My Fellow Americans:

I am standing in front of you today to try and unravel the significance and productiveness of my time as President of the United States. Born a young boy of Scots-Irish decent, Harry S. Truman in the small town of Lamar, Missouri, I was always interested in music, reading, and history. At no point in my childhood had I thought about becoming President of the United States and the leader of the dearest country in the world.

I feel that my Presidency was more beneficial than any president who served before or after me. When I adopted the title of the President of the United States in 1945 after the passing of President Roosevelt, I was a young, but wise, sixty year old man. Although I had no college degree I was still known as an intellectual man, who gathered many pieces of information throughout my time as a county judge in Jackson County, a United States Senator from Missouri, and also as the Vice President of the United States under the command of President Franklin Roosevelt. Prior to my career in politics, I was a very successful soldier in World War I. I moved my way up the ranks and became captain of one of the most ineffective and non-motivated battery’s in the regiment. After a few months of hard work the soldiers under my command became self motivated, dedicated men. I formed my once uneducated and unproductive battery into a top-notch unit. My service in the military had a profound effect upon the remainder of my life. I met many fine men throughout my career in the military, who gave me great opportunities for my future. During my time in the war I was introduced to a man named James M. Pendergast, whose uncle is a Kansas City politician. Four years after the conclusion of World War I, with the help of James Pendergast’s uncle, I became the judge for Jackson County, Missouri. My position as Jackson County Judge was the starting point for my career as a politician. I learned the skills necessary to be a great leader, which gave me a unique mindset while being the President of the United States. I was still thankful for the help I received upon my death at age 88, and still am today where I would be 138. I now reside at my presidential library in Independence, Missouri.

On June 28, 1919, I had married the most beautiful woman in all of America. Four years later we had our first, and only child, Mary Margaret. The love our family shared, especially between Bess and I, was a never ending type of love that not many other Presidents shared. I was faithful to Bess and she was faithful to me, and this is all a man can ask for. My biggest regret in life, although it was for a good reason, was my decision to drop two atomic bombs in Japan. On August 6 and 9, 1945, I ordered the U.S. Army Air Force to drop atomic bombs on two cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The result was the immediate killing of 100,000 people, with nearly twice that amount dying from the after affects of radiation poisoning. Days later, Japanese emperor Hirohito agreed to surrendered, bringing World War II to a close. The sorrow I was feeling for the innocent families who lost loved ones was tremendous, although the feeling of ending World War II was overpowering, and the thoughts of wiping out entire cities did not reenter my mind until I had passed away. Many people saw me as a heartless man, but World War II needed to come to a conclusion.

As vice president I was seldom informed of important policy matters, such as the atomic bomb, and when I