I.

Introduction

Harry S. Truman (1884-1972), 34th Vice-President (1945) and 33rd President of the United States (1945-1953), who initiated the cold war foreign policy of containing communism and continued the modest welfare state established under President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. His decisiveness and willingness to accept responsibility for difficult decisions contributed to the trend begun under Roosevelt towards the centralization of power in the executive branch.