There is little doubt that President Harry S. Truman had to deal with issues and events of monumental importance. Many of the decisions he made would impact history for the next fifty years. A recent C-Span poll of historians rated President Truman fifth overall in “Presidential
Leadership.” He earned the number three spot in the category of “Pursued Equal Justice For All” and ranked fourth in “Crisis Leadership.” From the time of his swearing on April 12, 1945 until he left office in 1953, Truman was called upon to make one difficult decision after another.
Now that you have studied the Truman administration and/or visited the “Presidential Years
Exhibit,” what do you think the Truman Legacy is? What decisions did he make that cause people to remember Harry Truman as a president who had the courage to make very difficult choices?
Questions:
1. List five important decisions made by President Truman.
a.____________________________________________________________________________ b.____________________________________________________________________________ c.____________________________________________________________________________ d.____________________________________________________________________________ e.____________________________________________________________________________
2. Write a summary paragraph explaining your list in question 1.
3. Why do you think President Truman earned high marks from historians in the survey category, “Pursued Equal Justice For All?”
4. The historians who were polled gave Truman fourth place for “Crisis Leadership.” What do you think President Truman’s most challenging crisis was? Why?
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5. The historians surveyed by C-Span ranked Truman number 7 out of 41 in the category of
“Moral Authority.” This indicates that they believe President Truman was a man of good character. Many historians and writers praise Truman’s willingness to make decisions that called for courage. They give the President high marks for adhering to a value system that prized truth, loyalty, accepting responsibility and doing what was right. a. In your opinion, what qualities make for “good character?” b. Give an example to support the view that Harry S. Truman was a man of honor and principle. c. Give an example of an elected public official, currently in office, who you consider to be a person of exemplary character and explain your choice.
6. Historians awarded Truman the number five spot for “Presidential Leadership.” List the presidents that you think ranked 1 st
, 2 nd
, 3 rd
and 4 th in this category. Write your choices for the top four spots. Complete the statement to explain your choices.
1 st
– ______________________________ because_____________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2 nd
– ______________________________ because____________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3 rd
– ______________________________ because_____________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4 th – ______________________________ because_____________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
7. List three presidents that you think earned the lowest ratings from historians and tell why. a. ______________________________ b. ______________________________ c.______________________________
You can compare your choices with those of the fifty-eight historians surveyed at: www.americanpresidents.org/survery/historians )
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1. Six important decisions made by President Truman could include: a. using the atomic bomb to end the war in the Pacific b. desegregation of the armed forces c. airlifting food and other necessities to the people of Berlin d. giving economic aid to rebuild the countries of Europe – the Marshall Plan e. supporting Turkey and Greece with economic aid – the Truman Plan f. sending troops to Korea g. recognizing the new nation of Israel h. supporting the creation of the United Nations (UN) and the North American Treaty
Organization (NATO)
2. Student answer will vary.
3. President Truman earned high marks in the category “Pursued Equal Justice for All” because he issued Executive Order 9981 that desegregated the U.S. military and the federal government.
He also ran for the presidency in 1948 on a platform that included proposals for civil rights legislation. Although his civil rights platform lost him the support of southern Democrats and could have cost him the election, he would not alter his position.
4. Student answers will vary. President Truman himself said his most difficult decision was to send troops to Korea because he knew that not all of the men would return home.
5. a. Answers will vary but could include: honest, diligent, empathetic, respectful, loyal, courageous, and dependable.
b. Answers will vary but could include:

Truman was the first president to recommend national health care – empathy
 he took full responsibility for using the atomic bomb to end the war – courage
 he paid in full the debts of his failed men’s clothing store even though it took years to do so – diligence and honesty
c. Answers will vary.
6. Student answers will vary but according to historians, the top four presidents in the category of
“Presidential Leadership” are:
1 st
– Abraham Lincoln – he was willing to fight a war to keep the states together.
2 nd
– Franklin Roosevelt – he led the country through the Great Depression and most of WWII.
3 rd – George Washington – his leadership enabled the colonies to win independence from
Britain and he was the one man who could get the young country off the solid start.
4 th
– Theodore Roosevelt – his progressive vision for America led to the breakup monopolies and trusts; he was our first conservationist president; he was instrumental in getting the Panama
Canal built; and, he ended America’s longstanding isolationist foreign policy.
7. The presidents who received the lowest rating by historians are James Buchanan, Andrew
Johnson and Franklin Pierce.
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