Harry S. Truman

=== First term (1945–1949) ===

==== Assuming office ====
{{Further|Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki}}
[[File: Bundesarchiv Bild 183-29645-0001, Potsdamer Konferenz, Stalin, Truman, Churchill.jpg|thumb|alt=Three men in suits standing with several men in the background|[[Joseph Stalin]], Harry S. Truman, and [[Winston Churchill]] in Potsdam, July 1945]]

On his first full day, Truman told reporters: "Boys, if you ever pray, pray for me now. I don't know if you fellas ever had a load of hay fall on you, but when they told me what happened yesterday, I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me."{{sfn|McCullough|1992|p = 436}}

Truman asked all the members of Roosevelt's cabinet to remain in place, but he soon replaced almost all of them, especially with old friends from his Senate days.{{sfn|McCullough|1992|p=348}}

==== Dropping atomic bombs on Japan ====
Truman benefited from a honeymoon period from the success in defeating Nazi Germany in Europe and the nation celebrated {{Nowrap|[[V-E Day]]}} on May 8, 1945, his 61st birthday.{{sfn|McCoy|1984|pp=21–22}}

Although Truman was told briefly on the afternoon of April 12 that he had a new, highly destructive weapon, it was not until April 25 that [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]] [[Henry Stimson]] told him the details:{{sfn|Dallek|2008|pp=19–20}}

{{Blockquote|We have discovered the most terrible bomb in the history of the world. It may be the fire destruction prophesied in the Euphrates Valley Era, after Noah and his fabulous Ark.|Harry Truman, writing about the atomic bomb in his diary{{sfn|Reynolds|2005}} on July 25, 1945<ref>{{cite book |last=Alexrod |first=Alan | title=The Real History of the Cold War: A New Look at the Past | publisher=Sterling |page= 56}}</ref>}}

Truman journeyed to Berlin for the [[Potsdam Conference]] with [[Joseph Stalin]] and the British leader [[Winston Churchill]]. He was there when he learned the [[Trinity (nuclear test)|Trinity test]]—the first atomic bomb—on July 16 had been successful. He hinted to Stalin that he was about to use a new kind of weapon against the Japanese. Though this was the first time the Soviets had been officially given information about the atomic bomb, Stalin was already aware of the bomb project—having learned about it through [[atomic spies|atomic espionage]] long before Truman did.{{sfn|PBS|2012}}{{sfn|Truman|1955|p=416}}{{sfn|McCoy|1984|p= 37}}

In August, the Japanese government refused surrender demands as specifically outlined in the [[Potsdam Declaration]]. With the [[Operation Downfall|invasion of Japan]] imminent, Truman approved the schedule for dropping the two available bombs. Truman maintained the position that attacking Japan with atomic bombs saved many lives on both sides; a military estimate for the invasion of Japan submitted to Truman by Herbert Hoover indicated that an invasion could take at least a year and result in 500,000 to 1,000,000 Allied casualties.<ref>{{cite book | last = Frank | first = Richard B. | author-link =  Richard B. Frank | year = 1999 | title = Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire | pages = 122 | publisher = Random House | location = New York | isbn = 978-0-679-41424-7}}</ref> A study done for the staff of Secretary of War [[Henry L. Stimson]] by William Shockley estimated that invading Japan would cost 1.7–4 million American casualties, including 400,000–800,000 fatalities, and five to ten million Japanese fatalities if Japanese civilians participated in the defense of Japan.<ref>{{cite book | last = Frank | first = Richard B. | author-link =  Richard B. Frank | year = 1999 | title = Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire | pages = 340 | publisher = Random House | location = New York | isbn = 978-0-679-41424-7}}</ref> The U.S. Army Service Forces estimated in their document "Redeployment of the United States Army after the Defeat of Germany," that between June 1945 and December 1946 the Army would be required to furnish replacements for 43,000 dead and evacuated wounded every month during this period.<ref>[https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4013coll8/id/1800 History of Planning Division, Army Service Forces vol. 9] Part 7, p. 330. Retrieved 11/15/2023</ref> From analysis of the replacement schedule and projected strengths in overseas theaters, it suggested that Army losses alone in those categories, excluding the Navy and Marine Corps, would be approximately 863,000 through the first part of 1947, of whom 267,000 would be killed or missing.<ref>[https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4013coll8/id/1800 History of Planning Division, Army Service Forces vol. 9] Part 8, pp. 372-374, 391. Retrieved 11/15/2023</ref>
[[File:Atomic bombing of Japan.jpg|thumb|The [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]] on August 6 and 9, 1945 respectively, were authorized by President Truman at the end of World War II]]
Hiroshima was bombed on August 6, and Nagasaki three days later, leaving 105,000&nbsp;dead.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atomicarchive.com/Docs/MED/med_chp10.shtml|title=Total Casualties – The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|work=atomicarchive.com|access-date=December 16, 2016}}</ref> The Soviet Union [[Soviet–Japanese War|declared war on Japan]] on August 9 and [[Soviet invasion of Manchuria|invaded Manchuria]]. Japan [[Surrender of Japan|agreed to surrender]] the following day.{{sfn|Miller|1974|pp=227–231}}{{sfn|Dallek|2008|pp= 24–28}}

[[File: Photograph of President Truman in the Oval Office, reading the announcement of Japan's surrender to assembled... - NARA - 199171.jpg|thumb|Truman announces Japan's surrender, August 14, 1945.]]

Supporters{{efn|For example, see {{cite book| last1 = Fussell | first1=Paul | title = Thank God for the Atomic Bomb and Other Essays | chapter = Thank God for the Atomic Bomb | publisher = New York Summit Books | year = 1988 | author-link = Paul Fussell}}}} of Truman's decision argue that, given the tenacious Japanese defense of the outlying islands, the bombings saved hundreds of thousands of lives of Allied prisoners, Japanese civilians, and combatants on both sides that would have been lost in an invasion of Japan. Some modern criticism has argued that the use of nuclear weapons was unnecessary, given that conventional attacks or a demonstrative bombing of an uninhabited area might have forced Japan's surrender, and therefore assert that the attack constituted a crime of war.<ref>{{Citation | first1 = Ronald C | last1 = Kramer | first2 = David | last2 = Kauzlarich | title = Nuclear weapons, international law, and the normalization of state crime | editor1-first = Dawn | editor1-last = Rothe | editor2-first = Christopher W | editor2-last = Mullins | work = State crime: Current perspectives | year = 2011 | pages = 94–121|isbn=978-0-8135-4901-9}}.</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/11650752/US-museum-must-call-Hiroshima-and-Nagasaki-war-crimes-say-Japanese.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/11650752/US-museum-must-call-Hiroshima-and-Nagasaki-war-crimes-say-Japanese.html |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=US museum must call Hiroshima and Nagasaki 'war crimes', say Japanese|first=Julian|last=Ryall|date=June 4, 2015|access-date=June 8, 2018|work=The Daily Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://iwj.co.jp/wj/open/archives/254448|title=「なんであんな殺され方をしたのか、私は知りたい。あの世で、ちゃんとお兄ちゃんに説明できるように」――原爆投下から70年。広島の被爆者が語った原爆被害と戦争への思い – IWJ Independent Web Journal|date=August 6, 2015|website=iwj.co.jp|access-date=June 8, 2018}}</ref> In 1948 Truman defended his decision to use atomic bombs:

{{Blockquote|As President of the United States, I had the fateful responsibility of deciding whether or not to use this weapon for the first time. It was the hardest decision I ever had to make. But the President cannot duck hard problems—he cannot pass the buck. I made the decision after discussions with the ablest men in our Government, and after long and prayerful consideration. I decided that the bomb should be used to end the war quickly and save countless lives—Japanese as well as American.<ref>October 14, 1948 address in {{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=13049|title=Harry S. Truman: Address in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.|website=www.presidency.ucsb.edu|access-date=June 8, 2018}}</ref>}}

Truman continued to strongly defend himself in his memoirs in 1955–1956, stating many lives could have been lost had the United States invaded mainland Japan without the atomic bombs. In 1963, he stood by his decision, telling a journalist "it was done to save 125,000&nbsp;youngsters on the U.S. side and 125,000 on the Japanese side from getting killed and that is what it did. It probably also saved a half million youngsters on both sides from being maimed for life."<ref>{{cite book |title=Nuclear Weapons |page=11 |date=May 30, 2006 | first =William | last = Lambers |publisher=William K Lambers |isbn= 0-9724629-4-5}}</ref>

==== Labor unions, strikes and economic issues ====
{{See also|Strike wave of 1946}}
The end of World War II was followed by an uneasy transition from war to a peacetime economy. The costs of the war effort had been enormous, and Truman was intent on diminishing military services as quickly as possible to curtail the government's military expenditures. The effect of demobilization on the economy was unknown, proposals were met with skepticism and resistance, and fears existed that the nation would slide back into depression. In Roosevelt's final years, Congress began to reassert legislative power and Truman faced a congressional body where Republicans and conservative southern Democrats formed a powerful "conservative coalition" voting bloc. The New Deal had greatly strengthened labor unions and they formed a major base of support for Truman's Democratic Party. The Republicans, working with big business, made it their highest priority to weaken those unions.<ref>Daniel DiSalvo, "The politics of a party faction: The Liberal-Labor alliance in the Democratic Party, 1948–1972." ''Journal of Policy History'' 22.3 (2010): 269–299.</ref> The unions had been promoted by the government during the war and tried to make their gains permanent through large-scale strikes in major industries. Meanwhile, price controls were slowly ending, and inflation was soaring.{{sfn |Miller Center| 2012}} Truman's response to the widespread dissatisfaction was generally seen as ineffective.{{sfn |Miller Center| 2012}}

[[File:President Truman with Greek sponge divers..jpg|thumb|Truman with [[Greek Americans|Greek American]] sponge divers in Florida, 1947]]
When a national rail strike threatened in May 1946, Truman seized the railroads in an attempt to contain the issue, but two key railway unions struck anyway. The entire national railroad system was shut down, immobilizing 24,000&nbsp;freight trains and 175,000&nbsp;passenger trains a day.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://archive.org/details/1946-05-23_Rail_Strike_Paralyzes_Entire_US|title=Rail Strike Paralyzes Entire U.S.|publisher=Universal Studios|date=May 23, 1946}}</ref> For two days, public anger mounted. His staff prepared a speech that Truman read to Congress calling for a new law, whereby railroad strikers would be drafted into the army. As he concluded his address, he was handed a note that the strike had been settled on presidential terms; nevertheless, a few hours later, the House voted to draft the strikers. The bill died in the Senate.{{sfn |McCullough|1992| pp=501–506}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Acacia, John|title=Clark Clifford: The Wise Man of Washington|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=63hJMGqu2YMC&pg=PT22|year=2009|page=22|publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=978-0813139258}}</ref>

==== Approval rating falls; Republicans win Congress in 1946====
The president's approval rating dropped from 82&nbsp;percent in the polls in January 1946 to 52&nbsp;percent by June.{{sfn|McCoy|1984|pp=64–65}} This dissatisfaction led to large Democratic losses in the 1946 midterm elections, and Republicans took control of Congress for the first time since 1930. When Truman dropped to 32&nbsp;percent in the polls, Democratic Arkansas Senator [[William Fulbright]] suggested that Truman resign; the president said he did not care what Senator "Halfbright" said.{{sfn|Dallek|2008|pp=48–50}}{{sfn|McCoy|1984|p=91}}

Truman cooperated closely with the Republican leaders on foreign policy but fought them bitterly on domestic issues. The power of the labor unions was significantly curtailed by the [[Taft–Hartley Act]] which was enacted [[veto override|over Truman's veto]]. Truman twice vetoed bills to lower income tax rates in 1947. Although the initial vetoes were sustained, Congress overrode his veto of a tax cut bill in 1948. In one notable instance of bipartisanship, Congress passed the [[Presidential Succession Act of 1947]], which replaced the secretary of state with the Speaker of the House and the president pro tempore of the Senate as successor to the president after the vice president.{{sfn|McCoy|1984|pp=96–102}}

==== Proposes "Fair Deal" liberalism ====
As he readied for the 1948 election, Truman made clear his identity as a Democrat in the [[New Deal]] tradition, advocating for [[national health insurance]],<ref>{{Citation | first = Howard | last = Markel | title = 'Give 'Em Health, Harry' | journal = Milbank Quarterly | year = 2015 | volume = 93 | number = 1 | pages = 1–7 | doi=10.1111/1468-0009.12096| pmid = 25752341 | pmc = 4364422 }}.</ref> and repeal of the Taft–Hartley Act. He broke with the New Deal by initiating an aggressive civil rights program which he termed a moral priority. His economic and social vision constituted a broad legislative agenda that came to be called the "[[Fair Deal]]."{{sfn |Dallek|2008| pp=84–86}} Truman's proposals were not well received by Congress, even with renewed Democratic majorities in Congress after 1948. The Solid South rejected civil rights as those states still enforced segregation. Only one of the major Fair Deal bills, the [[Housing Act of 1949]], was ever enacted.{{sfn |Binning|Esterly|Sracic|1999| p =417}}<ref>{{Citation | first1 = Charles M | last1 = Lamb | first2 = Adam W | last2 = Nye | title = Do Presidents Control Bureaucracy? The Federal Housing Administration during the Truman-Eisenhower Era | journal = Political Science Quarterly | year = 2012 | volume = 127 | number = 3 | pages = 445–467 | jstor = 23563185 | doi=10.1002/j.1538-165x.2012.tb00734.x}}.</ref> Many of the New Deal programs that persisted during Truman's presidency have since received minor improvements and extensions.{{sfn|Neustadt|1954|pp=349–381}}

==== Marshall Plan, Cold War, and China ====
[[File: Charles Griffith Ross.jpg|thumb|Truman's press secretary was his old friend [[Charles Griffith Ross]]. He had great integrity but, says Alonzo L. Hamby, as a senior White House aide he was, "A better newsman than news handler, he never established a policy of coordinating news releases throughout the executive branch, frequently bumbled details, never developed&nbsp;... a strategy for marketing the president's image and failed to establish a strong press office."{{sfn | Hamby |1995|p=310}}]]

As a [[Wilsonian]] internationalist, Truman supported Roosevelt's policy in favor of the creation of the United Nations and included [[Eleanor Roosevelt]] on the delegation to the first [[UN General Assembly]].{{sfn|Roosevelt|1961}} With the Soviet Union expanding its sphere of influence through Eastern Europe, Truman and his foreign policy advisors took a hard line against the USSR. In this, he matched U.S. public opinion which quickly came to believe the Soviets were intent upon world domination.{{sfn | Dallek|2008|pp=56–57}}

Although he had little personal expertise on foreign matters, Truman listened closely to his top advisors, especially [[George Marshall]] and [[Dean Acheson]]. The Republicans controlled Congress in 1947–1948, so he worked with their leaders, especially Senator [[Arthur H. Vandenburg]], chairman of the powerful Foreign Relations Committee.<ref>{{cite journal|first1=James M. |last1=McCormick|first2=Eugene R.|last2=Wittkopf|title=Bipartisanship, partisanship, and ideology in congressional-executive foreign policy relations, 1947–1988|journal=[[The Journal of Politics]]|publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]]|location=Chicago, Illinois|volume=52|issue=4 |date=November 1990|pages=1077–1100|doi=10.2307/2131683 |jstor=2131683 |s2cid=154839304 |url=https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1026&context=pols_pubs }}</ref> He won bipartisan support for both the [[Truman Doctrine]], which formalized a policy of Soviet containment, and the [[Marshall Plan]], which aimed to help rebuild postwar Europe.{{sfn | Freeland|1970|p=90}}{{sfn|Roberts|2000}}

To get Congress to spend the vast sums necessary to restart the moribund European economy, Truman used an ideological argument, arguing that communism flourishes in economically deprived areas.{{sfn| Holsti | 1996 | p=214}} As part of the U.S. [[Cold War]] strategy, Truman signed the [[National Security Act of 1947]] and reorganized military forces by merging the [[United States Department of War|Department of War]] and the [[United States Department of the Navy|Department of the Navy]] into the National Military Establishment (later the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]]) and creating the [[United States Air Force|U.S. Air Force]]. The act also created the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) and the [[United States National Security Council|National Security Council]].{{sfn|Dallek|2008|pp=62–63}} On November 4, 1952, Truman authorized the official, though at the time, confidential creation of the [[National Security Agency]] (NSA).<ref>{{Cite web |title=National Security Agency/Central Security Service > Helpful Links > NSA FOIA > Declassification & Transparency Initiatives > Historical Releases > Truman |url=https://www.nsa.gov/Helpful-Links/NSA-FOIA/Declassification-Transparency-Initiatives/Historical-Releases/Truman/ |access-date=August 28, 2023 |website=www.nsa.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Glass |first=Andrew |date=November 4, 2010 |title=The National Security Agency is established, Nov. 4, 1952 |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2010/11/the-national-security-agency-is-established-nov-4-1952-044671 |access-date=August 28, 2023 |website=POLITICO |language=en}}</ref>

Truman did not know what to do about China, where the [[Kuomintang|Nationalists]] and [[Chinese Communist Party|Communists]] were fighting a large-scale [[Chinese Civil War|civil war]]. The Nationalists had been major wartime allies and had large-scale popular support in the United States, along with a powerful lobby. [[Marshall Mission|General George Marshall spent most of 1946 in China]] trying to negotiate a compromise but failed. He convinced Truman the Nationalists would never win on their own and a very large-scale U.S. intervention to stop the Communists would significantly weaken U.S. opposition to the Soviets in Europe. By 1949, the Communists under [[Mao Zedong]] had won the civil war, the United States had a new enemy in Asia, and Truman came under fire from conservatives for [[Loss of China|"losing" China]].<ref>May, Ernest R. (2002) "1947–48: When Marshall Kept the U.S. out of War in China." ''Journal of Military History'' 66#4: 1001–1010. [http://www.marshallfoundation.org/newsroom/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2016/01/May-2002.pdf online]</ref>

==== Berlin airlift ====
{{Further|Berlin Blockade}}
On June 24, 1948, the Soviet Union blocked access to the three [[Berlin Soviet Zone|Western-held sectors]] of Berlin. The Allies had not negotiated a deal to guarantee supply of the sectors deep within the Soviet-occupied zone. The commander of the U.S. occupation zone in Germany, General [[Lucius D. Clay]], proposed sending a large armored column across the Soviet zone to [[West Berlin]] with instructions to defend itself if it were stopped or attacked. Truman believed this would entail an unacceptable risk of war. He approved [[Ernest Bevin]]'s plan to supply the blockaded city by air.

On June 25, the Allies initiated the [[Berlin Airlift]], a campaign to deliver food, coal and other supplies using military aircraft on a massive scale. Nothing like it had ever been attempted before, and no single nation had the capability, either logistically or materially, to accomplish it. The airlift worked; ground access was again granted on May 11, 1949. Nevertheless, the airlift continued for several months after that. The Berlin Airlift was one of Truman's great foreign policy successes; it significantly aided his election campaign in 1948.{{sfn|Truman Library|1988a}}

==== Recognition of Israel ====
[[File:Truman receives menorah.jpg|thumb|Truman in the Oval Office, receiving a [[Hanukkah]] [[Menorah (Hanukkah)|Menorah]] from the prime minister of Israel, [[David Ben-Gurion]] (center). To the right is [[Abba Eban]], ambassador of Israel to the United States.]]

Truman had long taken an interest in the history of the Middle East and was sympathetic to Jews who sought to re-establish their ancient homeland in [[Mandatory Palestine]]. As a senator, he announced support for [[Zionism]]; in 1943 he called for a homeland for those Jews who survived the Nazi regime. However, State Department officials were reluctant to offend the Arabs, who were opposed to the establishment of a Jewish state in the large region long populated and dominated culturally by Arabs. Secretary of Defense [[James Forrestal]] warned Truman of the importance of Saudi Arabian oil in another war; Truman replied he would decide his policy on the basis of justice, not oil.{{sfn |McCullough|1992| pp=595–597}} U.S. diplomats with experience in the region were opposed, but Truman told them he had few Arabs among his constituents.{{sfn|McCullough|1992|p=599}}

Palestine was secondary to the goal of protecting the "Northern Tier" of Greece, Turkey, and Iran from communism, as promised by the Truman Doctrine.{{sfn|Ottolenghi|2004|pp=963–988}} Weary of both the convoluted politics of the Middle East and pressure by Jewish leaders, Truman was undecided on his policy and skeptical about how the Jewish "underdogs" would handle power.<ref>Baylis, Thomas. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=6T_Ff6Ra57sC&pg=PA55 How Israel was Won: A Concise History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict]'', p. 55 (Lexington Books, [[Rowman and Littlefield]], 1999).</ref><ref>Holmes, David. ''[https://archive.org/details/faithsofpostwarp0000holm/page/17 The Faiths of the Postwar Presidents: From Truman to Obama]'', pp. 16–17. (U. Georgia Press, 2012).</ref> He later cited as decisive in his recognition of the Jewish state the advice of his former business partner, Eddie Jacobson, a non-religious Jew whom Truman absolutely trusted.{{sfn|McCullough|1992|p=599}}

Truman decided to recognize Israel over the objections of Secretary of State [[George Marshall]], who feared it would hurt relations with the populous Arab states. Marshall believed the paramount threat to the United States was the Soviet Union and feared Arab oil would be lost to the United States in the event of war; he warned Truman the United States was "playing with fire with nothing to put it out".{{sfn|McCullough|1992|pp=604–605}} Truman recognized the [[Israel|State of Israel]] on May 14, 1948, eleven minutes after [[Israeli Declaration of Independence|it declared itself a nation]].{{sfn|Lenczowski|1990|p=26}}{{sfn|Truman Library|1948}} Of his decision to recognize the Israeli state, Truman said in an interview years later: "Hitler had been murdering Jews right and left. I saw it, and I dream about it even to this day. The Jews needed some place where they could go. It is my attitude that the American government couldn't stand idly by while the victims [of] Hitler's madness are not allowed to build new lives."{{sfn|Berdichevsky|2012}}

====Calls for Civil Rights====
Under his predecessor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, the [[Fair Employment Practices Committee]] was created to address racial discrimination in employment,<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Fair Employment Practices Committee |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |date=March 20, 2023 |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Fair-Employment-Practices-Committee |language=en}}</ref> and in 1946, Truman created the [[President's Committee on Civil Rights]]. On June 29, 1947, Truman became the first president to address the [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]] (NAACP). The speech took place at the [[Lincoln Memorial]] during the NAACP convention and was carried nationally on radio. In that speech, Truman laid out the need to end discrimination, which would be advanced by the first comprehensive, presidentially proposed civil rights legislation. Truman on "civil rights and human freedom", declared:<ref>{{Cite news |last=Glass |first=Andrew |date=June 29, 2018 |title=Truman addresses NAACP, June 29, 1947 |language=en |work=Politico |url=https://politi.co/2Mz2C4K |access-date=July 27, 2021}}</ref>

{{blockquote|It is my deep conviction that we have reached a turning point in the long history of our country's efforts to guarantee freedom and equality to all our citizens … it is more important today than ever before to ensure that all Americans enjoy these rights. … [And] When I say all Americans, I mean all Americans … Our immediate task is to remove the last remnants of the barriers which stand between millions of our citizens and their birthright. There is no justifiable reason for discrimination because of ancestry, or religion, or race, or color. We must not tolerate such limitations on the freedom of any of our people and on their enjoyment of basic rights which every citizen in a truly democratic society must possess. Every man should have the right to a decent home, the right to an education, the right to adequate medical care, the right to a worthwhile job, the right to an equal share in making the public decisions through the ballot, and the right to a fair trial in a fair court. We must ensure that these rights – on equal terms – are enjoyed by every citizen. To these principles I pledge my full and continued support. Many of our people still suffer the indignity of insult, the harrowing fear of intimidation, and, I regret to say, the threat of physical injury and mob violence. Prejudice and intolerance in which these evils are rooted still exist. The conscience of our nation, and the legal machinery which enforces it, have not yet secured to each citizen full [[freedom from fear]].}}

In February 1948, Truman delivered a formal message to Congress requesting adoption of his 10-point program to secure civil rights, including anti-lynching, voter rights, and elimination of segregation. "No political act since the [[Compromise of 1877]]," argued biographer [[Taylor Branch]], "so profoundly influenced race relations; in a sense it was a repeal of 1877."<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Milkis |first1=Sidney M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bW9KEAAAQBAJ&dq=en&pg=PA1946 |title=The American Presidency: Origins and Development, 1776–2021 |last2=Nelson |first2=Michael |date=2021 |publisher=CQ Press |isbn=978-1-0718-2463-4 |language=en |page=1946}}</ref>