The nation's new chief executive, Harry S. Truman, succeeded
Franklin D. Roosevelt as president before the end of the war. An
unpretentious man who had previously served as Democratic
senator from Missouri, then as vice president, Truman initially
felt ill-prepared to govern. Roosevelt had not discussed complex
postwar issues with him, and he had little experience in
international affairs. "I'm not big enough for this job," he
told a former colleague.
Still, Truman responded quickly to new challenges. Sometimes
impulsive on small matters, he proved willing to make hard and
carefully considered decisions on large ones. A small sign on
his White House desk declared, "The Buck Stops Here." His
judgments about how to respond to the Soviet Union ultimately
determined the shape of the early Cold War. |
