Harry S. Truman: Difference between revisions

Truman's period was very much one domestic crisis after another. He sent troops into [[The Korean War]] and when this became a stalemate, he became seriously unpopular, especially after sacking General MacArthur. (Despite MacArthur being partly responsible for said stalemate and wanting to [[General Ripper|directly attack China with thermonuclear weapons]].) He ended up going as low as ''22%'' in approval ratings, the lowest of all time in the Gallup poll.

 

 

Truman died in 1972 from pneumonia. Since his departure, Truman [[Vindicated By History|has enjoyed a rise in popularity]] and is rated highly by many historians. In particular, his decision to fire MacArthur, while deeply unpopular at the time, is now commonly viewed as a smart move that prevented the Korean War from escalating into World War III (MacArthur wanted to invade and bomb [[Red China]], which is why he was fired), though there are plenty who still say that focus on simply holding the North, instead defeating it is the real reason the war was ultimately a stalemate. He has a carrier named after him, a bit ironic, since Truman actually tried to limit the expansion of the US Navy's aircraft carrier program during his tenure. Truman has also become a kind of political trope in and of himself, as he is frequently cited by politicians down in the polls as a reason for supporters to keep the faith. As a general rule, when a politician starts citing Harry Truman, it's a bad sign for his electoral prospects.

* In ''[[Watchmen]],'' Rorschach frequently expresses admiration for 'decent men' like Truman and his father. It's shown in several in-story documents that he wrote an essay in his youth expressing how good it was that he dropped the bomb, because he saved many more lives by ending World War II. This is particularly ironic given that Rorschach claims to be a moral absolutist and attacks {{spoiler|Veidt}} for killing millions in {{spoiler|a fake 'alien' attack on New York}} to prevent World War III from breaking out.

** Rorschach is being nuanced himself here (shock horror.) He's more than capable of calculating that an evil act will perpetuate a greater good; note that he doesn't try very hard to escape Veidt or stop Manhattan from nuking him- it's just that, as a costumed vigilante, ''he is outside the law and so is Veidt, whereas Truman was acting as executive officer with authority to use a munition against a declared enemy.'' That's why Veidt's actions are irreconcilable to him. Being capable of extrapolating from that, Rorschach must conclude that it is not the mere fact that Veidt made that choice which is the moral absolute that has been wronged, it is that ''Veidt had no authority to make that choice.'' Seeing how he himself doesn't have that authority either, he's more than willing to [[Suicide By Cop]].

* In ''[[MASH|M*A*S*H]]'', it is often mentioned that Truman is President.

** In one episode (called "Dear Harry", I think) Hawkeye actually writes a letter to Truman describing conditions in Korea and imploring him to end the war.

[[Category:The Presidents]]

[[Category:Harry Truman]]