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commander, who soon gained the respect of his soldiers.

MARRIAGE AND EARLY BUSINESS CAREER

After the war ended in 1918, a few months later Harry Truman married his childhood sweetheart,Bess Wallace, on June 28,1919. They had an an only child, Margaret Truman, born in 1924. Not long afterward he entered a haberdashery business with Edward Jacobson, a friend from his youth, who was also a Jew, an unusual partnership in those racist, anti-semetic times. But the business was not successful;it failed in 1921. It is said that Jacobson's advice to Truman decades later when he was president would influence his decision to recognize Israel as an independent state in 1948.

EARLY PUBLIC CAREER

In 1922, with the help of political boss Tom Pendergast, who was later exposed as crooked, appointed Truman to be County Judge. As shocking as it might seem today, Truman once contemplated becoming a member of the Klu Klux Klan, even paying an initiation fee of $10 but he changed his mind and asked for his money back. But he never did actually did join the Klan. He basically served as County Judge from 1922-24, and from 1926-30.

POLITICAL CAREER
In 1934,Truman was elected to the U.S.Senate, being promoted by Pendergast, but it became something of a scandal.

He began to be bothered by remarks that he was "The Senator from Pendergast", as he did not want to be connected to a corrupt politician. In 1939 Pendergast was charged with tax evasion from 1927-1937-ten years and he pled guilty and paid $15,000 and a 15-month sentence at Leavenworth State Penitentiary. Truman was not charged, setting him free from Pendergast's corrupt influence.

1940 ELECTION AND EVENTUAL US PRESIDENCY

In November 1940 Truman defeated Kansas City Senator Manvel H.Davis by 40,000 votes. During WWII he formed the "Truman Committee" in which they investigated military wastefulness, fraud and scandal. In 1944 He was selected as Franklin D.Roosevelt's Vice Presidential candidate. Suddenly, on April 12,1945, FDR died of a cerebral hemorrhage, thrusting Harry S.Truman into the role as the 33rd President of the United States.

PRESIDENCY-FIRST TERM (1945-1949)

In April 1945 America was still warring with Japan. The Japanese Army was composed of nationalistic loyal soldiers who were also religious fanatics who believed that their emperor Hirohito was a god. So in essence their cause was also a religious cause in their minds. With this mentality, they could possibly go on fighting for years, perhaps

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