Harry Truman Timeline: Presidential Timeline of Important Events |
| 1945 | His inauguration as 33rd President of the United States on April 12, 1945 following the untimely death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. |
| 1945 | Harry Truman had been vice president for just 82 days before FDR's sudden death and inherited the colossal tasks and decisions required to lead the United States through the end of World War 2 |
| 1945 | July: The United States successfully detonated the first atomic bomb on July 16, 1945 |
| 1945 | The Potsdam Conference: The Big Three (Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill and . President Harry Truman) met in Potsdam, Germany, from July 17 to August 2, 1945, to negotiate terms for the end of World War II. |
| 1945 | Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Atomic bombs are dropped on Hiroshima (6 August - US B29 Super fortress bomber, called the 'Enola Gay' and Nagasaki (9 August - US Superfortress 'Bockscar' bomb was called Fat Man). |
| 1945 | The Surrender of Japan: Japan surrenders on 14 August 1944 |
| 1945 | WW2 ends September 2, 1945 |
| 1945 | The United Nations was created to promote world peace, economic and social development |
| 1945 | The Nuremburg Trials (1945-1946). In November 1945, in the German city of Nuremberg, the victors of the World War Two began the first international war crimes trial. Those brought to trial, including Hermann Goering, Albert Speer and Rudolf Hess, were accused of committing crimes against peace, and humanity including genocide |
| 1945 | The Cold War, the struggle between communism and democracy begins: The Cold War was a state of intense political, ideological and military rivalry between the United States and Soviet Union that stopped short of full-scale war |
| 1945 | The Cold War Arms Race begins |
| 1945 | The "Iron Curtain" (1945 - 1991) falls separating the West with the communist countries of the East. |
| 1945 | House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) became a permanent committee in 1945. |
| 1946 | Operation Crossroads was a program at Bikini Atoll in which two nuclear weapon tests were conducted in the Marshall Islands. The "Able" test detonated an atomic bomb on July 1, 1946 and the "Baker" test was detonated on July 25, 1946 |
| 1947 | President Harry Truman requests funds to support Greek and Turkish efforts to fight communism, marking the beginning of the Truman doctrine. |
| 1947 | The Truman Doctrine: Providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism |
| 1947 | The Marshall Plan of June 1947: A US-financed relief package to European nations after WW2 |
| 1947 | The Roswell UFO Incident: An unidentified flying object (UFO) crashed on a ranch northwest of Roswell, New Mexico on July 2, 1947. The Government asserted it was the remains of a weather balloon. |
| 1947 | The Taft-Hartley Act, aka the Labor-Management Relations Act, allowed employees the right not to join unions, required advance notice of a labor strike and required union officials to take an oath pledging they were not communists |
| 1947 | The Loyalty Review Program (March 21, 1947) screened federal employees for loyalty during the second Red Scare. |
| 1948 | The Berlin blockade (1 April, 1948 – 12 May, 1949) by the Soviets closed the entry points to the Western zones of Berlin. |
| 1948 | The Berlin airlift is initiated to supply West Berlin with basic necessities after the Soviet Union blocks off the city into East and West Berlin |
| 1949 | Communist forces under Mao Zedong take over mainland China. The US continues to support the government of Nationalist China, led by Chiang Kai-shek |
| 1949 | The NATO Treaty (April 4, 1949): The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is formed by the U S and many western European countries to defend Europe against Soviet aggression. |
| 1950 | The McCarthy Witch hunts: U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy begins his communist witch hunt in the United States referred to as McCarthyism |
| 1950 | The Korean War (1950-1953) is the first armed conflict in the Cold War |
| 1950 | The US detonates the first hydrogen bomb on November 1, 1952 |
| 1951 | CONELRAD established a system of Nuclear Attack Alerts |
| 1951 | The 22nd Amendment was made to the US Constitution stating that a person may not be elected President more than twice |
| 1953 | His presidency and term in office ends. The next US President was Dwight D. Eisenhower |
Harry Truman Timeline of important Events |