Harry S. Truman

==== Blair House and assassination attempt ====
{{Main|White House Reconstruction|Attempted assassination of Harry S. Truman}}
[[File:White-house-1950-interior-shell.jpg|thumb|alt=Inside of a building being renovated, with scaffolding|View of the interior shell of the White House during renovation in 1950]]

In 1948, Truman ordered an addition to the exterior of the [[White House]]: a second-floor balcony in the south portico, which came to be known as the ''[[Truman Balcony]]''. The addition was unpopular. Some said it spoiled the appearance of the south facade, but it gave the First Family more living space.{{sfn|White House Museum|1952}}{{sfn|Truman Library, Balcony|2012}} {{sfn|Truman Library, Balcony II|2012}} Meanwhile, structural deterioration and a near-imminent collapse of the White House led to a comprehensive [[White House Reconstruction|dismantling and rebuilding of the building's interior]] from 1949 to 1952. Architectural and engineering investigations during 1948 deemed it unsafe for occupancy. Truman, his family, and the entire residence staff were relocated across the street into [[Blair House]] during the renovations. As the newer [[West Wing]], including the [[Oval Office]], remained open, Truman walked to and from his work across the street each morning and afternoon.{{sfn|McCullough|1992|pp=593, 652, 725, 875ff}}

{{external media|float=center|video1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wGYoU50uks Newsreel scenes in English of the assassination attempt on U.S. President Harry S. Truman]}}
On November 1, 1950, [[Puerto Rico|Puerto Rican]] nationalists [[Griselio Torresola]] and [[Oscar Collazo]] attempted to assassinate Truman at Blair House. On the street outside the residence, Torresola mortally wounded a White House policeman, [[Leslie Coffelt]]. Before he died, the officer shot and killed Torresola. Collazo was wounded and stopped before he entered the house. He was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death in 1952. Truman commuted his sentence to life in prison. To try to settle the question of Puerto Rican independence, Truman allowed a [[1952 Puerto Rican constitutional referendum|plebiscite in Puerto Rico in 1952]] to determine the status of its relationship to the United States. Nearly 82&nbsp;percent of the people voted in favor of a new constitution for the ''[[Estado Libre Asociado]]'', a continued 'associated free state.'<ref name= N1>{{cite book | author-link = Dieter Nohlen| last = Nohlen | first = Dieter | year = 2005 | title = Elections in the Americas: A Data Handbook | volume = I | page = 556 | publisher = OUP Oxford | isbn = 978-0-19-928357-6}}.</ref>