Original subtitles

Yeah.

50 writers polled by Newsweek, not one of them thinks the president will win.

50 for Dewey, zero for Truman.

Dewey will win by a landslide.

Listen, Harry Truman is a wild accident of history, entering the White House

only by the death of the immortal Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Morning, Mr. President. Have a nice walk? Good morning, Clark.

Morning, Charlie.

Morning, sir.

Well, not a busy day, Ed. Yes.

What's it say, Clark?

What does what say?

That Newsweek magazine you just hid under your jacket.

Well, um... Get along. Give it here.

Yes, sir.

When the press quits abusing me, I know I'm in the wrong queue.

Sorry, sir.

Oh, don't you be sorry.

You leave that to these so -called experts.

I know all 50 of these fellas. Not one of them got sense enough to pound sand

down a rat hole.

What about the speech for today, Mr. President?

Thank you.

Thank you all for coming.

I came to you because our country is in dire trouble.

I'm here on a serious mission, and because it is so serious, I propose to

to you as plainly as I can. Instead of a recession after the war, we have more

jobs than ever before.

No riots, no bloodshed, no workers crying for jobs, no farmers starving,

no veterans starving in the streets. Why?

Because we took care of them. But the polls and the newspapers say you want to

change all that. Well, I tell you.

I just wonder how many times you have to be hit on the head before you figure

out who's hitting you. It is your future we're fighting for. I must have your

vote.

Dear Beth, the general trend seems to be I'm a very small man in a very

large place.

All the smart boys seem anxious to get rid of me, including my own party.

Sometimes I ask myself, why would any man in his right mind want to be

of the United States?

I know you never wanted to be the wife of a politician, but here you are

onto a wild ride through history, and sometimes I wonder, will you ever

me?

Thought I'd take the best for a drive.

Is she here?

I'm back here in the kitchen.

If you're coming in, wipe your feet.

Yes, ma 'am.

Where'd he get the money?

Buy an automobile?

Must have cost a fortune. Couple of thousand.

We're in the war, Harry.

A lot of money out there for the smart boys.

Well, hello, Harry.

What are you doing off the farm?

Can't be Sunday.

Don't hear any bells. Ridiculous.

Driving a car when they're missing payments at the bank.

Look at you.

You got some new scheme on your mind.

What is it this time?

Well, I just had the idea in my mind that we could take a little drive out in

the country.

Don't try to lie, Harry.

You don't have the face for it.

me to talk here she can't hear us

i'm

signing up for what the army we're in the war didn't you read the president's

speech it is a fearful thing to leave this great peaceful people into the

most terrible and disastrous of all wars you're 33 harry They don't even draft

men that age.

Besides, they're blind as a bat.

That man has courage.

They're going to need every man they can get.

There's never been a fight in your life.

You don't even like guns.

Well, no matter how old, blind, or untried I might be, I can't stay home

be a slacker.

Well, what about your sister and your mother? Have you asked them? Have you

them? They'll get along without me. And besides, the war can't last that much

longer now that America is in the fight.

You're serious.

Yes, I am.

You are more stubborn than a Missouri mule, and you got just about as much

sense.

Reckon we ought to get married, don't you?

What? Look, don't try to talk.

I know you're too amazed.

Jesus Christ.

All these years, I have waited to hear those words.

You think buying an engagement ring on borrowed money might be bad luck?

I don't need an engagement ring.

We're gonna get married.

Let's do it now.

We can't, Bess.

I won't let Mother stand in our way anymore.

No, Nova.

I don't mean that.

You mustn't tie yourself to a man who might not come back.

Don't say that.

I don't know. I can't do that to you.

You're going to be all right, Harry.

And I'm going to be right here.

Fire some good hands, Mary Jane.

Make them give you a day's work and no backstab.

We'll be all right.

You be a good boy, Harry.

Bye, Mom.

Dizzy. Call Dizzy D.

Irish traffic from Kansas City. You're the fourth commander we've had this

The last one lasted 90 days.

Earth Catholic, Captain?

No.

Lieutenant,

call the man to attention.

Damn cigarette O 'Hare, you know better than that get back to work

Dear Beth, Battery D had their first taste of battle.

Nobody was killed or hurt, so the men say I'm lucky and nothing can touch me.

I was scared green like everybody else, but I'm not letting them in on that

little secret.

Another fine day with news the war will be over soon.

Not soon enough for you and me.

Call in these coordinates.

Tell them to stand by for a fire mission.

Grid.

Five, eight, seven, two, four.

Yeah, we're behind their line.

These are the 28th Division sector. We're at our sector.

Jim,

I think we ought to let those boys in the 28th get blown all to hell because

it's not in our sector.

It's standing order, Captain.

It's the Colonel's standing order.

I can think of better ways to make a living than looking up a mule's ass,

Corporal.

Tell the gunners to fire at will.

I just had to wait for the Germans to leave the horses away.

Fire at will.

Don't cheer, boys.

Poor bastards are dying.

Bess Wallace is the only woman I ever wanted to marry, ever since I first saw

her in Sunday school in the fourth grade.

Today, you all share my dream come true.

Morning,

Harry.

Ready to face the bright new day?

There's still some logs upstairs.

Martin Fred.

Grandmother Gates.

Vienna.

Mother Wallace. Get Mr. Truman his breakfast, Vienna.

He must not be late to his place of trade.

Hey!

Lieutenant Pendergast.

I'll get back to Jim and Harry, Eddie. Yeah, I like that.

Harry!

Come in here asking for Captain Truman. It's a loan they're after.

This way is Harry.

We sold a silk shirt.

Looks like Battery D's private clubhouse in here. The corporal!

George! Hey, Chuck, this is your last round here now. Get on home to your

family.

Don't let them sucker you in. You can go home in a barrel. How are you, Jim? I'm

good, Harry.

You tell me, having slogged through hell to make the world safe for democracy,

are you happy being a haberdasher?

Well, yes, I am. I'm very happy. Are you happy?

Being a hack for boss Tom Pendergast?

He'd like to meet you, Harry.

Well, I don't think so.

What does he want with me?

Most people don't ask that question.

Yes, I know they don't. And if they're not careful, Tom Pendergast becomes

real good friend.

Well, there's one view.

Listen, Harry, he's got a good heart for the people.

I told him about you.

Well, Jim.

Neither I nor my daddy had any luck at farming.

And a farmer needs luck, like he needs rain and a crazy banker.

I believe luck has finally come our way.

Thank you, Vanna. That was delicious.

Hey, Sid.

You hear about your husband's veterans reunion?

There was a brawl.

They called the cops.

Harry paid the bail and all the damages to the home.

I'm delighted his business allows him such extravagance, Beth.

If things are going so well, I suppose he could invest the money in a house.

Well, anyway... Hold your tongue for it.

I think you've said enough.

Hey, if you're doing so good, maybe you need a good man down at the store.

He's not thinking of moving elsewhere, is he?

No.

Not right now, Mother.

What does that mean, not right now?

I wouldn't mind working with a Jew.

I would appreciate a little warning if you meant plans.

Be out there. Clear the table.

Boys was just having a good time.

Oh, I know. Natalie, though, a little out of hand, that's all.

Mother has got to get used to me being married.

She depends on me.

But we're not going to live here forever.

Thanks fail as post -war boom times go bust and financial panic spread.

With factories closing, the unemployed go hungry.

And ex -workers line up to trade their votes for food.

You have your voter registration in hand.

Hey!

Hey!

Hey, you guys, get back inside!

No more handouts!

$35 ,000.

How do we get so much in debt?

We've got to file some bankruptcy.

People trusted us enough to give us credit. I'm not going to make them pay

my failure.

It was not the jail. It was the whole damn country.

I can't take bankruptcy.

Well, then how can I?

So much hope.

What are you going to do?

I don't know, Eddie.

Shut up.

Can I ask you something?

Five years, we spent more time together than with our wives.

And all that time, you never had Bruma meet at dinner at your house.

No, we didn't.

Is there a reason for that?

Bess doesn't like Bruma.

Is it because we're Jewish?

No.

I don't think so.

I like Bloomer.

Well.

I'm sorry.

Nobody except family comes to the Wallace home.

And not many of them.

He's out of time.

You're well respected, Harry. A veteran, an honest businessman.

Never heard boss Tom had much use for honesty.

Tom's got a use for everything.

You take this to benefit her, it'll fix you up.

Who writes in black means do what you can.

Stop that damn bottle. Who writes in red means just do it.

Uncle T .J.

This is Captain Truman.

How come everybody likes you so damn much?

3 ,465 simoleons per annum.

How can you be a judge?

Yes, no education in law.

Not a law judge, mother.

More a county commissioner.

You'd be one of three, right, Harry?

If I got elected?

One of Boss Tom's boys.

Tom Pendergast is a common thief.

Well, I don't intend to be a thief. I made it clear that

if I ran... You know my opinion.

Politics cheapens the map.

Mother, please don't.

Mr. Wallace had no trouble in his life till he ran for public office.

Well, a man has to keep his head, not breathe the hot air, and

avoid the graft.

You think you're special enough to survive influences that have weakened

destroyed others?

But far more qualities than you.

What did I say?

Give me.

Miss.

I'm sorry.

mean to set her off.

I just got to make a decision.

With the star going under and the baby coming.

They found it in the bathtub.

Yes. The bullet when my father killed himself.

It went through his head.

Listen to me.

I've got to pay off the store debts.

I've got Mother and Mary Jane to take care of as well as us here.

I think I can do this.

I think I'm strong enough to handle it.

I know you are.

If you really don't want me to run, I won't.

I knew this young man before he was born.

Farmer, businessman, veteran, and the next eastern judge of Jackson County,

Captain Harry M.

speaker, is he? He only needs one man for it.

Firstly, I am for good roads.

And the best part of it is, no farmer will be more than two miles from a good

road. Here's Tom. Tell him the rest.

Now, believe me, I know firsthand what being near a good road means to a man

who's trying to get his crop to market.

I did a little work on the map here to give you an idea of what I'm talking

about.

I'm in need of the support of both of you. I think Judge Vrooman and I have

same question.

Well, the answer is it'll cost $6 .5 million.

We'll take it to the people and raise it with a bond issue. I don't think that's

a question that Judge Barr and I had in mind.

$6 .5 million, they'll just say I want to steal it.

Nobody's going to steal anything.

Contracts go only to legitimate low bidders who can do the job.

Now, all three of us have to approve it to get the bond issue on the ballot.

Can I count on your support?

Judge Barr, Judge Vrooman, ride back to town with me. Frank, you see if Judge

Crum will give you that.

All right.

What's the matter, Judge?

Didn't you get what you wanted?

Tom's boys.

Can you tell me what happened here?

Nothing.

Roads are good.

They're made of concrete.

Good choice.

Tom's got a concrete company.

If only I were John D.

Rockefeller, I'd make this county the world's paradise.

Maybe I could buy her her own crib.

Margaret's not complaining.

Harry?

If you think Barr and Brewer are an investment in county funds, why don't

see them?

Well, I saw them. They said just what I thought they'd say. They passed the

buck. They said, go see Tom.

You know what the cardinal said?

This loyalty.

Politics is the business of friends.

Well, does that mean I'm supposed to let your friends steal $10 ,000?

$10 ,000? Is that what this yelling is about? I don't care if it's $10 ,000 or

$10 million. Tom, I told you when I agreed to run, I wasn't going to stand

any monkey business.

You will stand for what I tell you. No, sir.

I don't work for you. I work for the people of this county. If you keep

believing that, you'll be back selling shirts going broke. Don't you threaten

me. I'll go to the damn powerhouse if I have to.

You see what a stubborn son of a bitch you brought into this organization?

He don't even like money.

So, what are you going to do?

Well, it's the taxpayers' money.

They might like to read about who's getting it.

You do that?

The bond issue won't pass. Your roads won't get built.

I'll take that chance.

No chance to it.

It'll happen.

Now, are you going to be righteous and save the county $10 ,000?

Are you going to give it $6 .5 million worth of good roads, not one of more

two miles away from a farm?

That's the choice you've given me.

That's the choice you gave yourself.

This horse is a six -year -old. Oh, it's a beauty.

Harry,

what's the matter?

Sons of bitches, Vrooman and Barr are thieves.

They're stealing money from the rogue fund.

Barr is worse than that. He's an adulterer.

A man who can't be loyal to his wife and family can't be trusted anywhere.

Get Tom to fire him.

Oh, I told him what they're doing. He knows. He doesn't care.

Listen to yourself, Harry.

Getting yourself all tied up in knots.

Hell, am I any better than them?

Put my own drunken brother along a public payroll just to keep peace in the

family.

I didn't ask you to do that.

You made the choice to go into politics, and I said I'd support you. But if this

is what it's going to do to you, I won't support you.

I dove into a cesspool.

Quit.

Can't farm, failed at business, can't dance, don't sing.

I have to let Noah count sons of bitches to you so that I can do something that

needs doing.

Does that make me just another crook?

Or just another politician?

An historic bondage who passes and an ambitious new road program is born.

Judge H .S. Truman, whose baby this is, seems like a proud papa as construction

begins.

I'm told that even Pendergast Concrete had to submit a bid.

Ain't you heard yet?

Ain't you heard either?

The stubbornest contrary Missouri mule this side of the Mississippi.

Ain't you heard about my boy Truman?

If you use... Fire machine!

Mama said they're not going to let you be judge anymore.

Well, two terms is all they let you have. I'm going to have to get another

Didn't you plant trees along here?

The farmers cut them down for firewood. What kind of job?

Well, I don't know, Miss Skinny.

Tell them I've been thinking about something and I want to talk to you

I gave this county sewers.

A decent cart house and $6 .5 million in new roads.

Not all Pendergast concrete, but a hell of a lot of it.

When your people made a fair bid.

Now, I am damn good at what I do.

And you know it, or you would have got rid of me years ago.

Tom, there is so much more to be done.

What I did for the county, I want a chance to do for the state.

As governor.

What happened with Tom?

Tom doesn't think I'm heavy enough for the job.

I don't belong in the major leagues.

After all you've done for this county?

After all his talk about loyalty?

Tom's loyal to his pocketbook.

Never a damn racehorse in Missouri.

Can you run without him?

50 years old, no money.

I'll go out of office poorer than when I went in.

Don't even have my own house. There's no way I can run without him.

Well, I'm glad.

You'll be your own man.

You won't have to worry anymore about what the boss thinks or wants or has in

store for you.

I don't care if you have to dig ditches.

Listen, Harry, I think I might have come up with something for you. Well, that's

damn decent of you, Tom.

What is it, dog catcher?

How'd you like to run for the U .S. Senate?

I got these three other fellas I asked. They couldn't do it for one reason or

another.

Got one more fella I can go to.

I need an answer, Harry.

Jesus Christ and General Jackson.

The answer is yes.

Let's go.

Senators only.

Well, I am a senator.

From Missouri.

Let him in, Jimmy.

He's the real thing.

Sam Rayburn.

Vice President Garner here.

Well, of course.

Harry Truman.

You look a little lost.

Well, I guess I am.

First six months, you wonder how you got here. After that, you wonder how the

hell the rest of these guys got here.

You and your wife found a place to live?

Best went home to take care of family.

Truth is, she didn't like it much in Washington.

Well, she'll get used to it. They mostly do.

Well, uh... Well,

Jimmy, there goes the Honorable Senator from Pendergast.

President Roosevelt, please.

This is Senator Truman.

Truman, senator from Missouri.

What is it regarding?

Tell the president that I'm not going to be pushed around like an office boy. I

expect the consideration and courtesy the office of a senator is entitled to.

Tell him if he wants to discuss my vote to call me not Tom Pendergast.

Dear Bess, I've moved from the apartment you hated.

into a men's hotel that's a whole lot cheaper.

So tell Miss Skinny I can raise her allowance back up to 50 cents.

The nation's business doesn't seem to need much from the senator from

Pendergast, but there are a few good friends of the working man at a regular

poker game in Speaker Rayburn's office.

They help me get through the nights and days when you are not here.

The war in Europe is on all our minds.

I'm afraid we're going to be in it.

The only question is, how soon?

December 7th, 1941, a date which will

live in infamy. The United States of America was suddenly and deliberately

attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

But time demands giants, and America has them in abundance.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower, chosen to lead our boys in Europe.

General Douglas MacArthur, hero of the Pacific.

And the General of Generals, George Catlett Marshall, Army Chief of Staff

architect of victory.

With titans such as these, how can we fail to win?

I've put over 30 ,000 miles on the family Chrysler visiting factories.

Army bases.

Anywhere we're supposed to be making arms and ammunition for the war.

What I saw scared the dickens out of me.

I saw weight.

One of you boys check me to the construction headquarters?

You're at it.

Well,

when do you boys start working?

Hell, we've been here for four months now. I am asking the Senate.

to investigate the National Defense Program and the way the government does

business.

Will you agree, sir, that a cost overrun of 1 ,000 % is excessive?

Senator, there's a war on it.

We thought speed and volume were more important to the war effort than

pennies. Well, that must be why you quadrupled your own salary.

Now, your company knowingly sold defective... Excuse me, Senator. I never

knowingly. Well, we will find out who knew what knowingly before this

is finished.

Now, Mr. Perry, do you inspect your aircraft engines before you ship them

Yes, sir. We try. And who reads those inspection reports?

They are reviewed by our executive committee.

So either your inspectors lied to you, or...

You are lying to us here today.

Is that correct, sir?

Why would your inspectors lie to you?

Senator, this word lying... Do you know a better one?

Well, I'll use the word fib if you like. It doesn't mean a damn to me.

What does matter is that your engines failed.

And the airplanes they powered crashed, and the young men that flew them died.

Senator, we are conducting an internal audit to find out the problem and be

certain it never happens again.

You know, Jesse James had to get up early in the morning and risk his life

to rob the Rock Island Railroad of $3 ,000.

Now, you can see what a piker he was next to some fine gentleman with their

three secretaries and endless lawyers stealing millions.

Now, I don't know anything about your line of work, sir.

But I do know when there's a bunch of crookedness that's going on here.

That is plain enough for me to see, sir.

We'll take a short recess at this time.

Salus Populi Suprema Est.

Translate in sight.

The people's good is the highest law.

Cicero's Oration, Miss Ardelia Hardin's High School Latin. Will you excuse me,

gentlemen? My old friend, Charlie Roth.

Well, I heard you were here from the post -dispatch. We'll have our school

reunion in due time, Senator.

Right now, I thought you ought to see this.

Do you know anything about a project called Manhattan?

No, I don't.

All I know is every time I've asked a question about it, I got a blank wall.

What's more, people seem scared.

I've been threatened.

It's all in here.

I want an exclusive story of it, real.

Okay, Charlie, I'll take a look.

Now you're off duty.

Beth is up from Independence. She'll have a fit when she finds out you're

and you haven't called.

Maybe she'll still have you for dinner.

I'd like that, Senator.

Okay, Charlie, I gotta get back to work.

Sir, Secretary Stimson will see you now.

Afternoon, Mr.

Secretary.

I've asked General Marshall to join us, Senator.

Senator, General, I've never forgiven you for turning me down.

Senator wanted to relist after Pearl Harbor. General, uh, pointed out that I

a little long in the tooth for... I asked you to join us, General Marshall,

because the senator has some report about Manhattan.

How did you get this information?

Well, that's privileged.

That is not.

Sir, that envelope will be staying here with me in the office of the Secretary

of War.

The word Manhattan...

is not to be spoken anywhere.

This is a war secret.

So important, we can't even investigate you to find out how you learned of it.

Now, if you believe what you say in your Senate speeches and your service in the

war, you'll forget you ever heard the word Manhattan.

Investigator Truman, it is remarkable, says here, The transformation of Harry

Truman from pendergast errand boy, watch that stuff, to able, energetic

committee chairman.

Truman is scrupulously honest.

His only vice is being poker and the occasional glass of bourbon. What do

mean, occasional?

Now, you all just hush.

I'm seriously worried about that man's hat size.

How do you like Washington, Mr. Truman?

You mean except for the climate and the people?

Mr. Hannigan, I think like Harry.

If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.

Harry, what about Manhattan?

Is there a story in it?

It's just an island in New York, Charlie. No story at all.

Ready?

You sang real pretty tonight.

Thank you.

That, Miss Skinny.

That, Dad.

Why was Bob Hannigan here?

He's a Democratic Party chairman.

I know that.

What does he want?

They're looking for someone to run for vice president with Roosevelt.

They want a vote -getter on the ticket.

Why? They can't possibly think Roosevelt could lose an election.

He's already been president 12 years. There's a lot to believe that's too

Vice President Wallace scares the hell out of people that think he's a

communist.

Have they asked you?

A lot of possibilities are too liberal, too conservative, too Catholic, too

old, too racist. That's not what I asked you.

I told him I'm happy where we are.

Have no desire to be vice president. I mean it and that's all there is to it

to be vice president, I'm perfectly happy in the Senate. Mrs. Truman,

you like to see the senator help out the ticket?

He said no, and I believe him. He said two. Look out, boys. He's the boss.

What about the draft, sir? Would you support the draft?

Harry. There's a draft. Senator. Harry, I've been waiting for you. Bob's got to

talk to you. I have already told Bob Hannigan all I've got to say, which is

and to stop that. Please, Harry. He's on my back.

He's waiting for you at the hotel.

Help yourself to a drink, Harry.

I don't want a drink, Bob.

What's this all about?

Tell him he's here.

Bob? How is Chicago, Bob?

Well, it's very hot here, Mr. President.

Are all the fellows there?

Yes, Mr. President.

We're all here and we're all unanimous.

Marvelous. And that fellow Truman has agreed to be on the ticket.

No, sir. He's being stubborn as a Missouri mule.

Would you like to talk to him, sir?

had no choice.

I mean, I didn't.

Again.

Broadway goes wild. A roaring sea of frenzied humanity greets the news.

Commentator H .P. Kelton Bourne makes the dramatic announcement.

The results are now conclusive. Roosevelt wins.

The Roosevelt smiles of victory are clouded as fierce German counterattacks

stall American troops, and the war grinds on in Europe.

And the scientist, sir? Yes, General Groves.

Absolutely. Oh, yes.

Just a moment, Senator.

Mr. Vice President.

Mr. Vice President.

Sorry. These fellows are filling me in on a couple of things, but I've warned

them they're not to interfere with our luncheon together.

Mr. Vice President.

General.

A committee of yours is worth two divisions to me.

Well, thank you, General.

Harry, take off your jacket. It's stifling today.

Yes, it is.

Thank you.

Well, there are many things that I want to discuss. Your wife, is she enjoying

Washington?

Talked about nothing.

His hands didn't stop shaking.

Couldn't even bar his coffee.

Anyone can see he's dying.

Don't say that.

No. No one will say it.

Dad, Mother, Charlie's here.

Tom Pendergast has passed away.

If you like, I'll...

Quietly slip your respects to the family.

When and where is the funeral?

Harry, the Vice President of the United States does not pay respects to a

convicted criminal.

You don't know him, do you?

The press will crucify you.

Damn it, you're not some county judge anymore. You're Vice President.

Well, I wouldn't be Vice President if it wasn't for Tom.

In gratitude, Charlie, the Cardinal Finn.

An era passes as Tom Pendergast, ruler of Missouri politics until federal

charges of corruption sent him to jail, is laid to rest in private graveside

ceremonies attended only by family and Vice President Harry Truman.

Don't know.

Mr. Rayburn, the Board of Education and Petting.

Take a view, Brother Truman.

Send any funerals lately, Harry?

Well, the VP's only got two duties senator getting you no accounts prayed

every morning the Senate and God knows you need it I'm going to funeral just

same. It was a damn fool thing to do When Tom got out of prison he was broke

Even his wife wouldn't speak to him He never asked me for anything.

He could have but he didn't so I paid him. I respected my friend I'll drink to

him. You don't have to

Mr. Vice President, we're all looking for you, sir.

Call 4545.

It's the White House.

The president is dead.

Mrs. Roosevelt, is there anything I can do for you?

Is there anything we can do for you?

You are the one in trouble now.

Do we have a Bible? There's one here someplace.

Well, find it, dammit.

This country is without a president. Yes, sir.

Raise your right hand and repeat after me, please.

I, Harry Shipp Truman.

I, Harry S. Truman.

Do solemnly swear.

Do solemnly swear.

That I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United

That I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United

And will, to the best of my ability. And will, to the best of my ability.

Preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.

So help you God.

So help me God.

I don't know if any of you ever had a load of hay fall on you, but...

Right now, I feel like the

moon, the stars, and all the planets have fallen on me.

Don't expect too much of me.

With great humility, I call upon all Americans to help me keep our nation

in defense of those ideals so eloquently proclaimed by Franklin Roosevelt.

I want in turn to assure my fellow Americans and all those who love

peace and liberty throughout the world that I will support and defend those

ideals with all my strength.

and with all my heart.

At this moment, I have in my heart a prayer.

As I have assumed my duties, I humbly pray Almighty God in the words of King

Solomon.

Give, therefore, thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people,

may discern between good and bad.

I ask only to be a good and faithful servant of my Lord

and of my people.

Mrs. Roosevelt says it's haunted.

Hello.

It's all right.

Kick it.

Listen.

What? There's Andy Jackson and Teddy Roosevelt.

Arguing over Teddy's cousin Franklin.

Jefferson and Lincoln.

Talking about the new occupant.

I can't hear myself, Bess.

You will.

But it's going to take a lot of Bon Amé to make this place livable.

Well, let...

That creaking in the floor, that's just the floorboards. Need to be nailed down

tight to the joists, that's all.

What this place needs is a good carpenter.

After all this time, our first, Harry.

Our own house.

Charlie, Beth thinks you'd make a hell of a press secretary.

Oh, Jesus, no, Harry.

You can't say no to Beth. I'm appointing Frank here as secretary.

Secretary of what?

Just secretary.

Franklin's staff all look at me like a skunk at a wedding.

I need some Missouri around me real quick.

Mr. President, I hope you understand why it was necessary for me to... You did

your duty as you understood it to be. You had no reason to trust me.

Now, we don't have to like each other to work together. I'd prefer it if we did,

but what will be necessary is that we trust each other.

Now, I saw how you guarded the nation's interest, and I trust that.

Yes, I agree with that.

So we might stop all the bullshit and get down to business.

Dismissed.

Within four months, the Manhattan Project will have completed the most

weapon in human history.

Well, uh, how does it work?

What's it made of?

It's an atomic bomb.

It's made from uranium.

By bringing together a few pounds of refined uranium in the right conditions,

spontaneously transforms itself into pure energy.

It's the same process that powers the sun.

It could vaporize an entire city.

Instantly.

Do the Germans know about this?

We believe they tried to make one and failed.

The Russians have no idea of this success.

Well, for God's sake, let's keep them in the dark.

Mrs. Truman, what qualities do you think would be the greatest asset to the wife

of the president?

Good health and sense of humor.

Do you think there'll ever be a woman president of the United States?

No.

Would you want to be president?

No. Would you ever want Margaret to be first lady?

No.

If you had a son, would you try to raise him to be president?

No. Mrs. Roosevelt liked to meet with us once a week.

How often will you be holding your press conferences, Mrs. Truman?

This will be my last one.

Well, how will we ever get to know you?

You don't need to know me.

Anybody know what day this is?

Well, I knew there was some plot going on.

I better start blowing before this old firetrap bursts into flames.

That's right.

Oh, my God, it's a Republican.

I'll take care of that rascal.

I'll call in the Marines.

Go on. Go on.

There he goes. He's gone.

Your Marines ought to be elsewhere.

Maybe with Dad.

Many, many more.

Were you surprised?

Well, yes, I was.

You got me.

Sweetheart, I think Margaret and I are going to go home for the summer.

That's not really good for her to be here in this goldfish bowl.

And I'm a no -birth lead to you.

It's just not true.

Well, yeah, we'll be out of your way and you can get more work done.

Nina, mother, she's already started her spring cleaning and those storm windows,

they gotta come down. I gotta talk to that Walter Johnson man about painting

house and spring planting.

Well, I need you here.

Harry, you're in that office or in meetings seven days a week.

Kiss in and wheel in and kicking people to get them to do what they ought to do

Anyway, you don't need me for that.

I wouldn't be good at any of it Even if anybody here ever listened to what a

woman had to say anyway I'm gonna get I

Need

to see the dog would bloom

It's all happened so fast. She needs time she'll come around

Yes

Thank

God

that's wonderful news. Thank you

I just wanted to say thanks for the delicious cake.

I got plenty left here if anybody wants a piece.

Oh, well, I didn't mean to interrupt your work here. I'll just leave it here

you.

I've cooked for every president since Mr. Coolidge.

You're the first one since him ever came down here.

He just came to make sure we weren't giving any food away.

I got a message a few minutes ago that...

Well, it was the best birthday present that I could ever have gotten.

I think it might be on this radio here right now. Do you mind?

My grandson is still in the Pacific.

Well, we're going to get him home, too.

Just as fast as I'm able.

Thank you, sir.

Good night.

Good night.

Peace in Europe.

With victory in Europe accomplished, President Truman arrives in Berlin to

the post -war peace.

with Premier Stalin and Prime Minister Churchill.

There is not one piece of territory or one thing of a monetary nature that we

want out of this war.

The German nation is right to war.

The British must share it with the Soviet Union.

That issue will be discussed by our foreign ministers.

If all questions are left to our ministers, what will we discuss?

Romania, Bulgaria.

You agree that these nations would have democratic governments?

If the government is not fascist, then it is democratic.

Dear Beth, we are three old men walking in a graveyard, planning a brave new

world, and we're haggling like a bunch of old women.

This head of mine should have been bigger and better proportioned.

There ought to have been more brain and a larger bump of ego or something to

give me an idea that can be a number one man in the world.

Mr. President.

Manhattan.

The baby is born.

We're in the Russian zone. The Russians prepared this house. I suggest we speak

outside.

will be ready by the end of the first week in August.

The Japs know they're licked. Why won't they quit?

Well, their strategy is to prolong the war, no matter what the cost, until we

agree to let the Emperor stay on the throne.

They'll prolong it by any means necessary.

They just will not surrender. Some of the scientists who developed the bomb

believe that it should never be used.

Is that so?

Well, what the hell do they think we built it for?

We can't un -invent it, Henry.

What about the idea of setting one off for the deaf to see? What happened to

that idea?

Mr. President, I can only speak to the military question.

We must use overwhelming force to crush the Japanese army.

Destroy their will to make war.

Press Secretary Ross?

Yeah. The President would like to see you, sir.

It's pronounced Irashima.

If you're going to remove it from the face of the earth, you ought to know how

to say it.

I didn't call on you for cheap sarcasm, Charlie. I was hoping for common sense.

They're telling you how many dead?

Oppenheimer, the chief scientist for the bomb, says it might kill as many as 30

,000 people.

With regular weapons, the firebombing of Dresden killed 30 ,000 in one night.

Tokyo is utterly gone.

There's almost everyone in it.

They figure 100 ,000 dead there.

Seems to me if there is a... Moral point of no return, you've long since passed

it.

If I don't drop the bomb, so many more of our young men will die in the

of Japan.

Their men, too, and women and children.

How could I face the people when it's finally over and say that I had the

to possibly end the war long ago?

Spare the lives of their loved ones, and I chose not to use it.

How could I look them in the face and tell them that?

Harry, you didn't come to me for common sense. You came to me for forgiveness.

Do what you have to do.

I'll still be your friend.

But this is changing the course of history.

You clinched the victory in the Pacific.

But you sold the whirlwind.

Sixteen hours ago, an American airplane dropped an atomic bomb, letting loose

the basic power of the universe on Hiroshima, an important Japanese army

And it was totally destroyed.

There has been no word from Japan.

No sign of surrender.

We have more of these bombs, and we will keep on dropping them.

We will obliterate completely every productive enterprise the Japanese have

above ground.

We will destroy their docks, their factories, and their communications.

We will completely destroy them.

If they do not now accept our terms for surrender, they will get a rain of ruin

from the air the like of which has never before been seen on this earth.

a solemn agreement whereby peace may be restored.

It is my earnest hope, and indeed the hope of all mankind, that from this

occasion a better world shall emerge out of the flood.

What a wonderful day.

Well, that's a great hat.

Miss Kinney. Hi, Dad.

Everybody, everybody.

The boss is up for me in the bandits to make it official.

Here's your old -fashioned, ma 'am. I had Alonzo fix it for you just the way

like it. Well, thank you, Frank.

The president and I don't like fruit punch.

That's right.

Oh, that's good.

It's got a kick to it like a Missouri mule.

And a little more bourbon. Ladies and gentlemen, a toast.

Maybe once every thousand years the human race gets a chance to start

over.

I believe we have been given that chance.

I'm going to take the atomic power out of the hands of the military and talk to

the scientists about how to use it for peaceful.

Now, just think of it.

If we don't make a mistake, what a paradise we could make of this world.

With the world at peace and our armies back home, weapons and ammunition no

longer needed for war are dumped at sea or burned.

Detroit turns out the first new automobile in five years on assembly

once produced tanks.

With victory behind him, President Truman wastes no time bringing his

to Congress.

Hello. Good to see you, Mr. President.

John, good to see you.

Welcome, gentlemen and madam.

The president has an announcement of special importance because of recent

in the South and elsewhere.

Thank you.

Morning.

We believe that all men are created equal and have the right to equal

under the law.

Therefore, I have written an executive order to correct a great injustice

and lay the foundation for civil rights laws that secure those rights to men of

all colors and creeds.

In all places and at all times.

Damn it, why in God's name do they have to put niggers in with white boys in the

army?

And into federal employment.

Gentlemen, the president has come down here to explain his views.

My family had southern leanings and southern feelings.

I damn near joined the Ku Klux Klan.

Tom Pendergast talked me out of it because the Klan was anti -Catholic, but

I... Here, the Negro soldiers we're sending out to fight and die for their

country get dumped out of armored trucks and beaten in Mississippi.

Mob gangs in Georgia shoot Negroes, and the law knows about it and does nothing.

My stomach turns over.

Whatever my inclinations as a native of Missouri might have been, as president,

I know this is bad. It is an evil of the worst kind.

I'm going to try to stop it, and that's all there is to it.

What beats me is how a man as smart as Franklin Roosevelt can make a damn

haberdasher his vice president.

If we must grind up human flesh and bones in the industrial machine

that we call modern America, we owe protection to those men first, and we

the security for their families if they die.

I say it. I voice it. I proclaim it.

And I care not who in heaven or hell opposed it. I am the representative of

million people.

I cannot stand idly by for they are caused to suffer by reason of the coal

miners and the railroad men going on strike. I request Congress to authorize

president to draft into the army all workers who are on strike against their

government.

In Europe.

One -time allies fall to communist aggression.

From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron

curtain has descended across the continent.

They're closer to war in Europe than at any time since 1939.

If we recognize the Jewish state, the Arabs will attack.

Jews don't have an army. We'll have to protect them. With what?

We don't have the men, we don't have the weapons, and we can't take what we do

have out of Europe. And Stalin would view the creation of a Jewish state as a

perfect opportunity to try and drive a wedge between Iran and the West.

Clark.

This is a, uh...

This is a foreign policy briefing, Mr. President. What is Clifford doing here?

He's the White House counsel. I asked him to be here, General. Well, if you'll

excuse me, sir, I believe Mr. Clifford's interest is in the Jewish vote.

Well, now, wait a minute. Let's just see what he has to say here.

Clark?

No matter what the State Department or anybody else thinks, we are faced with

the actual fact that there is to be a Jewish state.

Recognition. of that state would embody everything that this country represents.

Not only the establishment of a friendly democracy in an unstable part of the

world with no democratic tradition, but the creation of a safe haven for people

whose suffering is so vast as to stupefy the human mind.

Well, George, he's right.

And you're right.

And Dean's right.

Well, sir, I must tell you that if you allow politics

to determine foreign policy, then were I to vote, I would vote against you in

November.

And I have nothing more to add to this.

Oh, excuse me.

Well, that was rough as a cob. Let him resign.

It's hard enough dealing with your friends. Why put up with open rebellion?

Dear Beth.

Harry?

Your sister called.

Grandma was alive when there were still slaves in the United States.

Santa's son off to the war that was supposed to end all wars.

She saw the birth of the atomic age.

Beth, I'm not going to run for another term.

I'm going to do what I think needs doing and...

Finish it out and then we'll come home for good like you always wanted.

When are you going to stop making promises you can't keep?

You'll run it.

You'll have to.

According to who?

Not the Democratic Party.

I thought this would please you.

Well, you can please me by stopping thinking you can read my mind.

You'll run.

Because you have to be president in your own right. You know that.

If you quit now, just like it's been all an accident.

Roosevelt dying before his time.

And I'm not going to live out my days watching some old man sit around

he was nothing but an accident.

What are you doing here on Saturday?

For your desk.

Got it from a fella in Texas.

The buck stops here.

How about that? That's right.

And I got another surprise for you.

Eddie Jacobson.

How are you, Harry?

Good. How's your looking well?

You too. Sit down, sit down.

How's the family?

Well, paid off the last claim from my share of the store last year.

We're fine, Harry.

Good, good.

Mr. President.

Some people have asked me to talk to you.

Great people.

Great Jews.

Who are building a homeland in Palestine.

Yes, well, uh... I've already spoken out on that.

We know you're under great pressure from some powerful interests.

Well, the Zionists have been in here making their case, and the more I say

for them, the more pressure I get.

They can't take yes for an answer.

It's not a thing to joke about.

Well, of course it's no joke. You don't have to tell me that.

I'm about to lose the support of the one man in government the world needs most

over this single issue. The issue is Arab oil and Jewish blood.

Oil?

You think that's what I care about?

Big business.

Low gas prices. Jewish blood. Now, where's the right and wrong in that?

Eddie, you know me.

I will make a decision when I'm ready.

And it'll be my best bet.

But not everybody's going to like it.

And what happens if you're wrong?

Then I'll make another decision.

Doesn't it have a name?

It's supposed to be penciled in.

Yes, well, it's not here.

Do I have to... Can I just write it in here, or does it have to be typewritten?

Just write it in. With my pen, Mr. President.

State of Israel.

in your mother's womb, but this one.

General Marshall.

I'm sorry we disagreed, General.

I would hope that we still have a future together where we won't disagree again.

Sir, one does not resign because a president whose job is to make decisions

makes one.

You did the advance work, Vassar.

Where's the crowd? What crowd? It's a reunion.

Family only. Look at Harry. He's like a kid. This is the President of the United

States. He's making an important speech. It's an election year. You don't like

the way I do things?

Take it up with the boss.

All right, all right.

They have ordered the boss.

Take your seats.

The children of Europe will die in greater numbers than in the war

unless we immediately undertake her economic recovery.

With the Marshall Plan, we will be the first great nation in all the history of

the world to feed and support our former enemies as well as our friends.

On next January 20, there will begin in Washington the biggest unraveling,

unsnarling, untangling operation in our nation's history. Election year gathers

momentum with Republicans solidly behind Governor Dewey.

President Truman's popularity plummets, and party leaders look to heroes of the

war to replace him.

My politics can be summed up in one phrase.

God bless America. I am a soldier. I belong to the Army.

And the Army is truly national.

It lives to serve the nation, and nobody else, no party... The convention begins

in chaos and infighting.

not be crucified on the cross of civil rights.

This is a naked effort to reduce the white man to a mongrel race.

We'll nominate our own candidates and bid Harry S. Truman and the Democrat

farewell.

Ballot after ballot, the search for a new leader of the demoralized Democrats

goes far into the night.

Tell of it.

Coast to coast.

First time ever.

Not anyone's going to see you at 2 o 'clock in the morning.

Damn parties on some kind of suicidal jag.

It's crazy.

Maybe I can wake him up.

I just want to say that for the next four years, we're going to be a Democrat

the White House. You're looking at him.

We will win because we are right and they are wrong.

The do -nothing Republican Congress, the worst in history, say they are for

education, civil rights, health insurance for everybody who's sick,

for the working man, low taxes.

the things that I sent up to them and which they refused to pass.

Well, if they are for these things, I'm going to give them a chance to prove it.

I am therefore calling this Congress back into session on the 26th of July,

if the Republicans really mean what they say, they can prove it by passing the

legislation we gave them.

This is H .P. Caldenborn speaking.

from the New York studios of the National Broadcasting Company.

While Governor Dewey barely bothers to campaign, President Truman is on a

whistle -stop crusade, begging for votes wherever he can find them. This is your

fight. I'm just waking you up to the fact that it is your fight.

You better get out there and help me win this fight, or you're going to be the

loser, not I.

This Republican Congress has already stuck a pitchfork in the farmer's back.

It's a sad tale.

of the sellout of the people to these gluttons of privilege.

These cold men who skim the cream from our natural resources to satisfy their

own greed.

You cannot afford to waste your vote this year.

I must have your help. The country cannot afford another Republican

Yes, why are we stopping?

Hey!

Train's not moving, so we get paid up in cash.

You'll get paid?

We got people waiting for the president up ahead.

What's the matter with you anyway? You ought to be honored to be driving this

man's train.

Bullshit. This is the same guy who was going to draft railroad men into the

to break the strike.

Now he wants us to work for nothing all over again?

I already sent my absentee ballot.

Could I have your attention, please?

Thank you.

The leaders of the Democratic Party have read the polls.

And they have told me that they do not want to throw good money away on a

hopeless quest.

So they have stopped paying for the train.

the issue here.

What is important is that the president can take his case to the people and let

the people make a choice.

So with your help, I'm going to pass the hat and let's see if we can keep this

train running. All right? All right.

I told my fellow party members that if Moses had waited on the polls, he'd

be waiting in Egypt.

Roosevelt was a great man.

I'm here on a serious mission.

And because it is so serious, I propose to speak to you as plainly as I can.

You don't get any double talk from me.

I'm either for something or against it.

And you know it. You know what I stand for.

I stand for a government of the people and not the special interests.

I'm calling this trip a crusade.

It's a crusade of the people against the special interests. And if you vote the

Democratic ticket and back me up, we are going to win in November.

Turn around.

Get a load of this crowd. They love it. Are you kidding?

These groups will come out to see a two -headed cat.

Doesn't mean they'll vote for us.

You want to meet the boss and the boss's boss?

Become a boss one more time and I'm getting off this train no matter how

Clark. Mrs.

Truman.

Am I disturbing you? No, not at all.

Is anything the matter?

Well...

Do

you really think Harry believes he's going to win?

Well, he certainly gives every appearance under every condition.

I think he's beaten.

How does he keep going?

Where does that come from?

What'll I do if he loses?

What'll you both do?

Why, Clark, we'll go home.

The electorate goes to the polls in the widespread conviction that a Republican

sweep is a certainty.

Don't you want to hear the returns?

I'm going to have a ham sandwich and go to bed.

You wake me up if anything important happens.

Dewey is the winner.

The counting of the vote has been very slow.

Quiet jubilation is the mood at Dewey headquarters.

This is definitely a Republican year.

Late returns show Democrats alienated by Truman's policies returning to the fold

in surprising numbers. The president is a million votes ahead in the popular

vote. Could it be the tide is turning?

Unbelievable, if true, for the first time since 1916, the United

States faces a country so evenly divided in a national election that no one

knows, hours and hours after the polls have closed, who is to be the

next president of the United States.

Harry Truman has accomplished one of the political miracles of our times.

national polls that were universal in predicting his defeat, he has come

triumphantly in his bid for the presidency of the United States in his

right. Not the car, Frank.

We got a meet.

Ha!

Reading the morning paper, Mr. President.

Congratulations.

that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United

So help me God.

It appears the American people have spoken.

On election night, I had my sandwich and a glass of

buttermilk and went to bed about 6 .30.

And along about 12 o 'clock, I woke up for some reason, and

the radio was turned on the National Broadcasting Company, and Mr.

Keltenborn, Mr.

Keltenborn was saying, while the president is a million votes

ahead in the popular vote, we are very sure That when the country

vote comes in, Mr. Truman will be defeated by an overwhelming majority.

Well, I'm sorry it didn't go that way.

You're going to have to put up with me for another four years.

A

woman

to do cooking and housework in exchange for lessons in ventriloquism.

You won't even see me because you don't have a TV set.

Well, Mother Wallace believes what Fred Allen says about the television.

Don't hold with furniture that looks back at you.

Television's the future. Better get used to it. Mr. President, Secretary of

State Atchison is on the line.

Hang up. It's too late for the telephone.

I want you to go a day ahead to your concerts so you can check into your

And you get a good night's sleep before you have to think, too. Yes, Dean.

Are you trying to insinuate that my cooking isn't fit for a dog?

Well, that's Einstein's theory.

How the hell did we let this happen?

There was absolutely no advance warning. The North Korean communists just

swarmed over the border and the South Korean army ran away.

We cannot let the communists take Korea the same way they took Czechoslovakia.

Well, by God, I'm going to draw the line there. They're not going to get Korea

by default because they think we're afraid to fight.

When's MacArthur landing Korea?

It's on the move, sir.

Pay one.

General.

All right, my fellow Americans, I want to talk to you tonight about what our

country is up against. Mr.

President, might it be better to say with than to?

If you say talk to, it sounds like you're laying down the law a little bit.

Well, Dean, somebody's got to lay down the law around here some of the time.

Some people confuse liberty and license. They think the country owes them

nothing but privileges.

And nobody's supposed to lay down the law about their responsibilities.

I want to talk to MacArthur face to face.

After the communists' initial sneak attack that pushed our forces almost

the sea, our landing at Inchon.

A military feat that will go down in history with Alexanders and Napoleons.

Cut off the communists, forcing him into a disorganized retreat that ends with

the body of his army outside the borders of his own country in China.

Mr. President, is there any possibility the Chinese will come into the war?

None. Our boys will be home by Christmas.

General, our country is very fortunate.

That we had the right man at the right place and at the right time.

Boss don't like the son of a bitch.

You believe what you said back there?

The Chinese will not attack.

We have beaten them before now.

Well, I want to be sure that Korea does not develop into World War III. We are

already in a worldwide war against the communists, sir. I am surprised you

see it that way.

Korea is the opening round.

I want Korea to be the closing round. In the last war, I stood alone in the

Pacific.

The same men who saw that all our resources went to Europe then and left

fight in the Pacific virtually unsupported surround you now.

These same men now occupy the State Department and fill the highest posts in

Pentagon.

I will not fail my duty here, sir.

But I must know that I will not again be left to fight alone.

General, you have all the spark you need now.

You have my word for it.

Well, fine.

May I smoke, sir?

Go right ahead.

I expect I've had more smoke blown my way than any man alive.

Dear Bess,

Had dinner by myself tonight.

Barnett pulls out my chair.

John brings me a tenderloin.

Barnett brings me asparagus and beets.

I ring.

Barnett texts the plates.

John comes in with a silver crumb tray.

There are no crumbs, but he has to brush them anyway.

I take a hand bath in the finger bowl.

What a life.

Mr. President, the Chinese have invaded Korea.

They've crossed the border.

The 10th Corps is destroyed.

The 8th Army is in retreat.

It's the worst military disaster in our history.

General MacArthur... He's giving press conferences saying that we've tied his

hands, that he could win if we would only let him.

He is out of line.

We should think about replacing him.

I don't think men running for their lives will be encouraged by firing their

commander now in the middle of the battle.

Give him all the help you can.

Judge Adams, the general leader of those who gave out the story must be telling

the truth and say... Disturbing thing, I think we should remember that those

guilty of the atrocities are Atchison's agrarian reformer. This information must

contain... One less nail in your coffin, Charlie.

Thanks. How are you seeing the Mozart?

Good, good. What else?

And Margaret says you better be at that concert tonight.

I'll be a little late. Got NBC coming to the press room.

You hear what he said?

Miss Harry's gonna do something about that so -and -so.

That's scary.

No, don't you be scared.

No, no, you just hang up the phone and rest your voice, Mr. Kennedy.

Yeah.

All right.

Bye -bye.

Turn that damn thing off, Charlie.

You know, stop McCarthy now.

Be like it was with Tom Pendergast.

What's that drunken liar got to do with Tom?

Nobody could make a move without asking, what'll Tom think?

The day's coming when you won't be able to spit without somebody saying, what

about Joe McCarthy?

What'll Senator McCarthy think?

Well, nobody with a lick of common sense would believe a word he says.

Common sense got blown to hell when you dropped that bomb.

I'm late.

Save me a seat at the concert.

Hurry it up, will you? I'm going to miss the whole concert. I think we're ready

now, Mr. Roth.

Nice and slow, okay?

Don't mumble.

I always speak very distinctly.

Charlie Ross.

Friend of my youth.

Who became a tower of strength when the responsibilities of high office so

unexpectedly fell to me.

Is gone.

Honesty and nobility of intent.

ordered his life from boyhood on.

He saw that...

He...

Hell, I...

I can't read this.

You fellas know how I feel anyway.

Margaret Truman, soprano, sang in Constitution Hall last night.

She is extremely attractive on stage, yet Miss Truman cannot sing very well.

is flat a good deal of the time, more last night than at any time we have

her in past years.

There are a few moments in the recital when one can relax and feel confident

that she'll make her goal, which is the end of the song.

I just read your lousy review of Margaret's concert.

You sound like a frustrated old man.

An eight -ulser man on a four -ulser job and all four ulcers working.

I'm taking away at stamps.

Charlie would have never have let this happen. If I ever meet you, you'll need

new nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes, and perhaps a supporter below.

A prominent medical authority told me that Truman is afflicted by malignant

hypertension, bewilderment, and confusion.

I could see that at Wake Island when I looked him in the eye.

It's Christmas and our boys are still in Korea fighting bitter sub -zero cold,

as well as the Chinese.

War in Korea, but the Korean War is merely a small phase of the great

world war with atheistic communism.

Why has this administration deliberately built up Russia?

It was because of a combination.

A combination of abysmal stupidity and treason.

From his headquarters in Korea, General MacArthur issues his own personal

ultimatum to the Chinese communists.

He wants to drop 50 atomic bombs in Chinese cities, lay down a belt of

radioactive waste along the North Korean border. The man has gone mad.

He should be relieved.

I agree.

Well, maybe, but he doesn't have an atomic bomb, does he?

I believe I still have those in my control.

Just order him to keep his mouth shut. Someone must take a stand.

I personally am ready to meet with the Red Chinese at any time. The choice is

theirs. Surrender or face extinction.

Does he think he's the president?

He has crossed the line.

I warned him.

If he wants to show contempt for Harry Truman, he'll have plenty of company,

he will not show contempt for the president of the United States. Let me

sir.

I'll force him to resign.

No, he's not going to be allowed to quit.

This is more than just a general falling in love with his press releases. This

is a matter of who's the boss.

The military or the people.

Good evening, Mr. President. Good evening.

What rat has your husband to fire the greatest general this country's ever

He is president of the United States, Mother.

And if he wants to fire a general, he will.

General Prima Donna Brathead.

General MacArthur returns to a hero's welcome, while Truman, Atchison, and

Marshall suffer a firestorm of criticism in the Senate led by Senator McCarthy.

Mr. Truman says there's nothing wrong. He says, oh, everything is just fine.

Truman actually said, he said, if anyone hears of anything wrong, he said, get

on the telephone.

He said, call me, collect.

We do not know where we're going in Korea.

We do not know where we're going in China.

MacArthur knows, and he's been fired.

Tragic mistake.

The American people cannot fire President Truman. Let Mr.

Atchison and Mr. Truman go and retain the services of our fine General

MacArthur. Answer your telephone, Mr. Truman.

through your telephone.

McCarthy's bullying, his lies, his slandering of innocent men is making it

impossible to govern.

Now, I've asked everyone to... So the attorney general has talked to Hoover.

His FBI file.

Names, dates, phone records, hotel rooms, drinking habits, every piece of

There's a letter in here from a young soldier the senator picked up in a men's

room the president Doesn't want to hear this you don't have to know anything

about it. We'll just hand it off to some reporter You should have complete

deniability What the hell kind of word is deniability?

I'm just a man holding this office If I dirty it the dirt doesn't leave with me

when I go it stays here to rub off on whoever comes after me from now on

I don't know, sir.

It's a new world with new rules.

I don't know if the old ways work.

We believed in the truth.

Well, Dean, sooner or later, the truth will take care of McCarthy.

It's real high -minded, Mr. President.

The fact is, he's tearing the Senate all to hell.

You protect your office.

That's all fine.

But who's going to protect the Congress? Who's going to protect the country?

This is not going to stop by itself. This man will go on and on and on until

make the hard choice.

I made it, Clark.

Can you live with it?

We'll all have to, Mr. President.

Including you.

Especially you.

This meeting is over, gentlemen.

time ago you built some good roads for some people by letting tom pendergast

boys steal harry why don't you let me take these files right you forget who

you're talking to i'm sorry mr

Sir, I am McCarthy's main target.

Because I would not turn my back on my friend Alger Hiss, I think I ought to

resign for your sake and for the good of the administration. Because you were

loyal to a friend?

No, sir.

You stay by me, and I will stay by you.

Dear Bess, I will not be a candidate for re -election in 1952.

I could.

I've only had one term in my own right.

But I've been in this whited sepulcher of man's hopes for eight years.

More than any man deserves or should endure, including the great Franklin

Roosevelt.

When this term is over, I am coming home for good.

This time, You can believe me.

We have all had enough, I believe, of those whose thinking is still haunted by

past illusions.

Those who are prisoners of their own fuzzy thinking and their own... Now that

have to explain, I'm not a traitor.

Hardly seems worth the effort.

It meant contamination in some degree of virtually every department, every

agency, every bureau, every section of our government.

It's met a government by a man whose very brain were confused by the opiate

this disease It's January 19th 1953 832 Eastern Standard

Time the president's farewell address Next Tuesday general Eisenhower

will be inaugurated as president of the United States I Will be on a train going

home to Independence, Missouri to become a plain citizen

Inauguration Day will be a great demonstration of the democratic process.

I'm glad to be part of the peaceful transfer of the vast power of the

from my hands to his.

There is no job like it on the face of the earth, and I want you all to realize

how hard it is and to give Ike all the help he will need.

The Cold War and the hot war in Korea will be great tests of his strength.

How will the Cold War end?

It will end.

Someday.

Because of the great weakness of the communist system. I have not a doubt in

world that a great change will occur.

I have a deep and abiding faith in the destiny of free men.

With patience and courage, we shall someday move on into a new era.

When Franklin Roosevelt died, I thought there must be a million men better

qualified than I to take up the presidential task.

But the work was mine to do, and I had to do it.

I did everything within my power, and always I knew I was not alone.

You were working with me.

And now the time has come for me to say good night, and God bless you all.

President -elect and Mrs. Eisenhower are in the car, if you'll follow me,

please. But they've been invited in for coffee before the ceremony.

Ma 'am, the president -elect does not want to enter the White House until he

president. You'll follow me, please?

Now, wait a minute there.

Don't they know that this is the tradition?

Don't get on your high horse, Harry. Take it easy.

Please, if you'll come with me.

Mrs. Truman has laid out a special spread here. Oh, it doesn't matter,

Well, it does to me.

I don't give a damn if he doesn't want to sit down with me, but to insult the

First Lady this way? Let it go, Harry.

Eisenhower didn't defend Marshall against McCarthy, and he knows he did

one of the truly great men of this century.

I don't want to ride in a car with him. You tell him that.

Could you give us a minute?

I can't see your lip.

Now, you are not going to do anything that keeps us here one more minute

than we have to be.

Now, come on.

What's funny?

For 40 years, every time I reach for this hand, it's always been there.

You, Dwight D. Eisenhower, do solemnly swear. I, Dwight D. Eisenhower, do

solemnly swear that you will faithfully execute the office of President of the

United States, that I will faithfully execute the office of the President of

United States.

Well, I got the roar of the crowd.

Harry and Beth went down to Union Station.

Later, the president was going to have a big problem running red lights.

He didn't have to stop for one for eight years, and he got out of the habit.

They were going back to Independence to live once again in Grandmother Wallace's

house.

No Secret Service protection was provided.

No reporters came.

His only income was his Army pension.

$112 .56 a month.

When Harry Truman left the White House, the polls showed an approval rating of

only 32%.

Everything came late to him. A soldier at 33, my father at 40, a

senator at 50, president at 60.

We don't make a mistake.

What a paradise we could make of this world.