Businessman. Before World War I, Truman had lost money in mining and oil investments. In 1919, he and his friend Eddie Jacobson invested their savings in a men's clothing store in Kansas City. They worked hard, keeping the store open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., but the business failed during the severe recession that began in 1921. Truman worked about 15 years to pay the store debts.
Political career
Discouraged by the failure of the store, Truman decided to seek a career in politics. He received help from "Big Tom" Pendergast, the Democratic Party boss of Kansas City. Pendergast's nephew had known and admired Truman in the Army. Pendergast led one of the strongest political machines in the United States. He decided that Truman could win votes because of his farm background, his war record, and his friendly personality.
County judge. Pendergast supported Truman in his campaign for election as county judge of Jackson County. This post in Missouri resembled that of county commissioner in other states. Truman won the election, and served from 1922 to 1924. He lost the 1924 election because of a split in local Democratic forces. Truman attended the Kansas City School of Law during the mid-1920's, but did not obtain a degree. He served as presiding county judge from 1926 to 1934. The Pendergast machine was notoriously dishonest, but Truman won a reputation for honesty and efficiency. He supervised new projects financed by $14 million in tax funds and bond issues.
U.S. senator. In 1934, again with Pendergast's support, Truman was elected to the United States Senate. As a member of the Senate Interstate Commerce Committee, Truman directed an investigation of railroad finances. His staff found damaging evidence about many of Truman's friends in Missouri, but he ordered the investigation completed. A major result was the Transportation Act of 1940, which regulated railroad financing. Also during this time, a government study of the Pendergast political machine disclosed vote frauds and shady financial dealings. Pendergast pleaded guilty to income tax evasion, and he and many of his followers were sent to prison. The scandals did not touch Truman, but he refused to disclaim Pendergast. In 1940, Truman won reelection to the Senate.
The Truman Committee. In 1940, although the United States was not formally involved in World War II, the nation's defense spending rose to huge sums. Truman realized that the defense effort created many opportunities for waste and corruption.
To accomplish his "square deal" plan he needed to take three steps. First, he would reiterate the laws that were currently in the law books and make sure the Trusts were following them. Second, he went and made new laws to make the work place better for the laborers and easier for new companies to prosper. Lastly, he got the public on his side by making them aware of how Trusts can damage the economy and corrupt free enterprise.
They genuinely wanted what was best for the United States. Few would consider running for President in this country, with its checks and balances, if they did not care about the best things for the nation as a whole. Jefferson, for example, was the author of the Declaration of Independence and had been in George Washington’s cabinet. Jefferson did this before he was ever President and it is hard to imagine a man would dedicate that much time and energy in something he did not care whole heartedly about. Harry S. Truman did not have a complicated history in politics, as a former senator, and was thrust into the presidency after Franklin Delano Roosevelt died. He never went looking to be the President of the United States. It just fell on him suddenly as did an entire throng of issues that were currently going on especially with World War Two. He too genuinely cared for the country and the outcome of these events going on in the world around them. Neither of these men were in office purely to have power, they were in office because they cared about the world around them. Both Jefferson and Truman expanded the United States albeit in very different areas. Jefferson physically grew the United States with the Louisiana Purchase, which nearly doubled the land of the nation. Truman on the other hand expanded the defense of the nation as well as the international dealings in
Truman’s accomplishments in his domestic policy were impressive, considering the hardships the nation was experiencing as World War II came to an end, and the resistance of Congress (which was greatly made up of Republicans and conservatives) to liberalism. The president was able to pas...
Harry Truman known as for having a heroic presidency served our country as the 33rd president of the United States after the death of Franklin Roosevelt in April. Truman only had a high school education and was only vice president for 82 days before the passing of FDR. He had inherited the huge tasks of leading the United States through the end of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War. Truman’s legacy as the nation’s leader is on point of controversial decisions.
He was also known as Theodore Roosevelts handpicked successor. Taft supported Theodore Roosevelts “Square Deal” policy which attempted to strike a balance between employers and employees as well as Conservatives and Progressives. It soon proved impossible to please everyone as Taft did not have Roosevelt’s charisma. Eventually he wound up satisfying Conservatives more than Progressives. Taft’s administration however, had pursued more antitrust suits than Roosevelt had. During his speech at Elkton, Maryland in 1912, President Taft stated that what he attempted to do during his presidency was to carry out Roosevelt’s policies. Taft also states that one of those policies was thought to be the prosecution of the trusts under the anti-trust law. Taft includes that because of this he gave orders to his attorney general to prosecute any and every trust that violated that law. During his speech Taft states “the only difference between me and Mr. Roosevelt is that I prosecuted the Steel Trust and the Harvester Trust, and he did not”. Unlike Roosevelt who was known for his fiery personality, President Taft was calm and quiet. He preferred to work behind closed doors in private. President Taft, being a former judge, would refuse to make hasty decisions while depending on facts to make decisions and not emotions. President Taft, unlike Roosevelt, believed that the presidency was a job and an administrative post as opposed to a “bully pulpit”. Taft however, finished the job that Roosevelt had started in dealing with big businesses and prosecuted twice as many as Roosevelt had. Despite Roosevelt’s reputation as being a reformer and trust buster, Taft had actually reformed more business practices in the United States by initiating more lawsuits to bring the trusts down than Roosevelt. Taft believed in many of the same things as Roosevelt but he wanted those same goals through legal means.
Despite strong opposition from a Republican congress, Truman attempted to extend Roosevelt's New Deal policies by strengthening social security, conservation, implementing rent controls, and providing housing to low-income families. At times, however, Truman was inconsistent with his own party's beliefs and the ideal of the New Deal in order to suit the immediate situation and retain public support. Furthermore, Truman supported civil rights actions and for the first time, increased the political status of African American citizens. Truman's various other reforms were much like the proposals of Roosevelt, but the mood of the nation due to its affluence and that of Congress opposed his efforts and the changing times proved that Truman's Fair Deal was not as necessary as FDR's New Deal.
William Taft was picked by his successor, Roosevelt. Taft, the secretary of war was chosen as the Republican candidate for 1908. Taft easily defeated the other candidates thanks to Roosevelt’s “good words”. However, Taft did not live up to Roosevelt’s expectations. He lacked the strength of personality and cared more about his dealings with congress. In fact, Taft didn’t share the same progressive ideas and polices that Roosevelt backed. The first major catastrophe to the Progressives that occurred during Taft’s presidency was the Payne-Aldrich Tariff of 1909. Taft called on Congress to address what many people thought of as excessive tariffs. After which the House of Representatives passed a bill that slightly restricted tariffs, but their legislation was strictly modified when it arrived to the Senate. Taft signed the bill and stated that it was “the best bill that the Republican Party ever passed.” This astounded and confused the Progressives and began the internal struggle for the command of the Republican Party. Another issue was Taft’s conservation problems. Taft was a conservationist much like Roosevelt but a large chunk of his work was undone by the Ballinager-Pinchot dispute. This was where Pinchot the leader of the Department of Forestry attacked Secretary of the Interior, Ballianger, for his handling of public lands. Furthermore, Ballinager opened up millions of acres for public use which angered Pinchot, in
Taft did not officially have a platform but he believed in high import tariffs. He also wanted to improve the limitation on women and child labor and workmens compensation laws. He was also very against initiative. Recall, and referendum.
Truman’s family did not have much money causing him not to attend college, so after graduating high school in 1901 he worked as a bank clerk along with other jobs. Five years after graduating high school he spent over a decade working with his father on his family’s 600-acre farm near Grandview, Missouri.
Many conservationists feared the President Taft would reopen the closed forest reserves to the public again for the sake of profit (Ballinger-Pinchot Scandal Erupts). The administration's apathy toward conservation ignited a public dispute between Pinchot and Department of the Interior secretary, Richard Achilles Ballinger. This feud, known as the Ballinger V.S. Pinchot controversy, escalated and ultimately resulted in Pinchot's dismissal from the Forest Service in 1909. This was a major cause of the splinter in the Republican Party that divided Taft and Roosevelt and led to the formation of the Progressive Party, with Roosevelt as its 1912 presidential candidate (Wilderness.net - Gifford Pinchot). Despite the fact that Pinchot had stayed on as chief forester in the Taft administration, he began to criticize openly both Ballinger and Taft, claiming they were violating the fundamental principles of both conservation and democracy. With opposing point of views, Taft immediately fired Pinchot causing a stir in the media and created a scandal (Ballinger-Pinchot
The 1936 presidential election was known as one of the most lopsided presidential elections in the history of United States in terms of electoral votes since Monroe’s in 1820 (Boller, P.249). In this election, Franklin Delano Roosevelt also known as FDR campaigned on his New Deal programs against the Kansas Governor Alf Landon. Governor Alf Landon argued that the New deal programs were unconstitutional and it would affect the business (Kelly).
While Truman was Vice President of the United States, he was outside the inner circle and very unaware of the decisions President Roosevelt was making. Once Roosevelt died unexpectedly, Truman was forced into office faced with the most difficult decision of his life. The choice of dropping the atomic bombs was almost inescapable and it felt like the only option at the time. Now looking back, the decision cost innocent lives that wanted no part in World War two. Truman made the wrong decision because the bombs killed thousands of innocent Japanese lives, and presented the world with an entirely new lethal weapon able to destroy the world.
“It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you do not care who gets credit. ~Former President Harry S. Truman. Most people don’t know very much about Truman, which is sad. He played a significant role in not only our American history, but the history of our world. In November of 1944, Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected President of the United States with Harry S. Truman by his side as his Vice President. Roosevelt had to make sure to choose somebody that would run things right because he knew that he wouldn’t be able to survive all four terms. He was right because he was only in office for 82 days before Truman took oath of office and became the 33rd president of the United States.
What major technology change has had the greatest impact on the quality of your life?
The world of business has undergone radical and dramatic changes in the last decade changes that present extraordinary challenges for the contemporary manager. A manager is an organizational member who is responsible for planning, organizing, leading, and controlling the activities of the organization so that the goals can be achieved. According to a widely referenced study by Henry Mintzberg, managers serve three primary roles: interpersonal, informational, and decision-making. Management is process of administrating and coordinating resources effectively and efficiently in an effort to achieve the goals of the organization.