1948: the 41st election

1948:
The Forty-First Election






When President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ran for president in 1944, Harry S Truman was selected to replace Henry A. Wallace as his vice presidential candidate. Many conservative leaders did not like Wallace’s liberal views. They believed that Truman would be more appealing to mainstream voters. Roosevelt won the 1944 election, and on January 20, 1945, Truman became the vice president of the United Sates.
On April 12, 1945, President Roosevelt died of a stroke. Truman was then sworn in as president. He had been vice president for only eighty-two days.
World War II had started during Roosevelt’s presidency and it was expected to end during his presidency. Obviously it didn’t. WWII was coming to an end when Truman became president; he just had to finish it. Victory in Europe seemed certain, and President Truman wanted unconditional surrender by the Germans. On May 8, 1945, he proclaimed Victory-In-Europe Day.
Truman auth...