American Experience

Read Harry Truman in his own words, and access documents important to his era, in this collection of writings, speeches and letters.

Contents:  Speeches  |  Documents  |  Letters

Speeches

• Announcement on Hiroshima, 1945
  Truman informs the nation that an atomic weapon has been detonated in Japan.
• U.S. Warning to Japan, 1945
  Truman tells the Japanese to surrender in a radio address.
• NAACP Address, 1947
  Truman speaks to the NAACP at the Lincoln Memorial.
• Democratic Nomination Acceptance Speech, 1948
  The president demonstrates his folksy approach and promises to help the American people.
• Civil Rights Message, 1948
  Truman lists ten objectives for improving civil rights in America.
• Inaugural Address, 1949
  The president describes the difference between Communism and democracy.
• Statement by President Truman on South Korea, 1950
  Truman decries North Korean aggression.

Documents

• Leaflets Dropped on Cities in Japan, 1945
  America warns the Japanese to evacuate their cities.
• Potsdam Conference, 1945
  The U.S., the Soviets and the British set policy on postwar Europe.
• United Nations Charter, 1945
  The United Nations is formed.
• Truman Doctrine, 1947
  The president presents his vision of America's role in a world threatened by Communism.
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights
  The United Nations' universal declaration of 1948.
• Declaration of Israel's Independence, 1948
  A Jewish state is established in Palestine.
• Executive Order, 1948
  Truman makes desegregation of the armed forces an official government policy.
• Southern Response to Civil Rights Speech, 1948
  A Mississippi Democrat responds to Truman's position.
• North Atlantic Treaty, 1949
  America and Europe organize for a common defense.

Letters

• Letter from Albert Einstein to FDR, 1939
  Truman's predecessor Franklin Roosevelt received this letter about the construction of nuclear bombs.
• Letter from Henry Stimson to President Truman, 1945
  The secretary of war sent this note to Truman to inform him of the bomb.
• Letter from Albert Einstein to FDR, 1945
  Einstein tries to bring the physicists and the government together.
• Entries from President Truman's Diary, 1945
  The president muses on Stalin, atomic weapons, and peace.
• Letter about the Test of Atomic Bomb, 1945
  General Leslie Groves describes a weapon of mass destruction.