Harry S. Truman

==== 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>