The "BUCK Stops Here" Was inscribed on a table plaque given to President Harry Truman by a friend from his home state of Misouri. It was emblomatic of the President's attitude to take action to solve problems.
For many reasons, President Truman wan't well liked. As a boy I disliked him because he fired General Douglas MacArthur, a very popular war hero. But since I've come to understand that he was one of our greatist Presidents.
Other than serving as a Captain in WWI, he wasn’t very successful in his habidassery business. He ran and became a Senator from Missouri and made a name for himself going out after wasteful War time spending. In 1944, WWII was climaxing on two fronts, President Roosevelt seeking a forth term, selected Truman as his Vise Presidential running mate.
Harry Truman succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of President Roosevelt, just weeks into his Roosevelt's forth term. WWII was winding down in Europe, and thousands more were yet to die in the Pacific conflict where General MacArthur was army commander. Getting up to speed as the new President he had to negotiate with world leaders, England's Churchill and Russia's Stalin, make many decisions, including using the "A Bomb" to shorten the Pacific conflict. After the war his Presidency help save Greece from falling under the Communist orbit, Saved Berlin from starving and also falling to the Communist, without a war by peaceful means with the Berlin Airlift, he initiated the Marshal Plan to help Western Europe recover from the war and help save it for democracy. His other accomplishments include the racial integration of the armed forces, winning reelection when most polls predicted he'd loose. one of his final accomplishments was to save South Korea from Communist take over after the North invaded the South. In was early during this conflict when the North were close to driving the Allies off the peninsula, that General MacArthur accomplished historic flanking move, invading Inchon, up the west cost of the peninsula. This move cut the Northern Army in half, created such an advantage that the Allies drove the Allied Army north to the Chinese border. It was the subsequent Chinese involvement into the conflict that created the rift between Truman and MacArthur. Truman feared that MacArthur's plan to stop the Chinese could have brought Russia into the conflict with another European War or WWIII. Truman's Presidency prevailed, MacArthur was fired, the fighting eventually ended after Truman left office, millions of lives were probably saved, and South Korea is a prosperous democracy today.
Truman did what he felt was right for America and the world, it cost him much popularity, but he faced problems head on, he did not pass the buck. His motto was "The Buck Stops Here." We should all take up the Pledge and adopt the motto that "The Buck Stops Here Again"
