VOA慢速英语2017--Harry Truman: Atomic

 

VOA Learning English presents America’s Presidents.

Today we are talking about Harry¹ S. Truman. He became president of the United States in 1945, a few weeks before the end of World War II in Europe.

Truman took office after Franklin Roosevelt died suddenly of a cerebral² hemorrhage.

Roosevelt had been president for 12 years. But Truman was new to the position of vice³ president. Two other men had earlier served in the office under Roosevelt.

On April 12, 1945 – less than three months after he became vice president – Truman was called to the White House. There, Roosevelt’s wife, Eleanor, told Truman about her husband’s death. Truman was quickly sworn-in as president.

Shortly after the ceremony, the secretary of war privately⁴ told Truman about a secret project involving American scientists. They were building an extremely destructive atomic bomb.

Historians debate whether Truman already knew about the project, or whether the information was a complete surprise.

In either case, the new president had to decide whether to use the weapon, which he called “the most terrible bomb in the history of the world.”

Early life

Harry Truman came from simple beginnings. He was born in the state of Missouri. He, his parents, a brother and a sister lived in the town of Independence.

As a boy, Harry Truman helped his father on the family’s farm, but he did not enjoy the work. And he could not play sports because he could not see very well; from the time he was a child, Truman wore eyeglasses.

So he developed his interests in reading and music. He was an especially good piano player.

Truman was also a good student, but his parents did not have enough money to send him to a four-year college.

Instead, Truman worked in a number of jobs, including as a bank clerk, mining company operator, and partner in an oil business.

When the United States became involved in World War I, Truman decided⁵ to re-join the National Guard. His guard unit became part of the U.S. Army, and Truman earned a position as a captain.

Truman experienced real success in the military. He was an able soldier and leader, and he and his troops fought in battle. When the war ended, Truman kept both the feeling of self-confidence and the friendships with the other solders⁶ he had formed.

One of Truman’s first acts after the war was to get married. He married a woman from his hometown. They had been romantically linked for a long time. Her name was Elizabeth Wallace, but she was called Bess. The Trumans remained happily married for more than 50 years and had a daughter named Mary Margaret.

In the first years after the war, Harry Truman opened a men’s clothing shop with a friend from the military. But the shop – called a haberdashery -- eventually failed.

Truman soon found a new line of work. An operative from the Democratic Party asked Truman to be a candidate for a position as a judge.

Truman won the seat, as well as a public reputation for being an honest, effective public servant.

In time, Truman successfully won election to a seat in the U.S. Senate. For the most part, he earned a good public image there, too. He supported the social programs of President Roosevelt, and he tried to prevent big businesses or large labor⁷ unions from misusing⁸ public money.

Both voters and Democratic officials liked Truman enough to accept him as the party’s vice presidential candidate in 1944. Truman performed well as a candidate, but he did not have a close relationship with Roosevelt or play much of a part in his government.

Yet in a few weeks, following Roosevelt’s death, Truman was leading the country.

Presidency⁹

Truman faced a number of difficult decisions during his two terms as president. Many of them involved foreign policy. His actions helped shape the second half of the 20th century.

In his first months after taking office, Truman watched the end of World War II in Europe.

He then had to decide how to deal with the war in the Pacific. Japan did not want to accept the Allied¹⁰ forces’ demand for total surrender. And Truman did not want to extend the war.

So he approved using the atomic bomb on Japan. Truman directed the secretary of war to drop the weapon on military targets and try to reduce civilian¹¹ deaths. But the destruction was still terrible.

An estimated 192,000 people died in the attack or the effects of the bomb in Hiroshima. Most of the city was destroyed.

Three days later, the U.S. military dropped another atomic bomb, this time on the city of Nagasaki. More than 70,000 people died instantly.

The emperor of Japan called the weapon “a new and most cruel bomb.” He agreed to his country’s surrender on August 14, 1945. World War II came to an end.

Truman and his government quickly had to make other decisions about how to react to the new international situation. One of the most pressing concerns was the Soviet¹² Union.

Soviet officials sought to expand their influence around the country’s borders, especially in Eastern Europe, Turkey and Iran. Truman and other U.S. officials believed those moves threatened American interests. The United States supported democracy and capitalism¹³. It did not want the Soviet Union’s form of communism to spread.

So Truman’s government put in place two measures to answer the Soviet Union’s influence.

One was a policy known as the Truman Doctrine¹⁴. It promised American support to Greece, Turkey and other democratic nations against authoritarian¹⁵ forces. The measure was a new step for the United States. In the past, the country had tried to avoid conflicts that did not directly involve it.

Under Truman, the U.S. government was committed to helping¹⁶ “free peoples” anywhere by improving their living conditions.

A second measure came to be called the Marshall Plan, after Truman’s secretary of state, George Marshall. Marshall wanted the United States to invest a large amount of money in rebuilding Europe after World War II. Because the Soviet Union controlled much of Eastern Europe, the money eventually went to improving the market economy of Western Europe.

The office of the historian at the State Department notes that one effect of the Marshall Plan was to introduce foreign aid programs as an official part of U.S. foreign policy.

Truman also sought to guarantee peace and contain communism in other ways. He supported the United Nations, which was officially launched during his presidency.

And he negotiated a military alliance among Western, democratic nations. The group became known as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO.

Military alliances became especially important in 1950 when communist forces in North Korea invaded South Korea. The U.N. agreed to send troops to help South Korea -- although many of the troops were American, and they were led by an American general.

Fighting in the Korean War lasted until 1953. As many as 5 million people died in the conflict. Neither side gained much territory.

But the Korean War had other effects. It fueled the Cold War between communist and democratic forces. It showed the U.S. would really defend other countries against authoritarian forces. It sharply increased Americans’ spending on the defense¹⁷ industry.

And it helped make President Truman very unpopular.

Many Americans believed Truman was losing the battle against communism. During his presidency, the Soviet Union successfully tested a nuclear weapon, and China officially became a communist country under Mao Zedong.

Some U.S. lawmakers even accused Truman’s government of protecting communist spies. Senator Joseph McCarthy was the most famous of these critics. He launched investigations¹⁸ against thousands of U.S. government employees, as well as movie actors and directors in Hollywood.

McCarthy did not have evidence that these people were secretly working for the Soviet Union. But his campaign helped fuel the public’s concerns over communism, a fear that came to be called the Red Scare.

Truman grew tired of the accusations¹⁹, as well as other political battles. He decided not to seek re-election in 1952.

Instead, he retired²⁰ with his wife to their home in Missouri.

Legacy²¹

At first, many Americans had mixed emotions about Truman’s presidency. For the most part, they did not support the Korean War. And they remained suspicious that his government had included communist supporters.

But Truman’s public reputation rose over time. He became known as a down-to-earth person who would and could fight if needed. His supporters liked to say, “Give ‘em Hell, Harry.”

Truman is also remembered for taking some steps toward ensuring equal rights for all Americans. Truman supported the racial desegregation of the military and banned racial discrimination in the civil service.

But Truman is probably best remembered for the difficult decisions he made during his presidency, especially the one to drop atomic bombs on Japan. To the end of his life, he accepted responsibility for the decision and did not apologize for it.

Truman died of natural causes at the age of 88. His remains²² are buried at his presidential library in Independence, Missouri.

I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.

Words in This Story

self-confidence - n. confidence in oneself and in one's powers and abilities

romance - n. love affair

haberdashery - n. a shop selling notions or men's clothing and accessories

reputation - n. overall quality or character as seen or judged by people in general

authoritarian - n. of, relating to, or favoring a concentration of power in a leader or an elite²³ not constitutionally responsible to the people

introduce - v. to lead or bring in especially for the first time

desegregate - v. to free of any law, provision, or practice requiring isolation of the members of a particular race in separate units

1 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

2 cerebral   

adj.脑的，大脑的；有智力的，理智型的

参考例句：

• Your left cerebral hemisphere controls the right-hand side of your body.你的左半脑控制身体的右半身。
• He is a precise,methodical,cerebral man who carefully chooses his words.他是一个一丝不苟、有条理和理智的人，措辞谨慎。

3 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

4 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 solders   

n.焊料，焊锡( solder的名词复数 )v.（使）焊接，焊合( solder的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• We fused the pipes with solders. 我们用焊锡熔接管子。 来自辞典例句
• Solders ate a great number of potatoes during World War II. 第二次世界大战期间的士兵吃了很多的土豆。 来自互联网

7 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

8 misusing   

v.使用…不当( misuse的现在分词 )；把…派作不正当的用途；虐待；滥用

参考例句：

• This means we must stop misusing them. 也就是说，我们已必须停止滥用抗菌素不可了。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 预防生物武器
• Misusing organic fertilizer may cause a decrease in the soil's quality. 滥用有机肥料可能会导致土地的土质下降。 来自互联网

9 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

10 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

11 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

12 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

13 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

14 doctrine   

n.教义；主义；学说

参考例句：

• He was impelled to proclaim his doctrine.他不得不宣扬他的教义。
• The council met to consider changes to doctrine.宗教议会开会考虑更改教义。

15 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

16 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

17 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

18 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

19 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

20 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

21 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

22 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

23 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。