Harry S. Truman: Difference between revisions
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* [[Batman Gambit]]: Used to get him to accept the Vice Presidency. See [[Thanatos Gambit]] below.
* [[Broken Base]]: Was dropping the atomic bombs on Japan justified?
* [[
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Truman, a plainspoken Missourian, disdained typical political puffery. His greatest moment came immediately after Douglas MacArthur's farewell speech, whom Truman had just fired for insubordination. Truman's comment on the speech: "What a load of bullshit."
* [[Locked Out of the Loop]]: During his tenure as Vice President, he suffered from this because the VP was pretty much a placeholder--even though by that time it was getting noticed that presidents elected in years ending in 0 [[William Henry Harrison|expired]] [[Abraham Lincoln|before]] [[James Garfield|their]] [[William McKinley|terms]] [[Warren Harding|did]] and [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] had been elected in ''194'''0'''''--oh, and he had polio<ref>Ironically, this wasn't what killed him.</ref>. Unsurprisingly, this backfired when [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] followed this pattern 3 months into his fourth term and Truman became President.
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* [[One-Letter Name]]: His middle name is just "S"
* [[Papa Wolf]]: His daughter, Margaret, was an aspiring concert soprano. When one of her concerts was poorly reviewed, he informed the critic that he would need "a new nose and plenty of beefsteak, [[Groin Attack|and perhaps a supporter below]]."
▲* [[Tear Jerker]]: During the Korean War, a soldier was killed and had received the Purple Heart for his heroic duties. However, the soldier's family sent the Purple heart ''back'' to Truman with a letter telling him how he it was his fault that their son died. For the rest of his days, Truman kept that Purple Heart on his desk as a reminder about all of the difficult decisions that came with being President.
* [[Thanatos Gambit]]: Several of Roosevelt's advisors were aware of his declining health, and suspected he might not live to see the end of the war. His current Vice President, Henry Wallace, was deemed too liberal by them and unsuited to take over should FDR die. Deciding Truman was best for the job, Roosevelt and several of the Democrats subtly maneuvered him into the running for the nomination, assuring him his chances were slight while quietly whittling away his opponents. Truman, however, began to suspect them, and did not want the position, since he didn't want to bring publicity to his wife, who was currently on the payroll. As such, Roosevelt and the others staged a conversation in a next door hotel room where they "accused" Truman of not standing up for the party. This was enough to motivate Truman, and he reluctantly accepted the Vice President nomination, a job he only held for 82 days.
* [[Unexpected Successor]]: Perhaps the only ascended Vice President to entirely avert this, as Truman was chosen to replace open communist supporter Wallace on the ticket precisely because it was clear Roosevelt's death was coming.
* [[Vindicated by History]]: Though he was wildly unpopular during his time in office, Truman experienced a resurgence in popularity among historians since many of his policies actually turned out to be good ideas, such as his firing of MacArthur, the desegregation of the armed forces, the creation of NATO, and the approval of the Marshall Plan.
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