Harry S. Truman

A whistle-stop train tour, and some plain speaking spur Harry Truman's come from behind win in 1948 over Thomas Dewey.

But it didn’t work out for their parties.

What did Truman and Oppenheimer actually say in that room?

Harry Truman used antisemitic slurs in private. But his surprise decision 75 years ago to recognize Israel, launching a fierce alliance, was a long time coming.

Official decisions about military intervention and executive power are often based on outdated historical interpretations.

Presidents used to own their personal papers — but there were real security reasons for changing that.

Institutions meant to secure peace, from NATO to the U.N., date back to Truman’s Presidency. So do the conflicts threatening that peace.

How the 33rd president finagled his way to a post–White House fortune — and created a damaging precedent.

A set of speech drafts suggests that Truman may not have fully understood the implications of dropping an atomic bomb on the city.

The president's unilateral nuclear authority comes from decisions made at the start of the Atomic Age.

The most important civil rights achievement didn't come from Congress or the Court. It came from Harry Truman.

Three US presidents from the South’s borders—Truman, Eisenhower, and Johnson—worked against Southern politicians to support civil and voting rights.

We don’t need to imagine a world ravaged by nuclear war – we’re already living in it.

The Truman administration launched a PR campaign to inflate casualty numbers to justify the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

On the 78th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Japan, we should remember that deploying the bomb wasn’t necessary to win the war.

American leaders called the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki our 'least abhorrent choice,' but there were alternatives to the nuclear attacks.

The president didn’t want to go too far on civil rights in 1948, fearing it would cost him reelection. But an obscure mayor changed the race — and his party.

We can’t blame Joe McCarthy for this one. (Though he was a fan.)

His approval rating hit historic lows, his party was fractious, crises were everywhere. But Truman rescued his presidency, and his legacy.

In the Cold War, North Korean Communists invaded South Korea. President Truman’s decision to intervene had consequences that shape the world today.