HARRY S TRUMAN (D) - 1945-1953
The 33rd President rivalled only Lincoln on how tough his first day on the job must've been. FDR, who'd been US president longer than any other, was dead. World War II was still happening. Germany was close to surrendering, but the Japanese still raged on in the Pacific. He didn't know about the existence of the atomic bomb until he took office, and he made the tough decision to drop two on Japan.
The world was reshaped on his watch. The United Nations was created, and the peace of the new world was carved out under the Marshall Plan. Truman wasn't the soft-spoken diplomat FDR could be, and he didn't care for Stalin. Between those two, the Cold War began, and Truman made it his mission to contain the spread of Communism. Influenced by Jewish lobbyists and the six million Jews Hitler killed, Truman helped carve out a place for and recognize the state of Israel.
The US's economy was in flux after World War II. There were labor strikes and food shortages. Communist paranoia ramped up. Truman dealt with a nationwide railway strike by threatening to draft the workers into the armed forces. He got his way but angered many laborers. He barely won re-election for a second term.
When North Korea invaded South Korea, Truman petitioned the UN to intervene, and he put Gen. Douglas MacArthur in charge of US troops. After a disagreement with him over China, Truman fired MacArthur. Between that and the lack of progress in Korea, Truman's shaky popularity plummeted. When it looked like Truman would not be able to capture the Democratic nomination, he cancelled his plans for running for a third term.
Truman left office one of the least popular presidents in history. Hindsight has shown he was right in most of his decisions, and his reputation's been quickly restored.
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