Harry S. Truman Book Award | March 16, 2016
2016 Harry S. Truman Book Award
Winner Announced, Read an Excerpt
Potsdam: The End of World War II and the Remaking of Europe (Basic Books/Perseus Books Group, 2015) by Michael Neiberg is the winner of the 2016 Harry S. Truman Book Award.
The Harry S. Truman Book Award is presented biennially by the Truman Library Institute. Established in 1963, the Harry S. Truman Book Award recognizes the best book published within a two-year period dealing primarily and substantially with some aspect of the history of the United States between April 12, 1945 and January 20, 1953, or with the life or career of Harry S. Truman.
Michael Neiberg is a professor of history and the Stimson Chair of the Department of National Security and Strategy at the U.S. Army War College, and the author of several award-winning books.
TRU History | March 16, 2016
Truman’s Supreme Court Justices
Harry Truman filled four vacancies on the Supreme Court during his eight years as president. Those he appointed included a Republican Senator, his Secretary of the Treasury, his Attorney General, and a judge from the Seventh District Court of Appeals. How did Truman decide who to appoint to the highest court in the land? And how did the Senate and press respond to President Truman’s Supreme Court nominees?
This Day In History | March 12, 2016
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Truman Doctrine Announced: March 12, 1947
On this day in 1947, President Harry S. Truman asked for $400 million in military and economic assistance for Greece and Turkey. “It must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures,” Truman declared. “If we falter in our leadership, we may endanger the peace of the world — and we shall surely endanger the welfare of our own nation.”
In asserting that the U.S. would intervene in faraway conflicts, President Truman dramatically reoriented U.S. foreign policy. What went into writing the Truman Doctrine speech?
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This Day In History | March 5, 2016
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
“Iron Curtain” Speech: March 5, 1946
On this day in 1946, Winston Churchill delivered the “Iron Curtain” speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. President Truman, who had traveled to Fulton with Churchill by train the previous day, joined his friend on the platform and warmly received the speech, now considered one of the opening volleys in the Cold War that followed.
Presidential Proclamation | March 1, 2016
Proclamation 2718: “I Am An American Day”
March 1, 1947
Whereas the rise of the United States of America to a place of eminence among nations in less than two centuries has been greatly enhanced by the migration to its shores of pioneering, freedom-loving peoples; and
From the Archives | February 10, 2016
PICTURING HISTORY: February 10, 1945
Harry S. Truman had been Vice President of the United States for only a few weeks when he showed up on February 10, 1945, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. He had agreed to take part in a show for some 800 servicemen. For his part of the show, Truman sat down at an upright piano to demonstrate his talent at the keyboard.
This Day In History | February 1, 2016
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
On February 1, 1865, President Lincoln signed the Amendment outlawing slavery. Eighty-four years later, President Truman signed a bill declaring February 1 National Freedom Day.
FROM THE ARCHIVES | January 22, 2016
This Day in History: January 22, 1946
President Truman Creates the National Intelligence Authority and the Central Intelligence Group: The Documents
Today’s post was written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at The National Archives in College Park, for The National Archives Text Message Blog.
PASSAGES | January 11, 2016
GEORGE M. ELSEY
Former senior advisor to President Truman dies at 97
We were saddened to learn that one of two surviving members of President Truman’s inner circle passed at the turning of the year. Military adviser to Presidents Roosevelt and Truman, George Elsey last visited the Truman Library in 2007. We asked: “If Harry Truman walked through his Library today, what do you think he’d be most proud of?”
MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS | January 8, 2016
12 Amazing WWII Artifacts in the Truman Collection
Rarely Viewed documents, photos and objects headed back to the Truman vault
Till We Meet Again, the Truman Library’s exhibition commemorating the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, closed this week, but we won’t soon forget the stories behind these 12 rarely-exhibited items from the Truman collection.