Truman Day is a commemorative holiday to celebrate the birth of Harry S. Truman, the 33rd President of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. It is celebrated May 8 in

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

as a state holiday, according to Missouri Revised Statutes Section 9-035 Public Holidays and nationally by the

United States Democratic Party The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States. Founded in 1828, it was predominantly built by Martin Van Buren, who assembled a wide cadre of politicians in every state behind war hero And ...

. Since Truman was the only president to come from

, this day is special for this state. However, after the financial crisis of 2008–2010, there were unsuccessful moves by the state government to abolish the holiday. For Missouri state employees, this is a paid holiday.

Origins

Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

(1945–1953), an American politician of the Democratic Party. He served as a

United States senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

from Missouri (1935–1945) and briefly as

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

(1945) before he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, upon the death of

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

. He was president during the final months of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, making the decision to drop the atomic bomb on

Hiroshima and Nagasaki The United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the on ...

. Truman was elected in his own right in 1948. He presided over an uncertain domestic scene as America sought its path after the war, and tensions with the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

increased, marking the start of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

References

External links

State employees still get Truman Day off — this year at least ...

Section 9-035 May 8, Truman Day.

Holidays: Truman Day in the United States
{{US Holidays State holidays in the United States May observances Harry S. Truman Presidential birthdays in the United States Missouri culture

Origins

See also

References

External links