Truman in The Fifties

   In David Halberstam’s THE FIFTIES he writes of how Harry Truman came to the presidency unprepared in foreign affairs. For some reason FDR never bothered to give him orientation regarding the world situation, especially regarding Stalin and his actions. A well read and alert Truman saw parallels to Hitler ten years earlier. He wrote in a letter to his daughter, “We are faced with exactly the same situation with which Britain and France were faced in 1938-39 with Hitler. Things look black. A decision will have to be made. I am going to make it.”

     This was from Truman who famously kept the small plaque on his desk proclaiming, “The Buck Stops Here.” The way he assumed his responsibilities as president always fascinate me.