BUSM 520 Assignment 5 33 rd President Harry S Truman

1. BUSM 520Assignment 533rd President Harry S Truman Dr. Michael McDermott David McGeorge June 8, 2010

3. Harry S Truman33rd President • Born May 8, 1884 in Lamar Missouri • Grew up on farm, family settled in Independence • Ridiculed as boy • bad eyesight - read books on military history - played piano - suffered with diphtheria at 8, remedy half tumbler of whiskey • Turned down by West Point • Member of National Guard, Field Artillery unit in France • Married Elizabeth ‘Bess’ Wallace, (Margaret) • Haberdashery fails (refused bankruptcy, pledged to pay debt. Endorsed by political boss TJ Pendergrass, elected judge Jackson County • Attended Kansas City School of Law • Elected US Senate November 6, 1934, reelected 1940, elected VP 1944 • April 12, 1945, sworn in as 33rd President on death of FDR • Elected President 1948 (underdog – defeated Thomas E Dewey) • Deceased December 26, 1972 (88)

4. First 100 Days • United Nations organizing conference • Germany surrenders • 13 Days after taking office briefed on the development of atomic bomb • Dropped bomb on Hiroshima & Nagasaki • 150,000 civilians died • Japan surrenders • Demonstrated decisiveness, intelligence, personal sense of duty

5. Additional Challenges • How to contain aggressive & recalcitrant Soviet Union • How to deal with civil war in China • How to construct the postwar world • How to rebuild American economy • How to deal with nationwide striking employees • coal mines, steel, railroad "Being a president is like riding a tiger. You have to keep on riding or be swallowed." H Truman

6. Charismaaccording to Peter Drucker • The most charismatic leaders of last century • Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Mussolini • One of the most effective American presidents of the last 100 years • didn’t have an ounce of charisma, was bland as a dead mackerel, and was worshiped because he was trustworthy --- Harry Truman • Another effective president was Ronald Regan great strength wasn’t charisma. He knew exactly what he could and what he could not do

7. Presidential DecisionsMaking Judgment Calls • Often affect lives of tens of millions of people • Should not worry that decision will be unpopular but is right decision • Don’t wait until crisis situation is out of control – take action – waiting can do nation great harm, may be too difficult to overcome • Had 3 Presidents before Lincoln (Buchanan, Pierce, & Fillmore) acted, may averted civil war “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen” Harry Truman

8. Classy LeaderAffiliative & Democratic • Nose for Talent • Hire smarter and more talented with high ethics • Don’t Expect your People to do Anything You wouldn’t do • Spend an hour a month with lowest paid • Compete Honorably • Smarts, Innovation, and Ethics will take you farther than cutthroat actions “A classy leader looks, in part, like Harry Truman – a humble man who was thoroughly grounded. Like Jim Collins’ Level 5 leader, such a person doesn’t need the limelight, doesn’t need a big fancy car, and isn’t hungry for power” Historian David McCullough

9. 1951 • General Douglas MacArthur - No American military figure more popular (maybe Eisenhower) • aware of popularity and political invulnerability • repeatedly defied Truman’s policy of limited warfare in Korea • publicly proclaimed “no substitute for victory” • sent letter to Republican House minority leader • President Truman – trying to avoid WWIII • made an unpopular decision, but to save presidency “I fired (General Douglas MacArthur) because he wouldn’t respect the authority of the President…” MacArthur demonstrated a Diehard follower style, but Coercive and Authoritative leadership styles

10. Popularity • President Truman left office in 1953 as one of the most unpopular – 22% Gallup Poll • Ranked 5th in 2009 C-Span Poll • Never below 9th

11. Character “... I must confess, sir, I held you in very low regard. I loathed your taking the place of Franklin Roosevelt. I misjudged you badly. Since that time, you, more than any other man, have saved Western civilization.“ Winston Churchill speaking to Harry Truman “We all admire and love Ronald Reagan, but I'll tell you, another guy that I admire very much, and that's Harry Truman. Harry Truman had the guts to stick to what he believed in, and he stuck to it even at great political costs. And I admire the guts that he showed in a number of areas, but particularly in not pulling out of Korea.” Senator McCain “If this is what you get for all those years of hard work I guess it was worth it.” Mrs. Truman

12. The Buck Stops HereAlchemist • Refused to Degrade or Commercialize on the Prestige and Dignity of office of Presidency – turned down job offers • “Abhor War – Any Killing – A-bomb or Bow & Arrow” • “War must be eliminated – or it will eliminate us” Truman • His decisions were momentous, world changing, world building & potentially, world destroying • Cincinnatus was a favorite leader • mission accomplished, quietly retired, not seeking glory or power This I Believe http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=19103184&m=19103169

13. Works Cited Axelrod, A. (2004). When the buck stops with you: Harry S Truman on leadership. New York, New York: Penguin Group Truman, H.S. (1960). Mr. Citizen. New York, NewYork: Bernard Geis Associated http://americanhistory.about.com/od/harrystruman/p/ptruman.htm http://blogs.hbr.org/hbr/hbreditors/2008/02/how_to_be_a_classy_leader.html http://comics.com/pickles/ http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/truman/essays/biography/1 http://www.forbes.com/2004/11/19/cz_rk_1119drucker.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/1948/nov/01/usa http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=19103184&m=19103169 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18195354 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,910501,00.html#ixzz0pjm9F8Me http://www.usnews.com/news/history/articles/2009/02/26/the-first-100-days-harry-truman-showed-decisiveness-and-intelligence.html?PageNr=2