Harry S. Truman (1884-1972)
                   Thirty-third President (1945-1953)

Vice President Harry Truman felt ill-prepared to assume the presidency following Franklin Roosevelt's death in 1945. But he learned quickly. Although his domestic agenda won little support, Truman's administration could claim many successes in foreign policy, including the Marshall Plan for rebuilding war-torn Europe, the formation of NATO, and the successful blocking of the Soviet Union's effort to push the Western powers out of occupied Berlin.

Artist Greta Kempton began two portraits of Truman during sittings with him in 1948. This version remained unfinished until 1970, when Truman advisers and friends commissioned its completion for presentation to the National Portrait Gallery.


Greta Kempton (1903-1991)
Oil on canvas, 1948 and 1970
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Gift of Dean Acheson, Thomas C. Clark, John W. Snyder, Robert A. Lovett, Clinton P. Anderson, Charles F. Brannan, Charles Sawyer, W. Averell Harriman, David K. E. Bruce, Edward H. Foley, Stuart Symington, William McChesney Martin, Clark Clifford, Charles S. Murphy, Ward M. Canaday, and Joseph Stack
   NPG.70.11