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¶ His knowledge of foreign affairs is limited. He did not go to Yalta, was never given a complete fill-in on that conference. He must rely for that on Jimmy Byrnes (who was not fully informed either) and perhaps on Harry Hopkins (who returned to the Mayo Clinic after Franklin Roosevelt's funeral). Yet, before his Administration was 48 hours old, Truman scored a major diplomatic coup in persuading an apparently willing Joseph Stalin, whom he has never met, to send Foreign Affairs Commissar Viacheslav Molotov to the San Francisco conference (see INTERNATIONAL).
¶ His Senate voting record on foreign policy was consistent, never tinged with Midwestern isolationism. He is committed to carrying out the Roosevelt plan for world security, and in a speech last month in Chicago he said: "We must not wait for a perfect international plan. . . . We must act, and act promptly. ... As we united in victory, we must unite in peace." His friends predict that in international dealings (i.e., bases, air routes, etc.) he will be a shrewd bargainer, with U.S. interests firmly in mind.
¶ Although, as a Senator, he voted almost 100% New Deal, he is regarded as "a little right of center."
With almost complete unanimity, Harry Truman's friends—in Washington and across the land—agreed last week that he "would not be a great President." By this they did not mean that he would not be a good President. But he would not be a bold, imaginative, daring leader, carrying the U.S. people through reforms and upheavals and crises and flights of idealism as Franklin Roosevelt did. A period of relaxed controls and consolidation seemed to be in the cards; the future would be entered in slower tempo.
By long tradition, Harry Truman was guaranteed a honeymoon of months, perhaps longer. Then he would be tested in the fire of criticism and controversy. But for the time being, the ranks were closed. The United States were still united—behind a new leader.
* Administering the oath, Chief Justice Stone called the President: Harry Shippe Truman. Replying, Truman answered: "I, Harry S. Truman. . . ." Although his middle name has for years been printed as "Shippe," his middle initial "S" actually stands for nothing. Explanation: his grandfathers were named Anderson Shippe Truman and Solomon Young; to offend neither, Harry's parents gave him the common initial only.