TRUMAN, HARRY S.

born May 8, 1884, Lamar, Mo., U.S. died Dec. 26, 1972, Kansas City, Mo. 33rd president of the United States (194553), who led his nation through the final stages of World War II and through the early years of the Cold War, vigorously opposing Soviet expansionism in Europe and sending U.S. forces to turn back a communist invasion of South Korea. Alfred Steinberg The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica