clifton truman daniels. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, the honorable nancy pelosi, speaker of the united states house of representatives. [applause] >> as speaker of the housey it s my privilege to welcome you to the united states capital as we celebrate one of our nation's finest presidents, president harry truman. it is only fitting that this son of independence of misery takes his rightful place here in the rotunda of our temple tef democracy, the united states capital. now at this time please rise as you are able for the presentation of colors and for the national anthem. [background sounds] ♪ oh, say, can you see ♪ ♪ by the dawn's early light ♪ ♪ what so proudly we hailed ♪ ♪ at the twilight's last gleaming? ♪ ♪ whose broad stripes andnd brit stars ♪ ♪ thro' the perilous fight ♪ ♪ o'er the ramparts we watched ♪ ♪ were so gallantly streaming ♪ ♪ and the rockets red glare ♪ ♪ the bombs bursting in air ♪ ♪ gave proof through the night n ♪ that our flag was still there ♪ ♪ oh, say, does that star-spang

truman did not happen inauguration. he was sworn in by a chief justice who didn't have time to put on a robe. he just were sued so and this is my own thought reading in to it so my conclusion was truman decided he was goingdi to give chief justice the inauguration that he did not have. if he has swearing-in at the white house which is still controversial to this day that president truman did it and had aes huge party and invited membs of the public to come in through the white house and they havec abandoned everything. he asked detailed to the chief not be played so would be the chiefsk justice is in clark and said to be sworn in. i want to get to a few audience questions here. somebody asked how do we get back to a balance of power among the three branches and it's kind of interesting in this context because in a lot of ways truman wast working to -- the balance f power in order to get things done but how do we restore the balance of the three branches of government? >> i would mention he was trying to bring in another

clifton truman daniel honorary chairman of the truman library institute and board secretary for the truman scholarship fund. thank you, madam speaker. senator blunt. congressman cleaver. leader mcconnell. leader mccarthy. family. friends. and thank you again, senator blunt. and congressman cleaver and chairman pat ottensmeyer on the board of the truman library institute. alex burden and the institute staff, dr. kurt graham and the library and the generous donors friends, supporters, lawmakers who helped make this day possible. my grandfather was a modest man and frankly, slightly embarrassed statues. his presidential library is an education institution rather than a monument to him, but we're here with us today. he would be honored and humbled. he loved the united of america. he loved the work of government. he loved this very building. he took the job seriously, but never himself. he was open, approachable, as tom corbin excellent statue depicts. he has been called an uncommon common man of all his accomplishment. the marshall plan naito the truman doctrine. the disfigured of the armed se

truman was aware of that as well. i think it's more of a stylistic comparison and an example of a shock to the system if you take president obama and his harvard education you take franklin roosevelt with his bay nature and harvard education. suddenly it's flipped over its a shock to the system. i think it is an excellent point spent a good amount of time spent thinking about over the last couple of years, how that was a shock to americans reading their newspaper in listening to their radio saying who even is this guy in what is happening here? and he is in charge and we are at war. it kind of came to a head later times some part of what came to a head because the supreme court nominee as he began to nominate his friends. >> was a brings us to tom clark, one of his friends. he nominated tom clark to be attorney general of the president of the united states. tom clark, at the time was a year older than i am now. i am 44 now he was 45 at the time. clark admin and unexceptional law student and came to washington by accid

trucks truman early in the book it took 40 half years before fdr got to a point for justice and truman match that number in the first four and a half years, right?very early and he was a senator,os most importantly republican senator. what they understood then tons contextualize this is the beginning of the gallup poll being the gold standard of polling in the united states. when they became available, one of the most important is when you ask americans if you think they should nominate a republican or democrat to the supreme court and the anathema stabout the questions because we are somehow supposed to believe the a individual thesis to becoe republican or democrat confirmed to theoc supreme court that is t to say the justices republicans and democrats they don't append but they have ideas and at this point we were able at least to recognize that it's okay for the nomination of the courts to have these ideas and overwhelmingly republicans and democrats say president truman should nominate a republican to the court because we have all these nominations from franklin roosevelt needed 2

truman. mrs. daughter margaret, the vice president-elect and the chief executive depart for the inaugural ceremony. mr. truman,um escorted by congressionaly representatives, leads the procession to the capitol. the man froml. missouri goes to the take his oath of office, thus formally reporting the greatest political upset in united states history. [cheers and applause] ♪ ♪ >> in capitol plaza, more than 100,000 people are on hand to witness the induction. millions more see the event on television and hear it over worldwide radio. among the distinguished guests are admiral nimitz and admiral halsey, united nations secretary-general lee. the black-robed supreme court justices descend the steps to the inaugural platform closely followed by the chiefth executive's wife and daughter. [applause] >> a battery of motion picture and television cameras records the arrival. [applause] alvin of kentucky, a member of congress for 36 years, has taken his vice presidential oath of office. >> so help me god. [ap

truman it's interesting. truman was once described by general groves, the guy who the general who ran the manhattan project, general groves, described truman as a, quote, a little boy and a toboggan. meaning that for the atom bomb decision, he was just like a kid on toboggan sliding down the hill, out of control. and there's some truth to that that the atom bomb was a bit of a foregone conclusion even before he became president certainly, certainly right after he became president. at the same time, it's also true that that truman was the decider. he was the president. he made the decision. the thing about truman, though, who's problematic for an historian like me, is that he made up a lot about his own role, exaggerated that he he he, you know, whole thing about harry truman, the president, the buck stops here. that was true. ultimately true. but in the summer of 1945, truman was really along with others. it would have taken a massive effort for him to to say no, and he didn't. so i don't i actually don't thi

view of harry truman, who solemnly swear by harry truman, do solemnly, sir. you will faithfully execute the office of president of the united states, but i will faithfully execute the office of president of the united states and will, to the best of your ability, will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the united states. preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the united states. oh, help you, god. so help me god. heal the nation and the world. a solemn, resolute president declared mr. vice president, mr. chief justice. hello, senator. i accept. where it humility the honor which the american people have conferred upon me. i accept that with a resolve to do all that i can for the welfare of this nation and for the peace of the world. american people stand firm in the faith which has inspired this nation from the beginning. we believe that all men have a right to equal justice under the law and equal opportunity to share in the common good. we believe that all men have a right to freedom of thought and expression

and truman managed to get the united nations agree to this. and he sent troops to protect the south once the south had been protected, they had truman and macarthur and a few others decided to go ahead to face the job. so they moved north north korea, which upset the chinese, and eventually the chinese moved in. and in joined the north koreans to push back. and so the war ends almost exactly the same spot it began the debacle in line runs almost parallel to the dividing between the two countries. nobody the land. nobody wanted any people. nobody wanted any resource. all they did was decide to stop fighting. of course, they never had a peace treaty. there's still still war, clinton said in one of his many speeches. he learned politics from the rear end of a mule. he was referring his former days into the stubbornness of the missouri mule. i think he learned this again clichÉ if you didn't leave the horse to water, but you can't make him drink, you could take the american people into the containment concept. but they're not going to put up with

bret: harry truman declined to run again for presidency in 1952.ited states, he promised to end the conflict. there were changes in the kremlin as well, in march, soviet leader stalin died. after an internal struggle -- emerged, der keep coded cables reveal in weeks after stalin's death, kim agreed it was time to negotiate. >> what made for possibility of a cease-fire was stall stall upstalin's death. talking about military questions. >> long stalled discussions resumed. as warre war -- entered what many hoped would be its final phase, both sides saw any ground taken in last days of battle would provide an advantage at the negotiating table, the ridgers and mountainsides were scene for some of the most brutal fighting of the entire war. >> into the human waves of reds assaulting the hill. and u.n. counter attacks are mounted. from one of the most savaged battles of the war. >> another seemingly insignificant knoll identified as hill 255 was site of a bloody fight now remembered as battle for pork chop hill, some separate campaigned were waged over

winston churchill comes to america, truman invites him to make the famous iron curtain speech. this is a wake-up call to the world, churchill says stalin can no longer be trusted, these are no longer allies, we got to change foreign-policy. total scandal in america. the idea is to keep working with stalin. churchill put differently, he can't be trusted. one of the soviet sniper clocks working at a soviet embassy in canada defects to the west and defects with a huge bundle of explosive documents that reveal soviets have been spying on the american nuclear program, what is taking place with western allies developing a nuclear warhead. these two events are really important and the third thing, don't know how well known it is, george kennan, the famous diplomat in the american embassy in moscow writes his famous long telegram, in a similar tone to churchill set out the facts that the soviets cannot be trusted. in 1946 these three things happen, with haole continually banging on the drum, this is when truman begins to change his foreign-policy completely and you end up with the trum

clifton truman

truman -- it is interesting.man was once described as the -- described as "a little boy on a toboggan." for the atom bomb decision he was like a kid on a toboggan, sliding down a hill out of control. there is some truth to that. the atom bomb was something of a foregone conclusion before he became president. at the same time it is also true that truman was president. he made the decision. the thing about truman that is problematic for a historian like me is that he made up a lot about his own role. he exaggerated it. he had this whole thing about harry truman the president, the buck stops here. that was ultimately true but in the summer of 1945, two men was going along with others. it would have taken a massive effort for him to say no. i don't think the president was a central figure, a more central figure to me was the secretary of war, henry stimson who had been sort of the chairman of the board of the project from the beginning. president roosevelt put him in charge in 1942. he ran the show. when roosevelt di

harry truman is behind you. and a mural on the wall. was it his idea to incorporate the cia or was that bill donovan? the idea donovan had always been pushing for a peacetime intelligence organization at the end of world war two. so many wartime organizations just were dissolved because everyone wanted to come home. but truman realized that he was going to need a peacetime intelligence organization to take on the soviet union. so within a couple of years, all those elements of the ss are brought back together in the central intelligence agency. one of the things that truman wanted was a newspaper that would give him information he couldn't get anywhere else. so starting with the daily summary, which is a collection of all the different cables from state department and other places coming together for him, that will evolve into the president's daily brief, something that every morning is delivered not only to the president of the united states, but to our top policymakers to help them inform them on on information they literally can't ge

so what was truman's approach to it? david: so harry truman was confronted like all of his successors were, with the problem of expansion of communism. there was the very real belief that communism was the great toxic influence in world. and that it must be contained the way a virus is contained. harry truman felt his great concerns were eastern europe and the soviet union. and the advance throughout indo china that region where communism could expand through china. and the strategy that he developed was called containment. the idea was not to confront an active war but to go actively comitting lives and everything that goes with war. but to try to continue the -- to contain the advance of this, this really toxic political development, that was seen to be a threat to american democracy and capitalism. so, containment was his strategy. his goal was to do as little as he had to without distracting american resources or the military. and he passed that on to dwight eisenhower. susan: people will remember of that era also he

you know, truman and truman and ford have, a lot of parallels. but the day ford became president, you know, presidents define themselves in all sorts of ways. and one of them very, very early on is they decide which portraits of their predecessors they will honor by hanging them in the cabinet room. and, of course, depending on who they choose, the press gives reams of speculation as to what this tells us about their inner psychology and political agenda. well, ford, you know, had only been president for an hour and a half and he's in the cabinet room. and richard nixon's the portraits of nixon had put were still there. of course. well, dwight eisenhower was in place of honor, but the other two presidents, interesting enough, were the progressive era presidents. theodore roosevelt and woodrow wilson. well, ford took them down and in their place, and he defined himself surprised people by putting up abraham lincoln, who was a lifelong hero, and harry truman. and lots of people scratch their and wondered why harry truman? well, it turns out they ha

the federal government was a whole lot bigger than it was in harry truman's day. it was a really risky thing to do. ford said, i would like to do that. so they got like 500 people in the state department auditorium. ford gets up and says, it will be different this year. he gave a little talk. 56 questions, all of which he was able to answer. he didn't need help from any of the experts behind him. the problem is, it is one reason why he looks better and better in retrospect than he did at the time. he wasn't eloquent. he wasn't witty. he knew government inside and out. susan: so, i want to get one thing out of the way. that is the connection between gerald ford's partner, richard nixon, his concerns about the special prosecutor putting him on trial, and what the country is going through today with donald trump? richard: it is a fair question. i -- the hindsight that implicitly blames ford for the wrongdoing of subsequent presidents. i want to put that aside for the moment. it is fascinating to me -- one thing that will surprise people is the relationship betwe the

there was a fundamental problem between truman and mossadegh, or the four trumans and the foreign minister this photo is relatively close to working with mossadegh towards iran and trying to get out from under the shadow of great britain. they were convinced that they should negotiate with mossadegh, on the other hand, the night group did not reach this conclusion and wanted to find another solution. britain almost forced the future republican government to overthrow mossadegh. height was raised during the last week as a lawyer he had served many large multinational companies. his brother alan became the new head of the cia. this was the first and only time that two brothers took over the control of the open and hidden side of american foreign policy . england was not many times when it came to overthrowing mossadegh with these two brothers. enter the basket, brothers of the new republic. i said that there was only one person who asked about the real beliefs of mossadegh, and this person was president eisenhower. if the communist party of iran is drawn towards the communists, we will face

the most um, truman and go to a message. it's a little boy about the atomic bomb when he told stone and about the soviet video showed digital interest. uncle joe didn't understand truman thoughts started already knew everything, the issues raised and he also laid down and called style, and above all europe. suppose for architecture. germany was to pay reparations and be deprived of pounds of its tortures. clinic's book and his surrounding areas would to be seated to the ussr. say using the gift with my me, i'm pretty sure studios and is i've useless escal sales of applying a former share for a new member. numerous to bring on the newest thinking lula marshall more of a trickle. nobody knew. what else could i the release of see to put you at a check up on a, on a scholarship play related possibly writing the sub, the north for the japanese rather than most was the idea that the soviets might come into the civil war. proving understood this style and assure assume that the russians are coming in on schedule human rights in his

her book resumes a book, need the for the april 12th 1945, roosevelt died and harry truman became the new us president. we've got this little man without the vision is now going to make the crucial decision as to what was my new mental turning point in history. the on april 30th 1945, a red flag was hoisted over the reichstag. by this time hitler was dead. the new success admiral done, its negotiated a unit, natural surrender in the west with the allies and withdrew his divisions the there's already and i'm not sure to appear to sort of, you know, to avoid the cheer should they us because to get on the double arrows that i'm both the beloved was mostly way the point of so yes, go say, you know, but those key why you and the sport. good. what the i shudder actually a few more cuz i names to any of us why this way. oh, so you least, those 10 each day to upset you what the bills would, ma'am, and it was more of them. you the jimmy menu upon their having received the information, don and ordered marshal, as you call to turn the army westwards. the allies understood a surprise attack would

her book resumes a book, need the for the april 12th 1945, roosevelt died and harry truman became the new us president. we've got this little man without the vision in 1000 and makes a personal decision. i think it was my new mental turning point in history. the on april, the 30th 1945, a red flag was hoisted over the rice tag. by this time hitler was dead, the new success admiral done, its negotiated a unit, natural surrender in the west with the allies and withdrew his divisions the there's already and i'm not sure to appear to sort of get to avoid the cheer, should they because to get on the most double arrows that i'm both his beloved was mostly way me import your so yes, cool side of the task you where you live with in a split couple of the i shudder actually do more cuz i names going you must why this way? oh, so you least based on each day that upset you with them is what ma'am? and it was more of them. you. the jimmy menu upon their having received the information, started ordered, marshall zuka, to turn the army westwards. the allies understood a surprise attack. wouldn't wor

the most um, truman and go to message. it's a little boy about the atomic bomb. when he told stone and about it, the soviet deal showed the interest. uncle joe didn't understand truman thoughts starting already knew everything the issues raised and he also laid down and called stuff above all europe, suppose pool architecture. germany was to pay reparations and be deprived of positive it stood trees, couldn't expect any surrounding areas. would it be seated to the ussr beside using the gift with my me, i'm pretty sure studios and as i've used to less escal sales of applying a former share on brand new and i'm the newest to bring on the new western kimball . i'm much nationwide for triple, nobody knew what i'm gonna do. release of said to put you write a check out the whole study shepley related, partially writing the sub north of the for the japanese and red is the most was the idea of this. so we have somebody come into the civil war proving on this, but this solid insurance and that the russians are coming in on schedule. human rights in his diary, solomon will

the most um, truman and go the message. it's a little boy about the atomic bomb when he told stone and about it's the soviet deal shows. it's an interest uncle. joe didn't understand truman thoughts started already knew everything the issues raised and he also lay down and called stuff on a bubble here. i suppose for architecture. germany was to pay reparations and be deprived of positive it's territories. couldn't expect any surrounding areas, would it be seated to the ussr beside using the gift with my me, i'm pretty sure studios and as i've used to, let's escal sales of applying a former share on brand new. and i'm the newest, the buy number, the newest, the kimball. i'm much more of a trickle. nobody knew what i'm gonna do. release of said to put you write a check out the whole study shepley related, partially writing the sub north for the japanese rather than most was the idea that this so we have somebody come into the civil war proving to understand this style and insurance. and that the russians are coming in on sch

the most um, truman and go the message. it's a little boy about the atomic bomb. when you tell it's down and about, it's the soviet the shows, it's an interest uncle. joe didn't understand truman thoughts started already knew everything, the issues raised and he also laid down and called stuff. and above all here, i suppose for architecture germany was to pay reparations and be deprived of positive it stood trees, couldn't expect any surrounding areas. would it be seated to the ussr say using the gift with my meal, show us videos and as i've used to less escal sales of applying a former share on brand new and i'm the newest, the buy number, the newest sticking below a mushroom ritual. nobody knew what i'm scrap the release of said to put you at a check out. the whole study shepley related, partially right in the us of the north for the japanese rather than most was the idea that this. so we have somebody come into the civil war proving on this, but this solid assurance and that the russians are coming in on schedule human rights in his diary, solomon will be the j

your son truman -- >> yes, my son truman. >> seth: your actual son truman plays you in the flashbackst major role were you excited for him >> i was -- it's an intimidating process. marc forster, who directed it, he said, "why do we have to have a look-alike for you to play the young" -- he's from switzerland, all right? >> seth: i got it. i think we were worried. we're like - >> he was not interrogating us he was actually suggesting a better way in order to make the movie. "can't one of your kids come on and play you i think truman looks very much like you." i said, "well, you'll have to talk to him. so he actually is a member of the -- proud member of local 600 of the new york city camera union. so he actually -- he's actually -- he's actually loading film on episodic tv today. >> seth: oh, my god. >> he's a renaissance dude and i said, "look, if you want to do this, you know, understand you got to fight self-consciousness like crazy. there's only one way to do it. show up, know your stuff, let go, and ski! [ laughter ] >> seth: there you go. why can't you ski? >> why can't you just

the president is dead and harry truman looked at eleanor roosevelt and said mrs. roosevelt. what can what can we do for you? and she said harry? what can we do for you for you're the one who is now in trouble and i think that in the transfer from that moment forward for the next few days and she got out of the white house in record time everything she did was for harry truman as president of the united states one of the more unlikely presidents ever to set to step into the job. he was sworn in that afternoon by the time by that time eleanor was on her way to warm springs. she had i wanted to say very quickly. she had buried dozens of roosevelt. she was practically the family undertaker eleanor had been called upon from her earliest days to bury her relatives. she was constantly visiting funeral of a cemeteries and making sure stones were proper properly placed and so forth. she was as pragmatic and as realistic about the event of someone's death. she also i think felt very strongly that what was most important now was carrying forward that she on her fell her husband's legac

we had a democratic president, harry truman, we had a republican house and senate. republican congressman and in particular were quite skeptical about the idea of using massive foreign aid as a tool to reinforce the u.s. economic and security interests. but the administration launched a massive public relations and education campaign beginning in the fall of 1947 many congressman including republican congressman visited europe to see conditions on the ground. many of them like young congress research distance from california came home convinced that the united states really did have to do something radical, something new, in order to protect its interests in europe without having to depend on the military. general marshall himself traveled around the united states speaking to farms, farm groups, speaking to women's groups, speaking to labor groups, emphasizing the importance of this aid. then there was also a galvanizing factor in the international sphere. in february of 1948, the soviets instigated a communist crew in czechoslovakia. there had been a coalition gove

and it looks at harry truman's work when he was the junior senator from missouri. mr. truman led congressional investigations into military waste and war profiteering during world war two. and it was that work that became known as the truman committee that would help springboard him to the vice presidency spot on the 1944 ticket with franklin roosevelt. well, also each week, national publications review the latest books. here's a couple. the new york times recently reviewed hector tobias, our migrant soul's a meditation on race and the meanings and myths of latino. according to the reviewer francisco cantu. mr. tobar is as likely to quote historians and cultural theorists as he is to cites students, store clks orn undocumented trump supporter. randomly encountered on the street. he is also quick to acknowledge the problematic nature of the word latino. that's from the new york times. and in another review, this on the washington free beacon news site. andrew styles reviews luke russert's new book, look for me there. luke russert was a nbc news correspondent, particular

and it looks at harry truman's work when he was the junior senator from missouri. mr.led congressional investigations into military waste and war profiteering during world war two. and it was that work that became known as the truman committee that would help springboard him to the vice presidency spot on the 1944 ticket with franklin roosevelt. well, also each week, national publications review the latest books. here's a couple. the new york times recently reviewed hector tobias, our migrant soul's a meditation on race and the meanings and myths of latino. according to the reviewer francisco cantu. mr. tobar is as likely to quote historians and cultural theorists as he is to cites students, store clerks or an undocumented trump supporter. randomly encountered on the street. he is also quick to acknowledge the problematic nature of the word latino. that's from the new york times. and in another review, this on the washington free beacon news site. andrew styles reviews luke russert's new book, look for me there. luke russert was a nbc news correspondent, particularly o