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The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1998
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Epic Interactive Encyclopedia, The - 1998 Edition (1998)(Epic Marketing).iso
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Truman,_Harry_S
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1992-09-01
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1884-1972. 33rd president of the USA 1945-53,
a Democrat. In Jan 1945 he became vice
president to F D Roosevelt, and president
when Roosevelt died in Apr that year. He used
the atom bomb against Japan, launched the
Marshall Plan to restore W Europe's economy,
and nurtured the European Community and NATO
(including the rearmament of West Germany).
Born in Lamar, Missouri, he ran a clothing
store that was bankrupted by the Great
Depression. He became a senator 1934, was
selected as Roosevelt's last vice president,
and in 1948 was elected for a second term in
a surprise victory over Thomas Dewey
(1902-1971), the governor of New York. At
home, he had difficulty converting the
economy back to peacetime conditions, and
failed to prevent the witch-hunts on
suspected communists (see Hiss, Joe
McCarthy). In Korea, he intervened when the
South was invaded, but sacked General
MacArthur when the general's policy
threatened to start World War III. Truman's
decision not to enter Chinese territory,
betrayed by the double agent Kim Philby, led
to China's entry into the war. Truman had a
sign on his desk that said: `The buck stops
here.'