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the Republic of South Korea. North Korean troops got as far south as Pusan when they were stopped by U.S. reinforcements and later routed by a massive amphibious landing at Inchon. Chinese intervention ultimately resulted in a stalemate, followed by an agreed demilitarized zone with UN-sponsored U.S. troops and South Koreans staring across a free fire zone at each other.

One dramatic fallout of the Korean War was Truman's confrontation with General Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur wanted to use nuclear weapons on the Chinese mainland after their 250,000-man intervention in Korea. When he was denied permission to expand the war, MacArthur openly challenged the U.S. civilian leadership and threatened to attack China anyway. Truman moved decisively and removed General MacArthur from command.

General MacArthur, accustomed to total freedom of action in pursuing war strategy, learned the hard way that ultimately military authority must be subordinate to civilian national policy makers. The General figured he was far too popular to be fired, but he miscalculated. He retired after a tear-jerking speech before a joint session of Congress receiving a standing ovation and the 1950's equivalent of a rock star's farewell tour. Truman, on the other hand, by firing of America's most famous active duty general, probably prevented a nuclear war with the USSR and China.

Harry Truman's greatest legacy was his reorganization of the U.S. national security establishment that would be the bulwark against spread of communism for four generations. During his Presidency, the National Security Act of 1947 was a milestone U.S. Government reorganization act that set up the National Security Council, the Central Intelligence Agency, and reorganized the military under a new Department of Defense (including a new branch, the U.S. Air Force).

Finally, as a former Senator from the Civil War slave state, Truman was far ahead of his time in insisting that Black Americans be given equal rights. By Executive Order he integrated the U.S. armed forces. He was the first President to ever address the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and without wide public support, he asked Congress to pass wide ranging civil rights legislation that would not be realized until fifteen years after he left office.

Harry Truman was a great U.S. president, who readily accepted the leadership role and difficult challenges he never expected. When he ran for his own term in office in 1948, he was not expected to win. There is a famous and unforgettable photo of a broadly grinning Harry Truman holding up a copy of a prematurely distributed edition of the Chicago Tribune. The banner headline reads "Dewey Beats Truman." This amusing photo speaks volumes about this Midwesterner. Those who underestimated him did so at their peril.

Learn more about this author, Jerry Curtis.
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