>> the national archives holdings in college park, maryland, include 13,000 films and videos from the united states information agency. between 1953 and 1999, the agency just her beaded films around the world -- agency distributed films around the world to educate foreign audiences about the american system. next, harry s. truman, president of the united states, a short biography created by an independent producer while the 33rd president was in his first term.

♪ >> the president of the united states, harry s. truman, 32nd person to serve as the american chief executive. a man to whom many millions of people look for guidance, a man whose responsibilities are today as great and his influence is as far-reaching as any other man on earth. on the walls of president truman's office are portraits of george washington and simon boulevard, which indicate his aims and ideals. the little town of lamar, missouri, was harry s. truman's

birthplace. in the rugged farmlands of the midwestern united states, he began the life and career which has taken him so far. on this quiet, small-town street in a very unpretentious house which his father had built amid the simple rural surroundings, the future president of the united states was born on may 8, 1884. the nearby, somewhat larger town of independence became the truman home when harry was seven years old. as a serious minded country boy, he grew up. here he went to church. met theunday school, he six-year-old little girl who now shares with him the famous white house in the nation's capital as

his wife. in independence, he attended public school and became fired with ambition. drugstore, hetown worked after school on his first job at three dollars a week. the big town of kansas city was not very far away. while still attending high school, young harry truman journeyed here every afternoon for part-time employment on a newspaper, the kansas city star. job was wrapping newspapers, which flowed in what seemed like a constant avalanche from the grinding presses. not a very exciting position for an ambitious young man, but it paid more than twice as much as the drugstore job. truman years old, harry became a railroad worker.

as a timekeeper on the santa fe railroad. this was after he graduated from high school. his father had suffered financial reverses, which eliminated harry's chances of going to college and necessitated his going to work full-time and in earnest. about his ambition carried him on and within less than a year, he had gained a position as clerk in a large bank. followed 10 strenuous years as a missouri farmer and his distinguished service defending the flag of the united states during the first world war. shortly after being discharged from the army, harry truman and a soldier friend established this clothing store in kansas city. but along came the national depression, which caused the business to fail. it is to the everlasting credit of harry s. truman that he slaved for 15 years to pay back every dollar that was owed.

his former partner, who still owns the store, and the president are still the best of friends. today, as through the intervening years during which harry s. truman has struggled and risen to his high position in national and world affairs, the big frame house in independence, missouri, has continued to be home. it is now called the summer white house and he returns at every opportunity which his presidential duties permit. harry s. truman is fundamentally an average american, not rich, but not for. not sophisticated, but far from naïve. an early riser and a hard worker , and very much a family man. having lunch with his family on the backyard lawn of his rural summer white house in independence is symbolic of the

democratic principles which motivate the life of this leader of the people of the united states. the family is equally unpretentious and american. to the president, the first lady of the land is known as beth, the only girl he ever recorded, and they are bound by a deep and abiding devotion. their daughter, mary margaret, is their only child. here the president is seen with his sister, mary truman, and their mother, this is martha truman, well past 90 years of age, to whom he is extremely devoted. this grand old lady still lives near the family farm where harry spent his boyhood, and she taught him the first lessons of being religiously good, economically thrifty, and

socially fair and honest, lessens the president has never forgotten. in spite of the heavyweight of her many years, mother truman is surprisingly active. in spite of the high office to which her son has ascended, she never loses the opportunity of giving him a mother's advice. her favorite is, be good, harry. the president has never lost interest in the family farmlands which he still retains. of his own earlier years on the farm, the president's mother fur, harry could plow a row straighter than any other boy in the county. while he was a farmer, his political interest began. he became interested in the betterment of conditions in his district.

many of the fine local roads as well as public establishments are the result of harry truman's early political efforts. it is a long way from plowing the straightest furrow of any farmboy in his county to the capital of the united states. harry truman came to the capital as a senator from missouri in 1934, and he brought with him the unpretentious integrity of his midwestern farm folks and the determination to be economically thrifty and socially fair and honest. the fate of all the civilized nations of europe hung in the balance at the time of the fourth inauguration of franklin d roosevelt as president. harry s. truman had been one of president roosevelt's staunchest supporters. he had been elected by a popular vote of the people as vice

president, the man upon whom the greatest of all histories great responsibilities would fall in case anything should happen to president roosevelt. no one knew what the future would hold in store. little did anyone realize how soon harry truman was destined to shoulder the burden of state and carry on to completion the great work which franklin d. roosevelt had already come so close to fulfilling. ♪

harry s. truman takes the oath as vice president of the united states. being vice president of the united states in the most difficult and fateful time in the nation's history established this native missourian as a national statesman. to fill the place left vacant by the sudden death of franklin d. roosevelt, harry s. truman became the 32nd president of the united states on the evening of april 12, 1945.

president truman quickly and skillfully assumed all of franklin d. roosevelt's responsibilities. among the many important problems and duties was the united nations conference of international organization in san francisco, to which the president journeyed by plane. at san francisco's hamilton field, the president is welcomed by a host of high-ranking officers and world diplomats, ambassadors, ministers, secretaries of foreign affairs, the governor of california, united states senators, and equally important are presented from all the continents of the earth. -- equally important representatives from all the continents of the earth. diplomatic readings were followed by meeting the military.

the president inspects the guard of honor, his first formal inspection of a military unit since he became president of the united states. the he came abreast of bandleader, mr. truman stepped aside to thank him for his selection of the music. his greetings and official inspection of the guard of honor completed, the president enters the automobile and, to the cheers of the soldiers stationed at the field, he leads the cavalcade of more than 100 cars and scores of motorcycle police escorts, which moves on its way toward san francisco.

official delegates to the fifth united nations had been gathered in san francisco for the purpose of drafting and signing the historic world charter. president truman did not visit the conference to urges delegates to ratify and sign the charter, for that had already been agreed upon. he came to close the conference with a fervent belief that the charters should be translated into long-lasting and inviolate deeds. his first words to his audience work, oh, what a great day this can be in history. his words were spoken with homespun directness and the sincerity of a prayer. in referring to the charter, the president said with equal depth of feeling, the world must now use it. if we fail to use it, we will betray those who have died to ensure that we may meet here in freedom and safety to create it. if we seek to use it selfishly

for the advantage of any nation, we shall be equally guilty of that betrayal. this charter is only the beginning. it must be made to live and the fact that there is such a charter is ample cause for universal and profound thanksgiving to almighty god. in closing, the president said, let us not fail to grasp the supreme chance to establish a worldwide rule of reason, to create an enduring peace under guidance of god. ♪ truman's appearance in new york city on october 27, 1945, in connection with the nation's first navy day after

the completion with the greatest war in all history, also marked his first official visit to the great metropolis. his first act was to commission the united states navy's new supercarrier, named to commemorate his distinguished predecessor, franklin d. roosevelt. said int truman commissioning this ship, the american people are honoring a stalwart hero of this war who gave his life in the service of this country, franklin d. roosevelt, and it is a symbol of our commitment to help the peaceloving nations of the world to stop any future international gangsters. in the city's spacious central park, more than a million persons gathered to hear

president truman declared the nation's policy in world affairs, that the united states seeks no international expansion or selfish advantage, the return of sovereign rights to people deprived of them by force, no territorial changes, for all people of the choosing of their own government, assisting defeated emily states -- enemy states to establish democratic governments. established by fours and equal rights of all through the trade of raw materials in the world. ♪

harbor, 51 warships from the mightiest navy the world has ever known were anchored to be reviewed by harry s. truman, president and their commander-in-chief. ♪ , flagshipng missouri of the pacific fleet which decimated the japanese navy and brought victory over japan, and namesake of the state in which harry truman grew up as a farmer lad, served as post to him as commander-in-chief. ♪

the placeent inspects on the missouri's deck where the historic surrender of the japanese took place. a large plaque marks the spot where the war was brought to a close. tables down at the same where victors and vanquished sign the papers of surrender to add his name to the ship's register. with natural pride, the president inspects the mighty ship's personnel, men who recently had man the big guns

that blasted japan's coastline fortifications. after which he went aboard the destroyer renshaw, which had come alongside to carry him on his review of the seven mile-long array of other warships in the harbor. as the review ship moves slowly up the river harbor, both banks of which were lined with millions of people and more than 1000 warplanes moved swiftly through the sky overhead, each veteran warship boomed its peacetime thunderous salute as their commander-in-chief passed by. ♪

yes, harry truman has come a long way from the farmlands of missouri to his place of honor in the national capital of the united states. thiste trades bring him to depot, where huge crowds today greet the arrival of this president, who once worked as a low-paid employee on a railroad in the midwest. the boy who wants wrapped newspapers so they might be delivered to farmers and small town folk in missouri now has his name and blazoned in bold type on newspapers throughout the world. the rich treasury of the united states of america is the responsibility of this man, who once worked as a humble clerk in a small bank. he has brought to the white house his presidential residence the ideology of a family man,

ideologies a staunch and sturdy foundation for his important duties of state. he has brought to the capital of the united states a forcefulness and homespun integrity which sustains man's faith in a peacetime future. no other president of the united states has been called upon to do so much in such a brief period of time that is of such great importance to the future security and prosperity of mankind, but president arias truman has met each emergency and issue with a fortitude, ability, and fairness which have won the confidence and faith of the united states and the rest of the world. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] week, american history tv's "reel america brings

archival films that provide contest for public affair issues. the life of president eisenhower is a 1953 biography produced by the fledgling u.s. information agency, which was a cold war initiative to show foreign audiences a positive view of america. this 20 minute film concentrates primarily on activities after world war ii and concludes with a portion of his first state of the union address. ["hail to the chief"] >> the making of a man can be young in his past, yet dwight eisenhower little dreamed that the trail he would follow out of the prairies would lead him one day to thehe