Learn Our History Today: On May 8, 1884, U.S. President Harry Truman was born near Lamar, Missouri.
Learn Our History Today: On May 8, 1884, U.S. President Harry Truman was born near Lamar, Missouri. First entering politics in 1922 after the haberdashery he ran went bankrupt, Truman took his first public office as a county official before being elected as a Missouri senator in 1934. As a senator, Truman rose to prominence through his involvement in the Truman Committee which exposed corruption and fraud in wartime contracts during World War II. This brought him to the attention of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who chose him as his running mate in the 1944 election, which the pair won after a very close contest. When President Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945, Truman succeeded him as President of the United States, becoming the Commander-in-Chief of a country that was in the midst of fighting one of the deadliest wars in human history. Although Germany looked as if it was ready to crumble, the war with Japan was far from over. Very early in his Presidency, Truman w...