By most measures, Harry Truman has been one of the most successful President's to sit in the Oval Office. In many respects, his legacy is a rather ironic one: his enemies accused him of being soft on communism, yet he did more than any other president to contain it. He was seen as hostile to the private sector, yet corporate profits and dividends reached an all time high as a percentage of GDP under Truman. In addition, over 8 million people went to college through the GI Bill, thus establishing a competitive workforce for years to come. Social Security benefits doubled, while the minimum wage increased exponentially. All of this, and Truman also managed to lower the National Debt significantly. Progress on this account though was slowed by the onset of the Korean War.

During Truman's time in office, there was an unprecedented increase in the standard of living, incomes, education and housing. Prices rose, but incomes went up even more. The banking system was on solid ground, something which it wasn't during the Great Depression just years earlier. Everyone expected the economy to collapse after the war, as the country transitioned from war time to peacetime production, but the anticipated resumption of the Great Depression never happened.

Truman's most important accomplishment though came from the field of foreign policy. Containment was very successful in keeping communist influence out of Western Europe, along with Greece. But there were mistakes too. The Korean War wasn't well managed, but at least it ended in a stalemate as opposed to a loss. In actuality were still fighting the war, as troops are still stationed along the DMZ.

Some have argued that he could have done more on civil rights. But I would argue that he did more than any other President since Lincoln on that count. Indeed, desegregating the armed forces along with the Federal government was epochal. This was the first step towards the civil rights struggles of the 1960's.

Truman certainly accomplished more than any President in recent history has. He certainly made positive contributions to our country that is still reaping dividends today. What makes it all the more remarkable is that it happened under the leadership of someone who was seen as rather unremarkable in his origins. Truman, despite lowered expectations after the death of Franklin Roosevelt, performed a more than adequate job in office.

Oh, but he dropped the bomb! Shove it! Harry made the tough call that ended up saving a load of lives while having to bonus effect of showing us how nasty these weapons were so we would think twice about using them again. The spectre of Hiroshima and Nagasaki probably kept us from pulling the trigger a few times during the Cold War.

What the heck? He fought communist, was strong on defense, and strong here at home. A great leader.

He's dead so, unless he's morphed into an enraged poltergeist or some other nasty post mortem entity - I think we're safe.