Presidency

With Roosevelt's death, Truman was sworn in as President on April 12,1945.

Truman Being Sworn In As President


After the swearing-in ceremony, he asked newspaper friends to "Pray for me." He knew his limitations, especially since Roosevelt had not consulted him on major foreign or domestic problems since the nomination. At the outset, however, he had to preside over the final conquest of Germany and Japan; the plan of victory had been fixed and put into effect before he took office.

On April 25, Axis defeat was so assured that he addressed the United Nations Conference on International Organization at San Francisco, California. He urged creation of a "strong and lasting" organization that would make "future peace not only possible but certain." On May 8, he announced the surrender of Germany. In July, he authorized and later announced the virtual destruction of Hiroshima by the first atomic bomb. On August 14, he announced Japan's surrender.

Truman's legislative program, called the Fair Deal, was intended as an extension and continuation of Roosevelt's New Deal. When presented to Congress on September 6, 1945, it began the breakup of the artificial coalition which had backed Roosevelt through Depression and war years. Conservative elements of both Republican and Democratic parties, principally from the South, blocked enactment of Truman's domestic program until he was eventually forced to abandon most of it. The pressure of foreign problems after 1947 (as during Roosevelt's third term) gave Truman good cause for subordinating controversial domestic issues. Nevertheless, the 81st Congress in 1949-50 passed legislation to increase the minimum wage and expand the social security system.

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