Harry S. Truman Depending on your age, you may have known many great presidents in your lifetime. Every single person in this world has their own vision of what a president's role in the world should be and how his or her values ​​should reflect that. So far, the United States has had 42 presidents who have offered many new ideas that have helped our country tremendously. One of these great men was our 33rd president, Harry S. Truman, who was thrust into the presidential chair on April 12, 1945 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt suddenly died. Harry S. Truman was born May 8, 1884, in Lamar, Missouri and grew up near Independence. Young Truman enjoyed his youth on the family farm with his younger sisters Vivian and Mary Jane, who both admired their older brother. The family had been raised Baptist, and his parents, who lived in a small town, employed music teachers and encouraged Harry to read history and literature from his father's well-stocked library. Harry Trumans favorite times during his youth were spent playing the piano and attending concerts. From 1900 to 1905 he held several small business positions, but found nothing that interested him. At school, all his teachers knew that Truman, a good student but an exuberant boy, would definitely go to college. He hoped to attend West Point, the nation's premier military academy. Unfortunately, he was rejected due to his poor eyesight, and his family could no longer afford college, due to the sudden financial loss suffered by his father. For the next twelve years Truman prospered as a Missouri farmer on his parents' land. In 1917, at the age of 33, Truman enlisted in the artillery, serving in France and reaching the rank of Captain. Upon returning from the war, together with a friend, he opened a haberdashery, which later went bankrupt. However, Truman never abandoned his hard work and tackled each problem as it arose, tackling them one at a time. In 1919 Truman finally married Virginia ("Bess") Wallace whom he had first met as a child at school in Independence. Bess was a year younger than Truman, and when he first proposed in 1911, she didn't seem too eager to get married. Bess let Truman dangle for three weeks before rejecting him. Eight years later they finally married and had only one child together, a daughter named Margaret. Throughout his life, Tr...... middle of paper ......se forces in a way that could have provoked war with Russia and ultimately cost the United States allied support. Following his personal falling out with MacArthur, Truman announced that he would not seek a third term. Soon after the end of his two terms, Truman and Bess retired to private life. Truman published two volumes of Memoirs in 1955 and 1956 and gave support to Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s. Truman died on December 26, 1972, and was buried in the courtyard of the Truman Library, one of the most popular presidential libraries. Bess died ten years later and was buried next to him. Even now, long after Truman was in office, his popularity continues to grow. In the 1996 presidential election, both candidates cited it in debates and speeches. After learning so much about our 33rd President, I can understand why so many people like him. Harry S. Truman was not afraid to fight for what he believed in. On the contrary, he would fight even when he knew he wouldn't win. Some people might consider it an act of stubbornness, but for me it is a courageous act. Even when people were against him, he remained strong. He was a great president and would go.