President Harry Truman: From Farm to Oval Office and the Atom Bomb

American History Hit

History Hit

America, History

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 27 February 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The end of the Second World War. The start of the Cold War. The dropping of the Atomic Bomb and the growth of the Civil Rights movement. When FDR passed, the 33rd President of the United States was truly thrown into the deep end.

In this episode of American History Hit, host Don Wildman discusses Truman's presidency with Mark Adams, Director of the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum.

Produced by Freddy Chick. Edited by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

You can take part in our listener survey here.

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	There are an awful lot of iconic photographs taken of Harry S. Truman.
0:09.0	The man was unusually photogenic, with a flair for the dramatic.
0:13.0	Here's one taken in July 1945, Truman sitting confidently in a wicker chair with Churchill and Stalin by his side. All three men at the
0:21.6	Potsdam Conference poised at the brink of the Cold War. Here's Truman also seated at his
0:28.0	oval office desk, the nameplate famously stating, the buck stops here. And then this one,
0:34.5	grinning ear to ear, holding up a newspaper with the headline Dewey Defeats Truman. Classic. But one lesser-known image is a favorite of mine.
0:43.9	It's from the Democratic National Convention in the Chicago summer of 1944.
0:48.9	It captures the moment just after Truman was selected as Franklin Roosevelt's vice-presidential running mate,
0:55.0	his hand being held aloft by the convention chairman as camera bulbs flash.
1:00.1	It's funny when you look closer.
1:02.2	It's almost as if Truman is dangling from the man's arm,
1:05.6	his expression conveying a genuine sense of startled surprise.
1:09.5	By collie, that's me, Truman reportedly said,
1:12.1	hearing his name called out on the convention floor. A minute earlier, he had been standing
1:16.9	in a concession line buying a hot dog. Less than a year later, in 1945, this son of a Missouri
1:24.1	farmer, this college dropout and failed haberdasher.
1:32.7	This every man American plucked from the masses would then be held aloft by history,
1:36.6	suddenly named the 33rd president of the United States. The United States. I'm Hello all, welcome to American history hit on Don Wildman.
2:09.8	Harry S. Truman served as president from April 12, 1945, to January 20th, 1953.
2:17.1	Eight years that would set the post-World War II agenda for the United States and for much of the Cold War to come.
2:23.5	The month Truman succeeded FDR, April 45.
2:27.0	Mussolini was killed in an Italian village, and Hitler committed suicide in his Berlin bunker.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from History Hit, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of History Hit and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.