EARTHY

IT WAS, UH...

IT CAME OUT
OF THE HEARTLAND OF AMERICA

WITH ALL ITS VIRTUES
AND ITS LIMITATIONS, TOO.

HE ALWAYS SAID HE WAS
A FARMER FROM MISSOURI

TRYING TO DO HIS DAMNEDEST.

I THINK HE GAVE EVERYONE
THE IMPRESSION

NO MATTER WHAT YOUR POSITION WAS

THAT YOU WERE AN IMPORTANT PART

OF WHAT HE WAS
TRYING TO ACHIEVE.

I REMEMBER THE VERY FIRST TIME

THAT THE PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES

INVITED ME, AS A JUNIOR STAFF
MEMBER, TO COME TO DINNER.

PRESIDENT TRUMAN
SAT DOWN AT THE PIANO.

I BEGAN TO SOAR INTO THE CLOUDS.

AND AFTERWARDS,
HE TURNED FROM THE PIANO

AND LOOKED AT ME
AND SORT OF SMILED AND SAID

"IF I HADN'T GOTTEN INTO TROUBLE
BY GETTING INTO POLITICS

"I WOULD HAVE MADE
A HELL OF A GOOD PIANO PLAYER

IN A WHOREHOUSE."

AND THIS... THIS WAS...

OF COURSE BROUGHT ME
DOWN TO EARTH.

HE TENDED TO LOOK DOWN
ON HIMSELF AS A PERSON

YET HE REVERED
THE PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE.

Shulman:
AND ONE TIME,
IN A MOOD OF REFLECTION

HE SAID, "YOU KNOW, THE
PRESIDENT REALLY IS TWO PEOPLE

AND ONE OF THEM
IS THE PRESIDENT."

AND THEN HE SORT OF
STRAIGHTENED IN HIS CHAIR

AND YOU COULD FEEL THE SENSE
OF OBLIGATION THAT HE HAD

WHICH LIFTED HIM

AND HIS... HIS DIGNITY

AND HIS SENSE
OF PRINCIPLED COMMITMENT.

AND THEN HE SORT OF SLUMPED
A LITTLE BIT AND SAID

"AND THEN THERE'S ALSO
THE PRESIDENT AS A HUMAN BEING

AND THE WEAR AND TEAR
THAT GOES WITH THE JOB."

Narrator:
TRUMAN HAD SAID MANY TIMES
HE NEVER WANTED TO BE PRESIDENT.

NOW HE HAD CHANGED HIS MIND...

HE WANTED THE JOB
FOR FOUR MORE YEARS.

HE HAD FAILED HIS PARTY IN 1946.

HE WANTED TO REDEEM HIMSELF
IN 1948.

BUT HE WAS ABOUT TO RISK
FRACTURING THE DEMOCRATS

BY REACHING OUT TO AMERICANS
WHO BY TRADITION AND CULTURE

HE HAD DISMISSED
NEARLY ALL HIS LIFE.

IN THE SOUTH, SEGREGATION
RULED BY LAW AND CUSTOM

AS IT HAD FOR GENERATIONS.

ALL ACROSS AMERICA, AFRICAN
AMERICANS CONFRONTED POVERTY

PREJUDICE, LIMITED OPPORTUNITY.

AND BLACK SAILORS AND SOLDIERS

WHO HAD FOUGHT OVERSEAS
FOR AMERICA'S FREEDOM

DIDN'T LIKE WHAT THEY FOUND
WHEN THEY RETURNED HOME.

Man:
HERE WE ARE AT THE END
OF WORLD WAR II.

WE HAD DEFEATED ONE OF THE
GREAT RACISTS IN HUMAN HISTORY...

HITLER, AND OF COURSE
MUSSOLINI AND JAPAN...

BUT THE WHOLE CLIMATE SAID,
"WE ARE GOING TO REMAIN THE SAME

"EVEN THOUGH THE WAR AIMS WE HAD

"WERE LOFTY AND IDEALISTIC
AND BEAUTIFUL AND...

"AND PRESAGED A NEW WORLD,
AND SO FORTH

BUT YOU ARE STILL A NIGGER."

THE UNITED STATES WAS ADVERTISED
AS THE ARSENAL FOR DEMOCRACY

BUT WHEN IT COMES
TO THE RACE QUESTION

THINGS HAVE GOT
TO REMAIN THE SAME.

Narrator:
IN 1946, A HORRIBLE SERIES
OF RACIAL MURDERS IN THE SOUTH

SHOCKED AMERICA.

TRUMAN WAS OUTRAGED.

AFRICAN-AMERICAN LEADERS
CLAMORED FOR ANTI-LYNCHING LAWS

BUT DIDN'T EXPECT MUCH FROM
THE PRESIDENT FROM MISSOURI.

Hamby:
IT SEEMS A PRETTY SURE BET

THAT PRIVATELY HE BELIEVED

THAT MOST BLACKS WERE INFERIOR
TO MOST WHITES

AND I THINK IT'S FAIR TO SAY

THAT NEITHER HE NOR BESS
WOULD HAVE BEEN PLEASED

IF MARGARET HAD BROUGHT
SIDNEY POITIER HOME FOR DINNER.

UH, BUT HE ALSO CAME
FROM A BACKGROUND

THAT SAID EVERYONE DESERVED
AN EQUAL CHANCE IN LIFE.

Narrator:
ON JUNE 28, 1947, TRUMAN
WROTE HIS SISTER A LETTER.

"I'VE GOT TO MAKE
A SPEECH TOMORROW

"TO THE SOCIETY FOR THE
ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE

"AND I WISH I DIDN'T
HAVE TO MAKE IT.

MAMA WON'T LIKE WHAT I SAY."

THERE IS NO JUSTIFIABLE REASON

FOR DISCRIMINATION
BECAUSE OF ANCESTRY

OR RELIGION OR RACE OR COLOR.

Narrator:
NO PRESIDENT HAD
EVER BEFORE ADDRESSED

THE NEARLY 40-YEAR-OLD
N.A.A.C.P.

TRUMAN BECAME THE FIRST, AS
HE SPOKE TO A RALLY OF THOUSANDS

AT THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL.

A SOUTHERNER BY BIRTH
AND INCLINATION

HE ARGUED FOR EQUAL RIGHTS
FOR ALL AMERICANS.

WE CANNOT ANY LONGER AWAIT
THE GROWTH OF A WILL TO ACTION

IN THE SLOWEST STATE OR
THE MOST BACKWARD COMMUNITY.

OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
MUST SHOW THE WAY.

Woman:
WELL, I THINK EVERYBODY
WAS THRILLED

AND I THINK THE APPEARANCE
THAT HE HAD WITH THE N.A.A.C.P.

RESOUNDED ALL OVER.

TRUMAN PROVED TO BE
QUITE A SURPRISE.

HE WAS VERY DIFFERENT
FROM WHAT WE HAD THOUGHT OF

IN TERMS OF A PERSON
OF HIS BACKGROUND.

Narrator:
BUT TRUMAN HESITATED

TO PUT CIVIL-RIGHTS LEGISLATION
BEFORE CONGRESS.

HE FEARED THAT IF HE ACTED
TO HELP AFRICAN AMERICANS

HE WOULD LOSE THE SUPPORT
OF SOUTHERN DEMOCRATS.

Hamby:
THERE'S A GREAT CONFLICT HERE

AND POLITICALLY
TRUMAN HAS TO CHOOSE...

IS HE GOING TO GO
WITH THE SOUTH

OR IS HE GOING TO GO WITH, UH...

THE NORTHERN LIBERALS
AND THE, UH...

BLACK CONSTITUENCY

AND THE CIVIL-RIGHTS PROGRAM
THEY FAVOR?

Narrator:
ON FEBRUARY 2, 1948, TRUMAN
BECAME THE FIRST PRESIDENT

TO SEND A SPECIAL MESSAGE
TO CONGRESS ON CIVIL RIGHTS.

HE CALLED FOR ANTI-LYNCHING
LAWS, ABOLITION OF THE POLL TAX

ESTABLISHMENT OF
A COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS

DESEGREGATION
OF THE ARMED FORCES.

Jarrett:
IT WAS A GREAT MESSAGE.

YOU HADN'T HAD ANYTHING
LIKE THAT BEFORE!

PRIOR TO THAT,
WE COULDN'T EVEN GET A PRESIDENT

TO MAKE AN ORATORICAL STATEMENT.

HE RECOGNIZED THAT THE CHANCES
OF MUCH LEGISLATION...

ANY LEGISLATION,
GETTING THROUGH THAT CONGRESS

WAS PRACTICALLY NIL.

THE POINT WAS,
YOU HAD TO START SOMETIME

AND HE WAS GOING TO START.

Narrator:
SOUTHERN NEWSPAPERS

CALLED TRUMAN'S
CIVIL-RIGHTS LEGISLATION

A "DISMAYING DOCUMENT"
BASED ON A "PERNICIOUS FALLACY."

"HERE WE HAVE THE MAKING
OF A VERITABLE GESTAPO."

Man:
MOST OF THE SOUTHERN SENATORS
FELT IT WENT TOO FAR.

SENATOR BYRD, SR., WAS IN THE
SENATE AT THAT TIME AND HE FELT

THAT SOME OF THE CIVIL-RIGHTS
LEGISLATION WENT TOO FAR

EQUAL THIS, EQUAL THAT...
THE WHOLE THING JUST REEKED

IN TERMS OF HOW
THE SOUTHERNERS LOOKED AT IT

WITH CONCESSIONS TO NIGGERS.

LET'S PUT IT THE WAY...
THIS IS WHAT THEY SAID.

I RECALL MRS. LEONARD THOMAS

ONE OF THE ALABAMA
NATIONAL COMMITTEEMEN

CAME TO TRUMAN AND SAID TO HIM

"PLEASE DON'T FORCE
MISCEGENATION ON THE SOUTH.

"PLEASE TELL THE SOUTH
THAT YOU REALLY DON'T BELIEVE

"AND YOU'RE GOING TO
TAKE BACK WHAT YOU SAID

ABOUT CIVIL RIGHTS."

AND TRUMAN LOOKED AT HER

AND PULLED OUT A COPY
OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS

AND SAID, "I'M THE PRESIDENT
OF ALL THE PEOPLE.

THAT I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE BACK
A WORD OF WHAT I SAID."

Narrator:
THE BATTLE OVER CIVIL RIGHTS
WAS A POLITICAL DISASTER.

A GALLUP POLL SHOWED THAT
THE VAST MAJORITY OF AMERICANS

OPPOSED THE PRESIDENT'S STAND.

CIVIL RIGHTS WAS HURTING

TRUMAN'S CHANCES
FOR RE-ELECTION.

McCullough:
AT THE SAME TIME
AS HIS CIVIL RIGHTS MESSAGE

WAS SPLITTING
THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY

THE ISSUE OF WHAT WAS TO HAPPEN
IN PALESTINE COMES TO THE FORE.

Narrator:
SINCE THE END OF THE 19th
CENTURY, THE JEWISH PEOPLE

HAD ASPIRED TO ESTABLISH
A HOMELAND IN PALESTINE.

NOW, AFTER THE DEVASTATION
OF THE HOLOCAUST

JEWS FIERCELY LOBBIED TRUMAN

TO RECOGNIZE A NEW
JEWISH STATE THERE

EVEN ENLISTING EDDIE JACOBSON

HIS OLD PARTNER
IN THE HABERDASHERY

TO WIN TRUMAN TO THEIR CAUSE.

BUT SECRETARY OF STATE
GEORGE MARSHALL FEARED

THAT ARABS, CLAIMING
PALESTINE AS THEIR OWN

WOULD CUT OFF
THE WORLD'S SUPPLY OF OIL

AND THROW THE MIDDLE EAST
INTO TURMOIL.

McCullough:
MARSHALL WAS THE AMERICAN

THAT HARRY TRUMAN ADMIRED
MORE THAN ANY OTHER.

NOW, FOR TRUMAN
TO GO AGAINST GEORGE MARSHALL

WAS FOR HIM ONE OF
THE MOST DIFFICULT MOMENTS

Narrator:
FORCED TO CHOOSE BETWEEN
THE ADVICE OF GEORGE MARSHALL

AND HIS SYMPATHIES
FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE

TRUMAN, ON MAY 14, 1948, GAVE
DE FACTO RECOGNITION TO ISRAEL.

HE DID WHAT HE THOUGHT WAS RIGHT

AND AT THE SAME TIME WON
THE VOTES OF JEWISH CITIZENS.

IN 1948, TRUMAN WOULD NEED
ALL THE VOTES HE COULD GET.

IN SPITE OF
HIS TRIUMPHS OVERSEAS

MANY AMERICANS STILL QUESTIONED
HIS EFFECTIVENESS AT HOME.

Narrator:
ON JUNE 21, THE REPUBLICANS
CONVENED IN PHILADELPHIA.

AFTER THREE DAYS
OF CELEBRATING FREE ENTERPRISE

AND DENOUNCING HARRY TRUMAN,
THEY NOMINATED FOR PRESIDENT

THE URBANE, PROGRESSIVE GOVERNOR
OF NEW YORK, THOMAS DEWEY.

I PRAY GOD THAT I MAY DESERVE

THIS OPPORTUNITY
TO SERVE OUR COUNTRY.

IN ALL HUMILITY,
I ACCEPT THE NOMINATION.

Narrator:
FOUR YEARS EARLIER,
DEWEY HAD RUN A STRONG RACE

AGAINST THE UNDEFEATABLE
FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT.

THIS TIME AROUND, REPUBLICANS
GIDDILY ANTICIPATED VICTORY

AGAINST ROOSEVELT'S STAND-IN...

HARRY TRUMAN.

Hamby:
HE STILL APPEARED TO A LOT
OF AMERICANS TO BE A LITTLE GUY

AN ORDINARY MAN,
SOMEONE WHO UTTERLY LACKED

THE CHARISMA
OF HIS PREDECESSOR, ROOSEVELT.

AMERICANS STILL REALLY WONDERED

WHETHER SOMEONE WHO APPEARED
TO BE SO MUCH LIKE THEMSELVES

COULD REALLY HANDLE
THE DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

OF THE PRESIDENCY.

Narrator:
IN JULY, THE DEMOCRATS GATHERED
IN THE SAME PHILADELPHIA HALL

WHERE TWO WEEKS EARLIER

THE REPUBLICANS HAD GIVEN THEIR
NOMINATION TO THOMAS DEWEY.

FOR THE FIRST TIME, TELEVISION
WAS THERE TO REPORT THE STORY.

To the people's interests,
a way in which

rescued the American economy
of free enterprise...

Narrator:
TRUMAN WATCHED
FROM THE OVAL OFFICE

WHAT NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE
WOULD CALL

"THE WORST-MANAGED,
MOST DISPIRITED CONVENTION

IN AMERICAN HISTORY."

Donovan:
THERE WAS NO AIR CONDITIONING,
AND IT WAS FROM THE BEGINNING

A SWELTERING CONVENTION
IN THE HOTEL ROOMS

AS WELL AS IN THE HALL.

IT WAS A DISMAL CONVENTION FROM
THE START BECAUSE THE CONVENTION

THOUGHT THAT THEY WERE GOING
TO NOMINATE A LOSER.

NO ONE IN THAT CONVENTION HALL
THOUGHT TRUMAN COULD WIN.

Narrator:
THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
WAS SPLITTING APART

AND NO ONE THOUGHT HARRY TRUMAN
COULD HOLD IT TOGETHER.

LEFT-LEANING DEMOCRATS
HAD ALREADY TURNED

TO THE PROGRESSIVE PARTY AND
THEIR CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT

HENRY WALLACE.

CONSERVATIVE SOUTHERN DEMOCRATS

FURIOUS OVER TRUMAN'S
STAND ON CIVIL RIGHTS

WERE THREATENING TO WALK OUT
OF THE CONVENTION.

THE DELEGATION FROM MISSISSIPPI

COULD NOT BE TRUE TO THE PEOPLE
OF THAT GREAT STATE

IF THEY DID NOT JOIN
IN THIS WALKOUT.

Narrator:
IN THE END, THREE DOZEN
SOUTHERN DELEGATES BOLTED.

AND WE BID YOU GOOD-BYE.

Narrator:
TWO DAYS LATER

THEY FORMED THEIR OWN PARTY,
THE "DIXIECRATS."

McCullough:
AND IT SEEMED
ANOTHER DEVASTATING BLOW

TO TRUMAN'S PROSPECTS.

THE COMBINATION
OF THE SOUTHERNERS WALKING OUT

AND HENRY WALLACE LEADING HIS
OWN PROGRESSIVE PARTY CAMPAIGN

PLUS ALL THE GLOOM AND DOOM
THAT SEEMED TO PREVAIL

THROUGHOUT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY

SPELLED ONLY DEFEAT,
SPELLED A VERY BLEAK FUTURE.

Narrator:
BUT AS HARRY TRUMAN
ARRIVED IN PHILADELPHIA

IN A SMALL, WINDOWLESS ROOM
BENEATH THE CONVENTION FLOOR

HE SAT WITH VICE-PRESIDENTIAL
NOMINEE ALBEN BARKLEY

McCullough:
THEY KEPT HIM WAITING TILL
ALMOST 2:00 IN THE MORNING.

EVERYBODY WAS EXHAUSTED.

THEY FELT DEMORALIZED,
THEY DIDN'T...

MANY OF THEM WANT HARRY TRUMAN
TO BE THEIR CANDIDATE

THE SOUTHERNERS HAD WALKED OUT
OF THE CONVENTION.

AND SO AT 2:00 IN THE MORNING

OUT CAME HARRY TRUMAN
IN HIS WHITE LINEN SUIT

AND HE STOOD UP THERE,
AND HE SAID...

SENATOR BARKLEY AND I
WILL WIN THIS ELECTION

AND MAKE THESE
REPUBLICANS LIKE IT.

DON'T YOU FORGET THAT.

Hamby:
HE'S A FIGHTER.

TRUMAN IS NOT ABOUT
TO SLINK OUT OF TOWN

WITH HIS TAIL BETWEEN HIS LEGS.

THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM CRIES
ABOUT CRUELLY HIGH PRICES...

Narrator:
TRUMAN HAD COME
INTO THE PRESIDENCY

BEWILDERED AND FRIGHTENED;

NOW THE DELEGATES SAT STUNNED

AS A FIRE-BREATHING TRUMAN
TORE INTO THE REPUBLICANS.

THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM
COMES OUT FOR SLUM CLEARANCE

I'VE BEEN TRYING TO GET THEM
TO PASS THAT HOUSING BILL

EVER SINCE
THEY MET THE FIRST TIME.

Narrator:
TRUMAN CHALLENGED
THE REPUBLICANS

TO LIVE UP TO THEIR PROMISES.

I AM THEREFORE CALLING
THIS CONGRESS BACK INTO SESSION

ON THE 26th OF JULY!

IF THERE'S ANY REALITY
BEHIND THAT REPUBLICAN PLATFORM

WE OUGHT TO GET SOME ACTION

OUT OF THE SHORT SESSION
OF THE 80th CONGRESS.

THEY CAN DO THIS JOB IN 15 DAYS
IF THEY WANT TO DO IT

AND THEY'LL STILL HAVE TIME
TO GO OUT AND RUN FOR OFFICE.

Narrator:
TRUMAN HAD COME OUT FIGHTING

BUT STILL, NO ONE THOUGHT
HE COULD WIN.

ALL THE POLLS MADE HIM
A SURE LOSER.

McCullough:
EVERYBODY THOUGHT
HE WAS GOING TO LOSE.

I MEAN, THAT'S NOT JUST
A FIGURE OF SPEECH.

EVEN HIS MOTHER-IN-LAW
WAS QUITE SURE

THAT HARRY TRUMAN
WAS GOING TO LOSE.

Narrator:
TRUMAN'S REPUBLICAN OPPONENT
WAS EVERYTHING TRUMAN WAS NOT.

EDUCATED, SMOOTH, SOPHISTICATED,
TOM DEWEY WAS PREPARED, HE SAID

TO TURN BACK 16 YEARS
OF DEMOCRATIC RULE.

I PLEDGE TO YOU
THAT ON NEXT JANUARY 20

THERE WILL BEGIN IN WASHINGTON

THE BIGGEST UNRAVELING,
UNSNARLING, UNTANGLING OPERATION

IN OUR NATION'S HISTORY.

Donovan:
FROM THE BEGINNING,
DEWEY WAS TRANSFIXED BY POLLS

AND BY TIME MAGAZINE
AND EVERYONE ELSE

WHO WAS BOOSTING HIM
FOR PRESIDENT.

HE WAS VERY PLEASED
WITH HIMSELF

VERY SURE THAT HE WAS GOING
TO GO ON AND BE A GREAT FIGURE.

THEY WERE SO CONFIDENT
THAT SOME OF THE DEWEY PEOPLE

HAD ALREADY BOUGHT HOUSES
IN WASHINGTON.

Narrator:
ON SEPTEMBER 17, TRUMAN SET OUT
ON WHAT WOULD BECOME

ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS CAMPAIGNS
IN AMERICAN HISTORY.

Donovan:
HE WAS SAYING GOOD-BYE
TO EVERYBODY AND SO FORTH

AND ALBEN BARKLEY,
A VERY GOOD-HEARTED MAN

CAME UP AND SAID,
"GIVE 'EM HELL, HARRY!"

AND TRUMAN SAID SOMETHING...

"I'LL GIVE 'EM HELL,
I'LL GIVE 'EM HELL, ALBEN."

WE HAD NOTHING TO WRITE ABOUT.

THE TRAIN'S STARTING OUT
ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON

SO EVERYONE'S WRITING
ABOUT "GIVE 'EM HELL."

Narrator:
FROM THEN ON,
"GIVE 'EM HELL, HARRY"

WOULD BECOME
HARRY TRUMAN'S BATTLE CRY.

DURING THE NEXT SIX WEEKS,
TRUMAN WOULD TRAVEL 22,000 MILES

CRISSCROSSING THE COUNTRY
THREE TIMES.

THE ISSUES,
HE SAID, WERE SIMPLE...

THE REPUBLICANS WANTED
TO TURN BACK THE CLOCK

DESTROY FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT'S
NEW DEAL.

TRUMAN WAS GOING TO STOP THEM.

Truman:
IF YOU GIVE THE REPUBLICANS

COMPLETE CONTROL
OF THIS GOVERNMENT

YOU MIGHT JUST AS WELL TURN IT
OVER TO THE SPECIAL INTERESTS

AND WE'LL START
ON A BOOM-AND-BUST CYCLE

AND TRY TO GO THROUGH
JUST WHAT WE DID IN THE '20s

AND END UP WITH A CRASH,
WHICH IN THE LONG RUN

WILL DO NOBODY ANY GOOD
BUT THE COMMUNISTS.

Narrator:
TRUMAN KEPT UP A GRUELING PACE

GIVING NO QUARTER
TO HIS OPPONENTS.

WHEN THE PROGRESSIVE PARTY
CANDIDATE HENRY WALLACE

ARGUED FOR CO-OPERATION
WITH THE SOVIET UNION

TRUMAN ATTACKED WALLACE
AS A COMMUNIST PAWN.

WHEN THE SEGREGATIONIST
DIXIECRAT PARTY

NOMINATED STROM THURMOND, TRUMAN
DESEGREGATED THE ARMED FORCES

WINNING THE VOTES
OF BLACK AMERICANS

AND CHANGING THE AMERICAN
MILITARY FOREVER.

Jarrett:
THE ARMED FORCES...

THE SEAT OF SEGREGATION,
THE SEAT OF RACISM

AND TO HAVE HIM ISSUE THAT
ORDER, FOR WHATEVER REASON

WAS A GREAT LEAP FORWARD
IN HISTORY.

Women:
♪ ALL WE DO IS GO OUT WALKING ♪

♪ WHERE THE SUN SHINES
BRIGHT AND GAY ♪

♪ BUT WHAT DO WE DO, WHAT DO
WE DO ON A DEW-DEW-DEWEY DAY? ♪

Narrator:
CAMPAIGNING AS IF
HE HAD ALREADY WON

TOM DEWEY TOOK NO RISKS,
OFFERED NO SURPRISES.

McCullough:
HIS WHOLE CAMPAIGN WAS BEING RUN

ACCORDING TO WHAT THE POLLS
WERE TELLING HIM TO DO:

DON'T ROCK THE BOAT;

DON'T SAY ANYTHING
TO ANTAGONIZE ANYONE;

DON'T SAY ANYTHING
CONTROVERSIAL;

JUST BE CALM, SMOOTH,
SPEAK IN PLATITUDES.

WE BELIEVE IN HONESTY,
LOYALTY, FAIR PLAY

CONCERN FOR OUR NEIGHBORS

THE INNATE ABILITY OF MEN
TO ACHIEVE.

THESE CONVICTIONS,
ARCHED OVER BY OUR FAITH IN GOD

ARE THE INNER MEANING
OF THE AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE.

Donovan:
HE DIDN'T SEEM TO HAVE MUCH
EMPATHY, IF THAT'S THE WORD.

YOU WOULDN'T CUDDLE UP
TO TOM DEWEY.

McCullough:
THE DEWEY CAMPAIGN
WAS VERY EFFICIENT

IT WAS VERY CAREFULLY
ORCHESTRATED.

THE OFFICIAL DRINK ONBOARD
THE DEWEY TRAIN WAS THE MARTINI;

THE CARD GAME WAS BRIDGE.

ON THE TRUMAN TRAIN,
THINGS WERE QUITE DIFFERENT.

THE DRINK OF THE HOUR WAS
NEARLY ALWAYS BOURBON

AND THE CARD GAME WAS POKER.

TRUMAN KEPT THAT TRAIN
REALLY MOVING.

AND HE TRAVELED AND TRAVELED
AND TRAVELED

BUT HE SEEMED
TO DRAW ENERGY FROM IT.

HE LOVED IT.

AND AS HE PROGRESSED,
HE GOT BETTER.

AND THE MORE HE TRAVELED,
THE MORE THE CROWDS TURNED OUT

AND THE LARGER THE CROWDS WERE.

Woman:
EVERY TOWN WE'D PULLED INTO
HAD A HIGH SCHOOL BAND

THAT PLAYED "THE MISSOURI WALTZ"
BEFORE THE PRESIDENT SPOKE.

AND EVERYBODY GOT
SO SICK OF IT.

ALWAYS THERE WAS
"THE MISSOURI WALTZ."

AND TRUMAN, I'M TOLD,
HATED "THE MISSOURI WALTZ"

AND EVERYWHERE HE HAD
"THE MISSOURI WALTZ"!

Reuther:
HARRY WAS
A DAMNED GOOD CAMPAIGNER.

HE LOVED TO GET OUT
AND MIX WITH PEOPLE

AND HE KNEW HOW TO TALK
THEIR LANGUAGE.

YOU KNOW, HE WAS
NO HIGHFALUTIN GUY.

HE COULD BE UNDERSTOOD BY EVERY
FACTORY WORKER, EVERY COAL MINER

EVERY TEXTILE WORKER,
EVERY HOUSEWIFE.

Truman:
I'VE BEEN IN POLITICS
A LONG TIME

AND IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE
WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT YOU

IF THEY CAN PROVE IT ON YOU,
YOU'RE IN A BAD FIX INDEED.

Donovan:
HE UNDERSTOOD PEOPLE.

HE ESPECIALLY UNDERSTOOD
PEOPLE OF HIS AREA...

THE MIDWEST, THE FARMERS.

VOTE FOR YOUR FARMS.

VOTE FOR THE STANDARD OF LIVING
THAT YOU'VE WON

UNDER A DEMOCRATIC
ADMINISTRATION.

GET OUT THERE ON ELECTION DAY
AND VOTE FOR YOUR FUTURE.

YOU KNOW, I COVERED EVERY INCH

OF THE TRUMAN
WHISTLE-STOP CAMPAIGN.

I WAS IN EVERY FARMYARD AND
MAIN STREET AND THE REST OF IT.

AND I'D SEE THESE BIG CROWDS

AND I'D THINK, "WELL,
DEWEY HAS BIGGER CROWDS."

WHATEVER I FELT, I THOUGHT
DEWEY WAS GOING TO WIN.

I DIDN'T KNOW ANYONE
WHO THOUGHT OTHERWISE... ANYBODY.

Narrator:
AS THE CAMPAIGN DREW TO A CLOSE,
THE NEW YORK TIMES

WAS PREDICTING DEWEY WOULD
RUN AWAY WITH THE ELECTION.

THE GALLUP POLL WAS
SO CERTAIN OF THE OUTCOME

IT STOPPED POLLING
BEFORE THE END OF OCTOBER.

McCullough:
THE NIGHT OF THE ELECTION

THE HEAD OF THE SECRET SERVICE
WENT TO NEW YORK

TO BE WITH MR. DEWEY

BECAUSE HE CLEARLY WAS GOING
TO BE THE NEXT PRESIDENT.

AND IT JUST LOOKED
LIKE A SURE THING.

AND THE ONLY ONE WHO DIDN'T
THINK IT WAS A SURE THING

Narrator:
ONE EVENING, THREE OR FOUR DAYS
BEFORE THE ELECTION

AN ANXIOUS BESS TRUMAN
WENT QUIETLY

TO SEE HER HUSBAND'S AIDE,
CLARK CLIFFORD.

Clifford:
AND SHE SAID,
"CLARK, DO YOU THINK

HARRY REALLY BELIEVES
THAT HE CAN WIN?"

AND I SAID, "HE GIVES EVERY
ASSURANCE OF IT, MRS. TRUMAN."

SHE SAYS, "WELL, HE KEEPS
SAYING HE'S GOING TO WIN."

"WELL," I SAID,
"THAT'S THE WAY HE FEELS."

I SAID, "HE'S GOING TO FEEL
THAT WAY RIGHT UP TO THE END."

"BUT," SHE SAID, "IT'S SO HARD

TO FIND ANYBODY ELSE
WHO THINKS THAT HE CAN WIN."

I THINK SHE FELT THAT HE DID NOT
HAVE ANY CHANCE OF WINNING.

Narrator:
ON ELECTION NIGHT,
TO ESCAPE REPORTERS

TRUMAN CHECKED INTO A HOTEL
IN EXCELSIOR SPRINGS

JUST OUTSIDE OF INDEPENDENCE.

HE HAD A HAM AND CHEESE
SANDWICH, A GLASS OF BUTTERMILK

AND WENT TO SLEEP.

HE LEARNED HE HAD PULLED OFF
THE GREATEST UPSET

IN THE HISTORY
OF AMERICAN POLITICS.

NOT ONE POLLSTER
OR RADIO COMMENTATOR

OR NEWSPAPER COLUMNIST
HAD GOT IT RIGHT.

NO ONE HAD DARED PREDICT
A TRUMAN VICTORY.

Dewey:
I'VE SENT THE FOLLOWING WIRE
TO PRESIDENT TRUMAN:

"MY HEARTIEST CONGRATULATIONS
TO YOU ON YOUR ELECTION

"AND EVERY GOOD WISH
FOR A SUCCESSFUL ADMINISTRATION.

"I URGE ALL AMERICANS
TO UNITE BEHIND YOU

IN SUPPORT
OF EVERY EFFORT TO..."

Reuther:
TRUMAN CAME THROUGH
AS A FEISTY FIGHTER

AND WE LOVED THAT, YOU KNOW.

THE LABOR MOVEMENT CAME AROUND
TO ADMIRE TRUMAN.

WE KNEW THAT ON BASIC ISSUES,
HE WOULD STAND WITH THE PEOPLE

INCLUDING WORKING PEOPLE
AGAINST SPECIAL INTERESTS

AND THAT HE WAS CONCERNED

AND DETERMINED TO HELP CARRY
THROUGH THE LEGACY OF F.D.R.

McCullough:
WE'LL NEVER KNOW
HOW MANY PEOPLE VOTED FOR HIM

BECAUSE, EVEN THOUGH THEY
THOUGHT HE WAS GOING TO LOSE

CERTAINLY, A VERY GREAT
MANY PEOPLE SAID LATER

"I VOTED FOR HARRY TRUMAN

"EVEN THOUGH I WAS SURE
HE WAS GOING TO LOSE

BECAUSE I LIKED HIM."

IT WAS THE HIGH POINT
OF HIS POLITICAL LIFE.

HE HAD MADE ALL THE SMARTIES
LOOK FOOLISH.

MOST HAPPY TO HAVE TOGETHER
ALL THE SEPTEMBER DEMOCRATS

AND THE OCTOBER DEMOCRATS...

AND THE MONDAY DEMOCRATS
AND THE TUESDAY DEMOCRATS

AND THE WEDNESDAY DEMOCRATS.

Donovan:
HE GOT A TREMENDOUS WELCOME
WHEN HE CAME BACK TO WASHINGTON

ONE OF THE BIGGEST TURNOUTS
THE TOWN HAD SEEN.

HE JUST GLOWED WITH IT.

BUT, BOY, HE CAME BACK
TO A TOUGH SECOND TERM

JUST A TOUGH SECOND TERM.

Narrator:
64 YEARS OLD

TRUMAN HAD REDEEMED HIMSELF
AND HIS PARTY

BUT IN THE NEXT FOUR YEARS

HE WOULD NEED
ALL HIS MISSOURI OPTIMISM

TO CONFRONT THE CHALLENGES
HE WOULD MEET ABROAD

AND THE FRUSTRATIONS
HE WOULD SUFFER AT HOME.

Truman:
EVERY SEGMENT OF OUR POPULATION

AND EVERY INDIVIDUAL
HAVE A RIGHT

TO EXPECT FROM OUR GOVERNMENT
A FAIR DEAL.

Narrator:
AT HOME, TRUMAN ONCE AGAIN
EVOKED THE SPIRIT

OF FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT,
AND ASKED CONGRESS TO SUPPORT

WHAT HE NOW CALLED
THE "FAIR DEAL"...

A HIGHER MINIMUM WAGE, CIVIL
RIGHTS, AID TO EDUCATION

HEALTH INSURANCE
FOR ALL AMERICANS.

ONE CRITIC CALLED IT "THE SAME
OLD DOG WITH A NEW NAME."

OVERSEAS, TRUMAN WAS FACING
A NEW THREAT

IN REACTION TO AMERICA'S EFFORTS
TO STRENGTHEN WEST GERMANY

THE RUSSIANS HAD BLOCKADED
WESTERN-CONTROLLED BERLIN

CUTTING ALL RAIL, HIGHWAY
AND WATER TRAFFIC

2 1/2 MILLION BERLINERS HAD ONLY
ENOUGH FOOD TO LAST A MONTH.

BUT TRUMAN WOULD FORCE
THE COMMUNISTS TO BACK DOWN.

IN A DARING MOVE, TRUMAN ORDERED
A FULL-SCALE AIRLIFT

TO FLY FOOD AND SUPPLIES
FOR MORE THAN A YEAR

TO THE BELEAGUERED BERLINERS.

TRUMAN HAD ONCE AGAIN CONFRONTED
THE SOVIET UNION

BUT HIS EFFORTS TO STAND FIRM
WERE CHALLENGED BY TWO BLOWS

THAT CAME IN SWIFT SUCCESSION.

LaFeber:
IN LATE AUGUST OF 1949

TRUMAN LEARNED
FROM AMERICAN INTELLIGENCE

THAT THE SOVIETS HAD EXPLODED
AN ATOMIC DEVICE.

Narrator:
AMERICA'S MONOPOLY
ON THE ATOMIC BOMB HAD ENDED.

CHINA, THE MOST POPULOUS COUNTRY
IN THE WORLD

FELL TO MAO ZEDONG'S COMMUNISTS.

McCullough:
IN CONGRESS AND IN THE COUNTRY,
THERE WAS A FEELING

THAT SOMETHING MUST BE WRONG
IN WASHINGTON

SOMETHING MUST BE WRONG
IN THE GOVERNMENT

AND OUT OF THIS FEAR
AND THIS UNCERTAINTY

AROSE THE VOICE
OF SENATOR JOE McCARTHY

WHO BEGAN TO RANT AND RAVE

ABOUT COMMUNIST CONSPIRACY
AND HIGH TREASON IN HIGH PLACES.

Narrator:
AS AMERICANS GREW
INCREASINGLY FRIGHTENED

BY A WORLD THAT SEEMED TO BE
SPINNING OUT OF CONTROL

THE PRESSURE ON TRUMAN MOUNTED
TO SPEND MORE MONEY ON DEFENSE.

EARLY IN 1950, THE NATIONAL
SECURITY COUNCIL TRIED

TO CONVINCE THE PRESIDENT
TO QUADRUPLE MILITARY SPENDING

BUT TRUMAN TURNED
THEIR REQUEST ASIDE.

HE BELIEVED THAT THE BEST WAY
TO FIGHT COMMUNISM WAS

BY BUILDING A STRONG AMERICA

AND TO TRUMAN, THAT BEGAN
WITH A BALANCED BUDGET.

LaFeber:
THERE'S A STORY THAT HARRY
TRUMAN MADE HIS DEFENSE BUDGET

HE WOULD TAKE
THE AMOUNT OF MONEY

COMING INTO THE GOVERNMENT
EVERY YEAR

PUT IT ON A PIECE OF PAPER,
SUBTRACT FROM THAT FIGURE

WHATEVER WAS NEEDED
FOR EDUCATION

WHATEVER WAS LEFT WAS THE
DEFENSE BUDGET FOR THAT YEAR.

Narrator:
BUT THEN, IN EARLY SUMMER,
EVERYTHING CHANGED.

HARRY TRUMAN WAS ABOUT
TO CONFRONT THE COMMUNISTS

ONE MORE TIME, AND HE WOULD NEED
ALL HIS STAMINA AND GRIT

TO KEEP FROM GOING UNDER.

SATURDAY, JUNE 24, 1950,
WAS A BAKING HOT SUMMER DAY

IN INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI.

TRUMAN WAS HOME SPENDING
THE WEEKEND WITH HIS FAMILY

IN THE HOUSE WHERE HE AND BESS
HAD LIVED WITH BESS'S MOTHER

EVER SINCE THEY WERE MARRIED
30 YEARS BEFORE.

AT 9:00, HE RECEIVED
A PHONE CALL

FROM SECRETARY OF STATE
DEAN ACHESON.

"MR. PRESIDENT," ACHESON SAID,
"I HAVE VERY SERIOUS NEWS.

THE NORTH KOREANS
HAVE INVADED SOUTH KOREA."

Narrator:
SUPPORTED BY TANKS AND ARTILLERY

SEVEN NORTH KOREAN
INFANTRY DIVISIONS...

SOME 90,000 MEN...
HAD LAUNCHED A SURPRISE ATTACK.

THE CRISIS
THAT WOULD HAUNT TRUMAN

FOR THE REST OF HIS YEARS
IN OFFICE HAD BEGUN.

NOT LONG AFTER TRUMAN
HAD BECOME PRESIDENT

KOREA WAS DIVIDED
AT THE 38th PARALLEL

INTO TWO HOSTILE PARTS...

A SOVIET-SUPPORTED NORTH
AND AN AMERICAN-BACKED SOUTH.

NOW THE NORTH HAD ATTACKED
THE SOUTH, WITH JUST ONE GOAL:

TO UNIFY KOREA
UNDER COMMUNIST RULE.

Elsey:
HE WAS CONVINCED
FROM THE VERY BEGINNING

THAT THE SOVIETS
WERE BEHIND THIS.

HE HAD NO DOUBTS AT ALL OF THAT.

WE'D SEEN IT AS THEY'D TAKEN
OVER THE SATELLITE COUNTRIES

AS THEY HAD POKED AND PRODDED
AND PRESSED ELSEWHERE.

LaFeber:
HIS INITIAL RESPONSE WAS

THAT THIS WAS
A SOVIET-DIRECTED ATTACK

AND THAT HE WAS BEING
DIRECTLY CHALLENGED BY STALIN.

STALIN DID SUPPORT THE INVASION,
BUT AT NORTH KOREA'S INSISTENCE

AND IT WAS FROM A SAFE DISTANCE

BY SENDING SOVIET SUPPLIES
AND ADVISERS.

WHAT THE UNITED STATES
GOT INVOLVED WITH IN 1950

WAS NOT AGGRESSION
FROM THE SOVIET UNION.

WHAT WE GOT INVOLVED WITH WAS

AN INCREDIBLY BLOODY
CIVIL WAR IN KOREA.

THERE WERE AS MANY
AS 100,000 KOREANS KILLED

BEFORE THE KOREAN WAR
OF 1950 OCCURRED

AND I THINK IT'S FAIR TO SAY
THAT TRUMAN KNEW VERY LITTLE

ABOUT THIS BACKGROUND.

Narrator:
AS TRUMAN HEADED BACK
TO WASHINGTON

HE TURNED TO THE WAR THAT HAD
ENDED JUST FIVE YEARS BEFORE

TO HELP HIM UNDERSTAND
THE WAR HE WAS FACING NOW.

"COMMUNISM WAS ACTING
IN KOREA," HE WROTE

"JUST AS HITLER AND THE JAPANESE
HAD ACTED EARLIER.

"IF THE COMMUNISTS WERE
PERMITTED TO FORCE THEIR WAY

"INTO THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA

"NO SMALL NATION
WOULD HAVE THE COURAGE

TO RESIST THREATS
AND AGGRESSION."

AS HIS PLANE TOUCHED DOWN
AT NATIONAL AIRPORT

THE PRESIDENT APPEARED GRIM.

"BY GOD,"
HE WOULD TELL HIS ADVISERS

"I'M GOING TO LET THEM HAVE IT."

THAT SAME EVENING, TRUMAN
AUTHORIZED WEAPONS AND SUPPLIES

TO REINFORCE THE SOUTH KOREANS.

THE NEXT DAY, HE ORDERED
AMERICAN PLANES TO STRIKE

AT THE NORTH KOREAN ARMY.

TRUMAN HOPED
THAT AMERICA'S SHOW OF STRENGTH

WOULD FORCE THE NORTH KOREANS
TO BACK DOWN.

HE DID NOT WANT
TO SEND AMERICAN SOLDIERS

TO FIGHT A LAND WAR IN ASIA.

BUT TRUMAN WAS BEING PUSHED
CLOSER AND CLOSER TO THE ABYSS.

ON JUNE 27, JUST THREE DAYS
AFTER LAUNCHING THEIR ATTACK

THE NORTH KOREAN ARMY
OVERRAN SEOUL

THE CAPITAL OF SOUTH KOREA.

THAT EVENING, TRUMAN APPEALED
TO THE UNITED NATIONS FOR HELP.

"WE STARTED THE UNITED NATIONS,"
HE TOLD AN AIDE.

"IT MUST BE MADE TO WORK."

FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE WORLD
ORGANIZATION DEVOTED TO PEACE

AUTHORIZED AN ARMY TO WAGE WAR.

THAT AMERICAN SOLDIERS WOULD
CARRY THE BURDEN OF THE FIGHTING

AND THE PRESIDENT, UNWILLING
TO RISK AMERICAN LIVES

WITHHELD THE ORDER THAT WOULD
SEND THEM INTO ACTION.

LaFeber:
I THINK THAT TRUMAN THOUGHT

THAT BY GETTING THE UNITED
NATIONS TO CONDEMN THE ATTACK

THAT BY BEEFING UP
SOUTH KOREAN FORCES

HE COULD PROBABLY
HANDLE THE SITUATION.

THE COMMUNISTS WOULD LEARN
THEIR LESSON, WOULD BACK OFF

AND WE'D BE BACK
TO BEFORE THE WAR.

THAT HE MIGHT BE TAKING THE
WORLD INTO ANOTHER TERRIBLE WAR.

AND THIS TIME
IT WOULD BE AN ATOMIC WAR

BECAUSE NOW IT WAS KNOWN THAT
BOTH SIDES HAD THE ATOMIC BOMB.

Narrator:
BY JUNE 30, LESS THAN A WEEK
AFTER THE FIGHTING BEGAN

THE SITUATION SEEMED HOPELESS.

AMERICAN SUPPLIES AND PLANES
HAD NOT BEEN ENOUGH

TO STOP THE RELENTLESS ADVANCE
OF THE NORTH KOREAN ARMY.

THE PRESIDENT WAS GOING TO HAVE
TO SEND AMERICAN BOYS.

Man:
I HEARD HIM SAY,
"I KNOW THAT SOMEDAY

"I WILL HAVE TO STAND
BEFORE THE THRONE OF GOD

"AND ACCOUNT FOR EVERY YOUNG
LIFE THAT IS ABOUT TO BE LOST

"BECAUSE OF WHAT I AM
ABOUT TO DO.

"BUT IN THE FULFILLMENT
OF THE OATH THAT I TOOK

WHEN I BECAME PRESIDENT,
I HAVE NO CHOICE."

AS ONE OF THE YOUNG MEN
WHO MIGHT BE COVERED BY THAT

THAT'S THE FIRST TIME I REALIZED
WE WERE NOT DEALING

WITH A BANKRUPT HABERDASHER.

Narrator:
ON JUNE 30,
THE PRESIDENT APPROVED

THE USE OF A COMBAT TEAM
AND TWO DIVISIONS IN KOREA.

WHAT THE CHINESE OR THE RUSSIANS
WOULD DO NOW

HE WROTE IN HIS DIARY,
HE DID NOT KNOW.

THAT THE PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED STATES HAD TO STAND FIRM.

"I'M NOT GOING TO TREMBLE LIKE A
PSYCHOPATH BEFORE THE RUSSIANS"

HE TOLD A WORRIED SENATOR.

"I AM NOT GOING
TO SURRENDER OUR RIGHTS

OR THE RIGHTS
OF THE SOUTH KOREANS."

Hamby:
TRUMAN HOPES THIS IS GOING TO BE
A QUICK ENTERPRISE

AND WE CAN TAKE CARE OF IT.

CLEARLY, HE AND PERHAPS SOME OF
THE PEOPLE IN HIS ADMINISTRATION

HAVE UNDERESTIMATED
THE FORMIDABLE CHARACTER

OF THE NORTH KOREAN ARMY.

Narrator:
THE FIRST AMERICANS
THROWN INTO ACTION WERE GREEN.

THEIR ENEMY WAS NOT.

WELL TRAINED AND COMBAT HARDENED

THE NORTH KOREANS
PUSHED THE AMERICANS

FURTHER AND FURTHER SOUTH...

ACROSS UNKNOWN TERRAIN

THROUGH DRENCHING DOWNPOURS
AND PUNISHING HEAT.

TRUMAN'S CUTS
IN THE DEFENSE BUDGET

HAD LEFT AMERICA UNPREPARED
FOR THE WAR IT NOW FACED.

LaFeber:
BY JULY AND AUGUST OF 1950

KOREA WAS A FULL-FLEDGED
CONVENTIONAL WAR.

TRUMAN MADE THE DECISION
AT THIS POINT

TO BUST THE DEFENSE BUDGET.

HARRY TRUMAN, WHO HAD OPPOSED
HIGH DEFENSE BUDGETS

HAD SENT A $13 BILLION
DEFENSE BUDGET IN '49.

HE IS SENDING IN A DEFENSE
BUDGET OF $50 BILLION

AND THE UNITED STATES
IS NOW BEGINNING TO MOVE

INTO THE PERIOD
OF THE MODERN DEFENSE BUDGET.

Narrator:
WHILE THE MASSIVE REARMAMENT
OF AMERICA BEGAN AT HOME

NEWS FROM THE FRONT
REMAINED GRIM.

AT THE END OF JULY,
4,000 AMERICANS WERE DEAD

ALMOST 14,000
WOUNDED OR MISSING.

THE NORTH KOREANS WERE
SO MUCH STRONGER

THAN WE INITIALLY REALIZED

THAT THEY REALLY PRACTICALLY
PUSHED US RIGHT OFF

Narrator:
THE UNITED NATIONS ARMY
NOW CLUNG

TO ONLY A TINY CORNER OF
THE SOUTHEASTERN TIP OF KOREA.

TRUMAN HAD EXPECTED
TO OVERWHELM THE COMMUNISTS

TO HURL THEM BACK ABOVE THE 38th
PARALLEL INTO NORTH KOREA.

INSTEAD, AFTER JUST SIX WEEKS,
THE WAR SEEMED LOST.

WITH DISASTER LOOMING

A DARING PLAN WAS DEVISED BY THE
HEAD OF UNITED NATIONS FORCES...

THE FABLED HERO OF WORLD WAR II
WHOSE EXPLOITS IN THE PACIFIC

HAD MADE HIS NAME
A HOUSEHOLD WORD

GENERAL DOUGLAS MacARTHUR.

McCullough:
IT'S SOMEWHAT DIFFICULT TODAY

TO IMAGINE THE AURA AROUND
GENERAL DOUGLAS MacARTHUR...

THE SIZE OF THE SHADOW HE CAST.

AMERICANS LOOKED UPON HIM
AS A KIND OF GOD...

AN INFALLIBLE GOD.

HE WAS ONLY ABOUT FIVE FOOT NINE

BUT IF YOU WERE IN HIS PRESENCE

YOU WOULD SWEAR THAT
HE WAS ABOUT SIX FOOT SIX.

HE ALWAYS DOMINATED ANY GROUP,
AND HE HAD ALL THE PROPS:

THE OPEN-COLLARED SHIRT,
THE SUNGLASSES

THE CRUSHED HAT, THE PIPE.

HE TOOK UNCLEAR DIRECTIVES AND
INTERPRETED THEM HIS OWN WAY.

HE WAS VERY MUCH
THE AMERICAN CAESAR.

Narrator:
TO SAVE HIS ARMY
TRAPPED ON THE TIP OF KOREA

MacARTHUR SENT A MESSAGE TO
TRUMAN ASKING HIM TO APPROVE

ONE OF THE MOST
DARING OPERATIONS

IN AMERICAN MILITARY HISTORY.

Walters:
I ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS.

HE SAID, "TELL THE PRESIDENT
I WILL LAND AT INCHON

"ON THE 15th OF SEPTEMBER

"AND BETWEEN THE HAMMER
OF THIS LANDING

"AND THE ANVIL
OF THE EIGHTH ARMY

I WILL SMASH AND DESTROY
THE ARMIES OF NORTH KOREA."

AND THE HAIR STOOD UP
ON THE BACK OF MY NECK.

Narrator:
ON SEPTEMBER 15, 1950,
WITH TRUMAN'S FULL SUPPORT

MacARTHUR STRUCK WITHOUT WARNING

AT THE PORT OF INCHON,
30 MILES FROM SEOUL.

THE RISKS WERE ENORMOUS:

DANGEROUS 30-FOOT TIDES;

ENEMY GUNS TRAINED
ON MINE-INFESTED WATERS.

ONE PENTAGON STRATEGIST
CALLED IT A 5,000-TO-ONE SHOT.

BUT MacARTHUR'S GAMBLE PAID OFF.

THE NORTH KOREANS WERE CAUGHT
COMPLETELY BY SURPRISE.

INCHON FELL IN LESS THAN A DAY.

"I SALUTE YOU ALL,"
TRUMAN CABLED MacARTHUR

"AND SAY TO ALL OF YOU
FROM ALL OF US AT HOME

WELL AND NOBLY DONE."

13 DAYS LATER,
SEOUL WAS RETAKEN.

AT THE SAME TIME,
U.N. ARMIES IN THE SOUTH

WERE FIGHTING THEIR WAY NORTH
WITH THE ENEMY IN FULL RETREAT.

McCullough:
SUDDENLY, THE NORTH KOREANS

INSTEAD OF BEING
THIS INVINCIBLE INVADING ARMY

WERE CAUGHT IN A GIANT PINCER.

Narrator:
IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS

MacARTHUR HAD TURNED
THE WAR AROUND.

"GENERAL MacARTHUR,"
LIFE MAGAZINE WROTE

"IS A GREAT SOLDIER
AND A GREAT AMERICAN."

BY LATE SEPTEMBER, U.N. FORCES
HAD PUSHED THE COMMUNISTS

BACK ABOVE THE 38th PARALLEL...

THE LINE SEPARATING THE TWO
ARMIES BEFORE THE WAR BEGAN.

THERE, MacARTHUR'S ARMY HALTED.

Elsey:
THE OBJECTIVES WERE
TO RESTORE THE STATUS QUO.

THE INITIAL IDEA WAS
NOT AN INTENT

TO CAPTURE NORTH KOREA
AND UNIFY KOREA.

THAT WAS NOT THE INTENT AT ALL.

Narrator:
BUT TEMPTING THE PRESIDENT
AND ALL HIS ADVISERS

WAS THE CHANCE TO DRIVE
THE COMMUNISTS

ONCE AND FOR ALL
FROM THE PENINSULA

BY CROSSING THE 38th PARALLEL

AND PURSUING THEM
INTO NORTH KOREA.

TRUMAN FACED
A DANGEROUS DECISION.

HE KNEW THAT TO ORDER THE TROOPS
ACROSS THAT LINE

RISKED PROVOKING
NORTH KOREA'S ALLY, CHINA;

THAT THE CHINESE ARMY

WAS ALREADY MASSING
ON THE NORTH KOREAN BORDER;

THAT THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT

HAD ALREADY ISSUED
EXPLICIT WARNINGS.

McCullough:
THE PREVAILING WISDOM
AROUND THE PRESIDENT

WAS THAT THE LAST THING
IN THE WORLD

WOULD BE TO GET INVOLVED WITH A
MAJOR LAND WAR WITH THE CHINESE.

Narrator:
BUT WITH THE ENEMY IN RETREAT

TRUMAN'S NATIVE OPTIMISM
TOOK OVER.

MacARTHUR RECEIVED A MEMORANDUM
FROM THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF

APPROVED BY THE PRESIDENT.

"YOUR MILITARY OBJECTIVE,"
IT READ

"IS THE DESTRUCTION OF
THE NORTH KOREAN ARMED FORCES."

McCullough:
AND ACROSS THEY WENT

HAVING BEEN WARNED
THROUGH DIPLOMATIC CHANNELS

THAT IF THEY PROCEEDED
TO CROSS THE PARALLEL

THAT THE CHINESE
WOULD COME INTO THE WAR.

BUT IT WAS FELT
THAT THAT WAS A BLUFF.

Narrator:
TWO WEEKS LATER, TRUMAN
PREPARED TO LEAVE AMERICA

ON A MISSION THAT CAUGHT
EVERYONE BY SURPRISE.

"I'VE A WHALE OF A JOB
BEFORE ME"

TRUMAN WROTE HIS COUSIN.

"HAVE TO TALK
TO GOD'S RIGHT-HAND MAN."

TRUMAN WAS HEADING
FOR A TINY ISLAND

IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PACIFIC

TO MEET WITH GENERAL
DOUGLAS MacARTHUR.

THE GENERAL HAD BEEN MAKING
TROUBLE FOR THE PRESIDENT.

MacARTHUR'S OUTSPOKEN
ANTI-COMMUNIST OPINIONS

HAD INFLAMED AN ALREADY TENSE
SITUATION WITH THE CHINESE.

MANY FEARED MacARTHUR
WANTED TO RETAKE

THE COMMUNIST CHINESE MAINLAND.

Battle:
MacARTHUR HAD A CONTEMPT
FOR HIGHER AUTHORITY.

HE WAS HIS SUPREME AUTHORITY.

THAT'S THE WAY HE SAW HIMSELF.

HE WAS NOT TROUBLED

BY THE CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITS
UPON GENERALS.

HE WAS NOT TROUBLED
BY ANY OBLIGATIONS HE HAD.

I'M SURE HE HAD A CERTAIN
CONTEMPT FOR THE PRESIDENT.

I DON'T THINK THERE'S
MUCH DOUBT OF THAT.

Narrator:
TRUMAN HAD NEVER
LIKED MacARTHUR.

IN HIS DIARY, THE PRESIDENT
DESCRIBED THE GENERAL

AS "MR. PRIMA DONNA,"
"BRASS HAT"

A "PLAYACTOR"
AND A "BUNCO MAN."

"IT'S A VERY GREAT PITY WE HAVE
TO HAVE STUFFED SHIRTS LIKE THAT

IN KEY POSITIONS," TRUMAN WROTE.

Simmons:
THE MEN WERE SO DISSIMILAR.

HERE WAS THIS IMPERIOUS FIGURE

VERY MUCH DIFFERENT THAN
THE MIDWESTERN COMMON MAN

WHO WAS TRUMAN.

Narrator:
AS TRUMAN HEADED FOR WAKE ISLAND

AND THE MEETING WITH
HIS DOMINEERING GENERAL

HE WAS DETERMINED TO LET
MacARTHUR KNOW WHO WAS BOSS.

TRUMAN PUT ON HIS BEST PUBLIC
FACE, BUT TENSIONS RAN HIGH

FROM THE MOMENT THE PRESIDENT
GOT OFF THE PLANE.

Walters:
AND AS I RECOLLECT IT, MacARTHUR
SHOOK HANDS WITH THE PRESIDENT...

HE DID NOT SALUTE HIM

WHICH STRUCK ME, AS A YOUNG
OFFICER, RIGHT AWAY

YOU KNOW, SORT OF ODD.

MANY YEARS LATER,
I WAS IN INDEPENDENCE

AND I SAW MR. TRUMAN,
AND I SAID, "MR. PRESIDENT

CAN I ASK YOU
AN INDISCREET QUESTION?"

HE SAID, "THERE ARE
NO INDISCREET QUESTIONS.

"THERE ARE ONLY
INDISCREET ANSWERS.

"I'M A SPECIALIST IN THEM.

I SAID, "AT WAKE ISLAND,
WHEN YOU DEPLANED

AND STARTING DOWN THE STAIRS..."
AND HE INTERRUPTED ME:

"DID I NOTICE THAT
MacARTHUR DID NOT SALUTE?

"YOU'RE GODDAMN RIGHT
I NOTICED IT!

AND I KNEW I WAS GOING
TO HAVE TROUBLE WITH HIM."

Narrator:
IN A DILAPIDATED CHEVROLET

TRUMAN AND MacARTHUR SET OFF
FOR A PRIVATE MEETING.

WITH THEM WAS TRUMAN'S SECRET
SERVICE AGENT FLOYD BORING.

OH, MAN, TENSION?

YOU COULD... YOU COULD ALMOST
FEEL IT, THE TENSION IN THE AIR.

Narrator:
BORING OVERHEARD THE PRESIDENT
LACE RIGHT INTO THE GENERAL.

Boring:
NEVER SAID "HOWDY" OR NOTHING.

THE PRESIDENT SAID TO HIM

"I'M THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF,"
AND HE WAS MAD.

"I'M THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF.

"YOU'RE JUST... YOU'RE A GENERAL
IN THE ARMY... REMEMBER THAT.

"WHY DO YOU INSIST
ON GOING INTO CHINA?

"WE DON'T WANT TO DO THAT."

HE SAID, "I WANT YOU TO STOP IT.

"OTHERWISE, YOU'RE GOING
TO BE RECALLED.

WE'RE GOING TO GET RID OF YOU."

GENERAL MacARTHUR
DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING.

YEAH, HE KNEW
THE OLD MAN WAS MAD.

Narrator:
THE TENSION STILL LINGERED
LATER THAT AFTERNOON

AS THE FORMAL MEETING
GOT UNDER WAY

IN A PINK CINDER-BLOCK SHACK.

TRUMAN QUICKLY MOVED
THE DISCUSSION

Walters:
TRUMAN SAID, "ALL THE
INTELLIGENCE OFFICERS WE HAVE

"INDICATE THAT THE CHINESE ARE
PREPARING TO COME INTO THE WAR.

WHAT HAPPENS
IF THE CHINESE COME IN?"

MacARTHUR ANSWERED AND SAID,
"THEY WILL NOT ENTER THE WAR

"AND IF THEY DO,
I SHALL MAKE OF THEM

THE GREATEST SLAUGHTER
IN THE HISTORY OF WARFARE."

Narrator:
MacARTHUR ASSURED THE PRESIDENT

THAT THE WAR WOULD BE OVER
BY CHRISTMAS.

THE CONFERENCE RAN LESS
THAN THREE HOURS.

THIS, THEIR FIRST MEETING,
WAS TO BE THEIR LAST.

TRUMAN AND MacARTHUR WOULD
NEVER SEE EACH OTHER AGAIN.

Elsey:
TRUMAN THOUGHT THE MEETING WITH
MacARTHUR HAD BEEN SUCCESSFUL.

HE'D BEEN ENCOURAGED
BY MacARTHUR'S ASSURANCE

THAT HE COULD BEGIN SENDING
TROOPS BACK HOME BY CHRISTMAS.

SO HE CAME HOME
CONFIDENT AND COMFORTABLE.

AND, OF COURSE,
JUST A FEW WEEKS LATER

CONTRARY
TO MacARTHUR'S ASSESSMENT

THE CHINESE ENTERED IN FORCE
AND THINGS JUST FELL APART.

MORE THAN A QUARTER OF A MILLION
CHINESE COMMUNIST SOLDIERS

POURED INTO KOREA.

IN SPITE OF THE ASSURANCES
HE HAD GIVEN THE PRESIDENT

MacARTHUR,
HOPELESSLY OUTNUMBERED

WAS POWERLESS TO STOP THEM.

FOUR DAYS LATER,
THE PRESIDENT RECEIVED A CABLE

"WE FACE AN ENTIRELY NEW WAR.

"THIS COMMAND IS NOW
FACED WITH CONDITIONS

BEYOND ITS CONTROL
AND ITS STRENGTH."

ONE OBSERVER DESCRIBED
THE PRESIDENT

AS HE REPORTED THE NEWS
TO HIS AIDES:

"HIS MOUTH DREW TIGHT,
HIS CHEEKS FLUSHED.

"FOR A MOMENT, IT ALMOST SEEMED
AS IF HE WOULD SOB.

"THEN, IN A VOICE THAT WAS
INCREDIBLY CALM AND QUIET

"HE SAID, 'THIS IS THE WORST
SITUATION WE HAVE HAD YET.

WE'LL JUST HAVE TO MEET IT
AS WE'VE MET ALL THE REST.'"

VICTORY HAD APPEARED
ALMOST WITHIN REACH.

NOW, IN THE BITTER
KOREAN WINTER

MacARTHUR'S FORCES REELED
UNDER THE COMMUNIST ATTACK.

MacARTHUR TOLD THE PRESIDENT

HE FEARED HIS ARMY
WAS ABOUT TO BE DESTROYED.

Simmons:
MacARTHUR'S BEHAVIOR IN THIS
TIME PERIOD IS VERY STRANGE.

THIS IS MacARTHUR,
THE INVINCIBLE, THE INFALLIBLE

BUT HE HAD FAILED.

HE WAS TALKING ABOUT EVACUATING
THE EIGHTH ARMY FROM KOREA.

AND BEING MacARTHUR,
IT COULDN'T HAVE BEEN HIS FAULT;

IT MUST HAVE BEEN
SOMEONE ELSE'S FAULT.

Narrator:
THE GENERAL URGED THE PRESIDENT
TO WAGE ALL-OUT WAR.

HE WANTED TO BLOCKADE
THE CHINESE COAST

AND BOMB THE CHINESE MAINLAND.

TRUMAN REFUSED.

IN AN ATOMIC AGE, HE FEARED
PROVOKING A THIRD WORLD WAR.

Simmons:
BOILED DOWN, MacARTHUR WANTED
TO FIGHT THE WAR TO WIN THE WAR.

TRUMAN WANTED TO CONFINE THE WAR
TO THE KOREAN PENINSULA.

HE WANTED TO KEEP IT
AS SMALL AN AFFAIR AS POSSIBLE.

Narrator:
AS THE COMMUNISTS CONTINUED
TO PUNISH MacARTHUR'S ARMY

THE GENERAL TOLD REPORTERS

THAT HE WAS FIGHTING
UNDER "AN ENORMOUS HANDICAP."

TRUMAN ORDERED THE GENERAL
TO STOP TALKING TO REPORTERS.

MacARTHUR ESCALATED HIS DEMANDS.

LaFeber:
I THINK IT'S FAIR
TO SAY MacARTHUR PANICKED.

AT ONE POINT IN LATE DECEMBER,
HE'S ASKING TRUMAN

TO TARGET 26 DIFFERENT AREAS
WITHIN CHINA

FOR THE DROPPING
OF NUCLEAR BOMBS.

I THINK MacARTHUR'S TOP
PREFERENCE WOULD HAVE BEEN

TO USE SMALL NUCLEAR WEAPONS
ON THE MASSES OF CHINESE.

AND HE FIGURED, TWO OR THREE

THE CHINESE WOULD STOP
AND WITHDRAW.

THE PRESIDENT WAS NOT PREPARED
TO MAKE THAT DECISION.

Narrator:
EACH DAY, TRUMAN'S WAR BECAME
MORE AND MORE UNPOPULAR.

NEWSPAPER REPORTS
AND PHOTOGRAPHS

OF AMERICAN BOYS CAPTURED,
WOUNDED AND KILLED

UPSET AND CONFUSED
ORDINARY CITIZENS.

TO A NATION ACCUSTOMED

TO THE GLORIOUS VICTORIES
OF WORLD WAR II

TO UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER

TO EVEN FORCING AN ENEMY
TO SURRENDER WITH AN ATOMIC BOMB

TRUMAN'S LIMITED WAR
SEEMED SENSELESS.

Shulman:
THIS WAS PROBABLY THE WORST PART

OF THE PRESIDENT'S
ADMINISTRATION FOR HIM...

THE CASUALTIES WE WERE TAKING,
THE PROTESTS FROM FAMILIES

AND THE DIFFICULTY
OF UNDERSTANDING

WHAT A LIMITED WAR MEANT.

I MEAN, "WHY NOT NUKE 'EM?"

Narrator:
THE PRESSURE ON TRUMAN GREW
INCREASINGLY INTENSE.

HE WAS WORKING 18-HOUR DAYS, AND
THE STRAIN WAS STARTING TO SHOW.

ONE MORNING, WITH UNITED STATES
MARINES TRAPPED

AT A RESERVOIR IN NORTH KOREA,
TRUMAN MET WITH HIS ADVISERS.

Shulman:
WE WERE WORKING ON A SPEECH

AND MR. TRUMAN CAME IN
FROM HIS OFFICE AND SAT DOWN

IN A VERY DEJECTED WAY,
AND HE SAID

"YOU KNOW, NORMALLY
I SLEEP LIKE A BABY

"BUT THIS TIME I COULD
HARDLY SLEEP ALL NIGHT LONG.

I WAS THINKING ABOUT THOSE BOYS
UP AT THE RESERVOIR."

AND THEN HE SLUMPED IN HIS CHAIR
AND HE... HE SAID

"YOU KNOW, THERE MUST BE
A THOUSAND PEOPLE IN THIS TOWN

WHO CAN DO THE JOB BETTER
THAN I CAN."

THERE ISN'T MUCH
YOU CAN SAY TO THAT.

AND HE TOOK OFF HIS GLASSES
AND PUT THEM ON THE TABLE

AND THAT WAS
A STARTLING THING FOR ME

BECAUSE I HAD BEEN ACCUSTOMED

TO SEEING HIS EYES
RATHER LARGE IN HIS FACE

AND I REALIZED
WHEN HE TOOK HIS GLASSES OFF

IT WAS BECAUSE THEY WERE
VERY THICK LENSES

AND IT MAGNIFIED HIS EYES.

AND WHEN HE TOOK HIS GLASSES OFF

HIS EYES APPEARED SMALL
IN HIS FACE

AND IT CHANGED
HIS APPEARANCE TO ME.

I STARED AT HIM JUST AS LONG
AS I COULD POLITELY DO

AND THEN HE PUT HIS ELBOWS
ON THE TABLE AND HE SANK HIS...

HIS THUMBS INTO HIS EYE SOCKETS
AND SAT THERE FOR A WHILE.

AND WE WERE ALL QUIET.

AND THEN FINALLY
HE RAISED HIS HEAD

AND TOOK HIS GLASSES
AND PUT THEM ON.

HE SAID,
"BUT THE JOB IS MINE TO DO

"SO I HAVE TO DO THE BEST I CAN.

LET'S GO ON WITH THE DRAFTING."

Narrator:
TENSION AND EXHAUSTION WERE
TAKING THEIR TOLL ON TRUMAN.

VICTORY IN KOREA WOULD HAVE BEEN
THE CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT

OF HIS PRESIDENCY,
PROOF THAT HIS DETERMINATION

TO HOLD THE LINE AGAINST
COMMUNISM WAS WORKING.

INSTEAD, TRUMAN FACED DISASTER

AND IN THE DAYS AFTER
THE CHINESE ATTACK, HE DRIFTED.

McCullough:
THIS WAS THE DARKEST TIME
OF HIS YEARS IN THE PRESIDENCY.

IT WAS A VERY BLEAK PROSPECT
THAT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE FACED

AND THE PRESIDENT
WAS BEING BESIEGED ON ALL SIDES.

Narrator:
ON DECEMBER 5, HIS BELOVED
FRIEND AND PRESS SECRETARY

CHARLIE ROSS, DIED
OF A HEART ATTACK.

TRUMAN HAD KNOWN ROSS
SINCE HIGH SCHOOL

AND THE SUDDEN LOSS
OF HIS LIFELONG FRIEND

McCullough:
AND TRUMAN WAS DEEPLY UPSET,
DEEPLY DISTRAUGHT.

AND THAT WAS THE SAME NIGHT
THAT THE PRESIDENT'S DAUGHTER

MARGARET TRUMAN, WAS HAVING
A FIRST CONCERT EVER SINGING

IN CONSTITUTION HALL,
IN WASHINGTON.

Narrator:
MARGARET HAD STUDIED
TO BECOME A SINGER

AND THE GRIEVING PRESIDENT
KEPT HIS PROMISE

TO HEAR HER PERFORM

HIS PENT-UP FRUSTRATIONS WAITING

LIKE A STICK OF DYNAMITE,
READY TO EXPLODE.

Narrator:
PAUL HUME, THE WASHINGTON POST'S
RESPECTED MUSIC CRITIC

HAD NO IDEA
WHAT WAS IN STORE FOR HIM

AS HE JOINED THE SELL-OUT CROWD.

Hume:
HERE WERE THE MEMBERS
OF THE CONGRESS

THE SUPREME COURT,
ALL THE BIG SHOTS...

THEY WERE ALL THERE
TO HEAR HER SING

WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN WONDERFUL
HAD SHE BEEN ABLE TO SING WELL.

Hume:
AS SOON AS SHE STARTED TO SING

I COULD TELL
THAT SHE DID NOT HAVE

THE BASIC TECHNICAL CONTROL
OF THE VOICE THAT YOU NEED.

THE PITCH WASN'T THERE,
THE TONE WASN'T THERE.

SHE JUST DIDN'T HAVE
WHAT IT TOOK.

I WOULD HAVE BEEN THRILLED

IF I COULD HAVE WRITTEN
A RAVE REVIEW.

WHAT I WROTE WAS, "SHE IS FLAT
A GOOD DEAL OF THE TIME

"THAN AT ANY TIME
WE HAVE HEARD HER IN PAST YEARS.

"THERE ARE FEW MOMENTS
IN HER RECITAL

"WHEN ONE CAN RELAX
AND FEEL CONFIDENT

THAT SHE WILL MAKE HER GOAL,
WHICH IS THE END OF THE SONG."

Narrator:
THE NEXT DAY, TRUMAN OPENED
THE WASHINGTON POST TO PAGE 12

AND FOUND PAUL HUME'S
DEVASTATING CRITIQUE

OF HIS DAUGHTER'S SINGING.

THE PRESIDENT ERUPTED.

FURIOUS, HE DASHED OFF
A SCATHING RESPONSE.

Hume:
THE LETTER CAME IN
AND I OPENED IT UP

AND I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT,
AND I... GASPED.

Narrator:
"I'VE JUST READ YOUR LOUSY
REVIEW OF MARGARET'S CONCERT.

"SOMEDAY I HOPE TO MEET YOU.

"WHEN THAT HAPPENS,
YOU'LL NEED A NEW NOSE

"A LOT OF BEEFSTEAK
FOR BLACK EYES

AND PERHAPS A SUPPORTER BELOW."

THAT'S STRONG LANGUAGE FROM THE
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

Narrator:
WHEN THE LETTER BECAME PUBLIC

NEWSPAPERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY
BERATED THE PRESIDENT

FOR HIS LACK OF SELF-CONTROL.

THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE
EVEN QUESTIONED

TRUMAN'S MENTAL COMPETENCE
AND EMOTIONAL STABILITY.

McCullough:
HE WAS A MAN WHO WAS BEING
BATTERED AND BESIEGED

HE HAD TO BLOW HIS STACK
ABOUT SOMETHING, IT SEEMS TO ME

AND THE SOMETHING WAS
PAUL HUME'S REVIEW.

Narrator:
THE WHITE HOUSE WAS FLOODED
WITH LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS.

ONE LETTER CAME
FROM DISTRAUGHT PARENTS

WHO ENCLOSED A PURPLE HEART.

"AS YOU HAVE BEEN
DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE

FOR THE LOSS OF OUR SON'S LIFE
IN KOREA," TRUMAN READ

"YOU MIGHT JUST AS WELL
KEEP THIS EMBLEM.

"ONE MAJOR REGRET IS THAT
YOUR DAUGHTER WAS NOT THERE

TO RECEIVE THE SAME TREATMENT
AS OUR SON."

BY EARLY 1951, THE COMMUNISTS
HAD RETAKEN SEOUL AND INCHON

AND DRIVEN MacARTHUR'S FORCES
BELOW THE 38th PARALLEL.

AGAIN, THE GENERAL URGED
THE PRESIDENT TO WIDEN THE WAR.

AGAIN, THE PRESIDENT REFUSED.

THEN, ON JANUARY 25

THE LONGEST RETREAT IN
AMERICAN MILITARY HISTORY ENDED.

MacARTHUR'S BLEAK ASSESSMENTS
HAD BEEN WRONG.

HIS FIELD COMMANDER,
GENERAL MATTHEW RIDGWAY

TOOK UNITED NATIONS FORCES
ON THE OFFENSIVE.

ASSAULTING THE COMMUNISTS
WITH TANKS AND ARTILLERY

RIDGWAY BEGAN DRIVING THEM BACK.

BY THE END OF MARCH,
FORCES UNDER RIDGWAY'S COMMAND

HAD REACHED THE 38th PARALLEL
ONCE AGAIN.

THERE THE WAR STALEMATED.

MORE THAN 50,000
AMERICAN SOLDIERS

HAD BEEN KILLED OR WOUNDED.

SOUTH KOREAN CASUALTIES
NUMBERED OVER 160,000.

TRUMAN CAUTIOUSLY BEGAN
EXPLORING THE POSSIBILITY

OF NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE CHINESE

TO STOP THE FIGHTING
AND RESTORE A DIVIDED KOREA.

Donovan:
WHAT TRUMAN WANTED

AND WHAT THE AMERICAN
POLICYMAKERS WANTED

WAS TO GET OUT OF THERE
AS DECENTLY AS WE COULD.

Narrator:
AT JUST THAT MOMENT,
MacARTHUR STEPPED IN

AND UNDERMINED
THE PRESIDENT'S PLAN.

THE GENERAL ISSUED
HIS OWN PROCLAMATION

DEMANDING THE CHINESE COMMANDER
SURRENDER TO HIM.

THE PRESIDENT WAS IN A RAGE.

MacARTHUR HAD WRECKED HIS HOPE
FOR NEGOTIATIONS.

"I WAS READY TO KICK HIM
INTO THE NORTH CHINA SEA"

"I WAS NEVER SO PUT OUT
IN MY LIFE."

Walters:
I GUESS IN THE BACK OF HIS MIND

MacARTHUR FIGURED, "THIS IS
A CAPTAIN OF ARTILLERY;

WHAT DOES HE KNOW
ABOUT THIS WAR?"

"I'M THE PRESIDENT;

I DECIDE AMERICAN FOREIGN
AND MILITARY POLICY."

Elsey:
WITH GENERAL MacARTHUR MAKING
MORE AND MORE STATEMENTS

THAT WERE CALLING INTO QUESTION
NATIONAL POLICY

SOME OF TRUMAN'S ADVISERS
BEGAN TO URGE

THAT HE RELIEVE THE GENERAL.

WELL, THAT'S SOMETHING
YOU JUST DON'T CASUALLY DO.

YOU DON'T RELIEVE A COMMANDER
IN THE FIELD

IN THE MIDST
OF MAJOR HOSTILITIES.

Narrator:
BUT WHEN MacARTHUR SENT A LETTER
TO THE HOUSE MINORITY LEADER

CRITICIZING THE PRESIDENT'S
CONDUCT OF THE WAR

"THIS LOOKS LIKE THE LAST
STRAW," HE WROTE IN HIS DIARY.

"RANK INSUBORDINATION."

McCullough:
TRUMAN KNEW THE FIRESTORM
HE WOULD FACE.

HE KNEW HE WOULD BE ATTACKED
IN THE PRESS.

BUT HE ALSO KNEW
THAT EVENTUALLY

THE PEOPLE AND HISTORY
WOULD SEE

THAT HE HAD DONE
THE RIGHT THING.

Narrator:
ON APRIL 11, MacARTHUR
WAS HAVING LUNCH IN TOKYO

WHEN HIS WIFE HANDED HIM
A BROWN SIGNAL CORPS ENVELOPE.

"I DEEPLY REGRET,"
THE MESSAGE READ

"THAT IT BECOMES MY DUTY AS
PRESIDENT AND COMMANDER IN CHIEF

"OF THE UNITED STATES
MILITARY FORCES

TO REPLACE YOU
AS SUPREME COMMANDER."

TRUMAN HAD FIRED ONE
OF THE MOST POPULAR GENERALS

IN AMERICAN HISTORY.

McCullough:
AND HE DID IT VERY ABRUPTLY

AND HE DID IT KNOWING FULL WELL
WHAT WOULD HAPPEN.

Narrator:
MacARTHUR CAME HOME
TO A HERO'S WELCOME.

ON CAPITOL HILL,
REPUBLICANS ATTACKED TRUMAN.

SENATOR JOSEPH McCARTHY
TOLD A PRESS CONFERENCE

"THE SON OF A BITCH
OUGHT TO BE IMPEACHED."

THE PRESIDENT WAS DELUGED
WITH WILD TELEGRAMS

DENOUNCING HIM AS A PIG,
A LITTLE MAN, A JUDAS.

McCullough:
WHO WAS HE, THIS LITTLE
PIP-SQUEAK CAPTAIN

TO FIRE THE GREAT, BELOVED,
AWESOME GENERAL MacARTHUR?

Simmons:
MacARTHUR IS RECEIVED
IN A TUMULTUOUS FASHION

IN EVERY CITY...

TICKER-TAPE PARADES...

JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS...

HE ADDRESSED THE CONGRESS;
HE MADE THAT FAMOUS SPEECH.

I STILL REMEMBER THE REFRAIN

OF ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR
BARRACK BALLADS OF THAT DAY

WHICH PROCLAIMED MOST PROUDLY...

THAT "OLD SOLDIERS NEVER DIE..."

"THEY JUST FADE AWAY."

"OLD SOLDIERS NEVER DIE;
THEY SIMPLY FADE AWAY"...

I'VE NEVER BEEN QUITE SURE
WHAT THAT MEANT

BUT IT SOUNDS... SOUNDS GREAT.

MacArthur:
AND LIKE THE OLD SOLDIER
OF THAT BALLAD...

Narrator:
TRUMAN WASN'T LISTENING.

THE PRESIDENT MET
WITH HIS SECRETARY OF STATE

LATER HE READ
WHAT THE GENERAL HAD SAID

AND PRIVATELY REMARKED,
"IT'S A BUNCH OF DAMN BULLSHIT."

Elsey:
TRUMAN TOOK IT ALL IN STRIDE.

HE SAID, "THIS WILL BLOW OVER.

"BRING THE GENERAL HOME

"LET HIM HAVE HIS TICKER-TAPE
PARADES... THAT'S OKAY.

ALL THIS WILL BE GONE
IN A FEW MONTHS," AND IT WAS.

Narrator:
THE STALEMATE
IN KOREA CONTINUED.

ON JULY 10, 1951, PEACE TALKS
BEGAN, BUT THEY WOULD BOG DOWN

AND DRAG ON FOR THE REST
OF TRUMAN'S DAYS IN OFFICE.

THE WAR IN KOREA WOULD GO ON

IN THE END TAKING MORE
THAN 54,000 AMERICAN LIVES.

TRUMAN'S ONLY COMFORT
WAS IN KNOWING

THAT HE HAD KEPT
THE STRUGGLE FROM SPREADING

THAT HE HAD PREVENTED THE HORROR
OF A FULL-SCALE NUCLEAR WAR.

Hamby:
THE LAST TWO YEARS
OF THE ADMINISTRATION

ARE BY FAR THE TOUGHEST
OF TRUMAN'S PRESIDENCY.

HE REALLY BEGINS
TO FEEL THE STRESS.

AND IN EARLY 1952,
WHEN HE'S STILL TOYING AROUND

WITH THE IDEA
OF RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT

BESS TELLS HIM SHE DOESN'T THINK
HE COULD SURVIVE ANOTHER TERM.

SHE SAYS SHE DOESN'T THINK
SHE COULD EITHER.

McCullough:
SHE HAD BEEN BIDING HER TIME,
GRITTING HER TEETH

FROM THE TIME HE FIRST TOOK
THE OATH OF OFFICE IN 1945.

I THINK SHE WOULD HAVE LEFT HIM
HAD HE CHOSEN TO RUN AGAIN.

Narrator:
ON MARCH 29, 1952

TRUMAN TOLD HIS FELLOW AMERICANS
WHAT MANY ALREADY SUSPECTED.

I SHALL NOT BE A CANDIDATE
FOR RE-ELECTION.

I HAVE SERVED MY COUNTRY LONG

AND, I THINK,
EFFICIENTLY AND HONESTLY.

I SHALL NOT ACCEPT
A RENOMINATION.

I DO NOT FEEL THAT IT IS MY DUTY

TO SPEND ANOTHER FOUR YEARS
IN THE WHITE HOUSE.

Narrator:
WITH HIS FAIR DEAL AND
CIVIL RIGHTS PROGRAMS CRUSHED

THE WAR STALEMATED IN KOREA,
TRUMAN KNEW IT WAS TIME TO GO.

Man:
HIS RATINGS WERE LOWER THAN
NIXON'S ON THE DAY HE RESIGNED.

I MEAN, IT WAS PROBABLY
AS LOW AN APPROVAL RATING

Narrator:
ONLY ONE PERSON RESPONDED
WITH UNADORNED GLEE.

"WHEN YOU MADE
YOUR ANNOUNCEMENT"

"MRS. TRUMAN LOOKED THE WAY
YOU DO WHEN YOU DRAW FOUR ACES."

AND SHE THOUGHT
HARRY TRUMAN HAD HAD ENOUGH.

HE'D DONE HIS DUTY.

HE'D DONE IT WELL.

IT WAS TIME TO CALL IT QUITS.

Narrator:
THAT JULY, THE DEMOCRATS
CONVENED IN CHICAGO

TO NOMINATE ADLAI STEVENSON
FOR PRESIDENT.

TRUMAN TOLD STEVENSON

"ADLAI, IF A KNUCKLEHEAD
LIKE ME CAN BE PRESIDENT

"THINK WHAT A REALLY EDUCATED
SMART GUY LIKE YOU COULD DO

IN THE JOB."

BUT THE REPUBLICANS HAD ALREADY
NOMINATED THE HERO OF D-DAY

GENERAL DWIGHT DAVID
EISENHOWER.

THE DEMOCRATS, TRUMAN KNEW,
DIDN'T STAND A CHANCE.

WHEN THE CAMPAIGN WAS OVER

TRUMAN'S DEMOCRATS HAD SUFFERED
A DEVASTATING DEFEAT.

AFTER 20 YEARS IN THE WILDERNESS

THE REPUBLICANS HAD
RECAPTURED THE WHITE HOUSE.

McCullough:
THE SPOTLIGHT WAS
ON THE NEW PRESIDENT.

AND THE OUTGOING PRESIDENT
WAS SUDDENLY A CITIZEN AGAIN

DRIVING AWAY IN A CAR,
HAVING TO STOP AT A RED LIGHT

FOR THE FIRST TIME
IN SEVEN YEARS.

TRUMAN HAD LUNCH WITH HIS STAFF
AND CABINET FOR THE LAST TIME.

Donovan:
AND WHEN HIS OLD FRIEND

THE RETIRING SECRETARY OF THE
TREASURY, JOHN SNYDER, ARRIVED

HE SAW THE PRESIDENT STANDING
LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW.

AND SNYDER WENT OVER AND SAID

"WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING
OUT THE WINDOW FOR?"

AND TRUMAN TURNED AROUND
AND SAID

"AN HOUR AGO,
IF I HAD SAID SOMETHING

"IT WOULD HAVE GONE AROUND
THE WORLD IN 15 MINUTES...

ALL AROUND THE WORLD."

HE SAID, "NOW I COULD TALK
FOR TWO HOURS

AND NO ONE WOULD GIVE A DAMN."

Narrator:
ON JANUARY 20, 1953

HARRY TRUMAN, PRIVATE CITIZEN,
SET OUT FOR HOME.

McCullough:
I'M NOT SURE THEY EXPECTED
ANYBODY WOULD TURN UP

TO SAY FAREWELL.

BUT WHEN THEY SAW
THE IMMENSE CROWD THAT HAD COME

AND THE CHEERING
AND THE AFFECTION

THAT WAS EXPRESSED BY THE CROWD,
THEY WERE SIMPLY OVERWHELMED.

Donovan:
AND I WENT BACK TO INDEPENDENCE
WITH THEM, AND IT WAS A SCREAM.

AND SOMEONE WOULD BE SITTING
IN A COMPARTMENT READING A PAPER

"HELLO THERE."

HERE'S HARRY,
HERE'S PRESIDENT TRUMAN.

AND HE'D GO UP AND BUY
A NEWSPAPER AT THE NEWSSTAND

AND... THE NEWSPAPER GUY.

AND HE WAS HAVING
A GREAT HIGH TIME OF IT

AND SO, I THINK, WERE THEY.

IT WAS JUST A JOYOUS RIDE
BACK TO INDEPENDENCE.

Narrator:
AFTER NEARLY 20 YEARS
IN WASHINGTON

HARRY AND BESS TRUMAN CAME HOME.

Bodine:
WHAT WITH HIS POPULARITY RATING
BEING SO LOW AND ALL OF THAT

THE GENERAL ASSUMPTION WAS

THERE WOULD BE
MAYBE A FEW FRIENDS

AT THE RAILROAD STATION
TO GREET THEM.

INSTEAD, AS I RECALL, I THINK
THE CROWD WAS 10,000 PEOPLE.

WELCOME HOME,
NEIGHBOR.

Man:
HOORAY FOR HARRY!

McCullough:
THE BIGGEST CROWD EVER
TURNED OUT IN THE LITTLE TOWN.

MRS. TRUMAN WAS SO TOUCHED
BY THIS THAT SHE SAID

THAT THIS MAKES
ALL THESE LAST YEARS

IN THE WHITE HOUSE WORTH IT.

Narrator:
TRUMAN WENT ON TO LIVE

IN THE OLD HOUSE
ON NORTH DELAWARE STREET

THAT HAD ONCE BEEN
HIS MOTHER-IN-LAW'S.

THERE HE WOULD SPEND
THE REST OF HIS LIFE.

AMERICANS GREW ACCUSTOMED
TO SEEING HARRY TRUMAN

PICTURED WALKING
THE STREETS OF INDEPENDENCE

OR HEARING HIM BLUNTLY
SPEAK HIS MIND.

NOW HE WAS ONE OF THEM

AND THEY SEEMED MORE FOND
OF CITIZEN TRUMAN

THAN PRESIDENT TRUMAN.

GRADUALLY
HIS REPUTATION REVIVED.

AMERICANS BEGAN TO REMEMBER
THE FORMER PRESIDENT

AS THAT FEISTY MAN FROM MISSOURI

WHO WORKED HARD AND WASN'T
AFRAID TO SPEAK HIS MIND.

THEY REMEMBERED THE TRUMAN
WHO SAID, "THE BUCK STOPS HERE."

McCullough:
HE'S A BELIEVABLE MAN.

THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS
HE IS SO APPEALING TO US.

HE HAS NO PRIVILEGED BACKGROUND.

HE HAS NO GREAT VOICE.

HE ISN'T HANDSOME.

HE HAS NO GLAMOUR.

BUT IN THAT MAKEUP
IS IRON, REAL IRON.

Narrator:
IN 1961, EIGHT YEARS AFTER
HE HAD LEFT THE WHITE HOUSE

HARRY TRUMAN WAS INVITED BACK
BY PRESIDENT JOHN KENNEDY.

ONCE AGAIN, TRUMAN SAT DOWN
AT HIS OLD PIANO

AND PLAYED THE MUSIC HE HAD
PRACTICED EVERY MORNING

AS A BOY.

TRUMAN PASSED HIS FINAL YEARS
STILL RISING EARLY

STILL TAKING HIS MORNING WALK

JUST AS HE HAD DONE
ALL HIS LIFE.

"I TRIED NEVER TO FORGET WHO
I WAS AND WHERE I'D COME FROM

AND WHERE I'D GO BACK TO,"
TRUMAN SAID.

Shulman:
HARRY TRUMAN WAS A VINDICATION

OF THE DEMOCRATIC IDEA
OF LEADERSHIP.

HERE IS A MAN OUT
OF THE HEARTLAND OF AMERICA

AN ORDINARY GUY, NOT
A HIGH-POWERED INTELLECTUAL

BUT A MAN OF COMMON SENSE
AND A MAN OF PERSONAL DECENCY.

Narrator:
ON DECEMBER 26, 1972,
HARRY TRUMAN DIED.

HE WAS 88 YEARS OLD.

TEN YEARS LATER,
BESS WAS BURIED BESIDE HIM

IN THE COURTYARD OF THE LIBRARY
THAT WAS NAMED IN HIS HONOR.

"WHEN FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT DIED,"
TRUMAN SAID

"I FELT THERE MUST BE A MILLION
MEN BETTER QUALIFIED THAN I

"TO TAKE UP
THE PRESIDENTIAL TASK.

"BUT THE WORK WAS MINE TO DO,
AND I HAD TO DO IT.

AND I TRIED TO GIVE IT
EVERYTHING THAT WAS IN ME."

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