Our government is a complex system with many different branches of power and many different jobs for each section. The Truman Years 1945-1953 written by author Byrnes demonstrates how many government positions work together as well as separate. These political positions also are granted certain powers that are not granted to all the government branches. During s years as president which followed after president Roosevelt died he was faced with many important decisions.
Many of these important decisions he was able to decide for himself while other important decisions he had to rely on support from other government officials. President Truman became president when president Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945. President Truman became the official president of the United States without any election being held. This act is permitted because of the constitution. In the constitution it is stated that if the president dies or become unable to fulfill his duties he can and will be replaced by the vice president. Truman s presidency was a long and difficult road, however because of many situations that occurred during his presidency there are a lot of features that outline the powers that our government has.
In 1947 President Truman vetoed the act known as the Taft-Hartley act. This bill he vetoed because he saw that the bill was discriminatory against labor. Because our government is set up with a checks and balance system congress was still able to pass the bill with a overwhelming number of votes (congress must have a 2/3 rd vote to overrule the president s veto) in the congress. Another bill that came to the President during 1947 was a four billion dollar income tax reduction. President Truman vetoed this bill as being unfair to small tax payers. Because the congress could not get enough votes to override the president this bill was rejected.
This act is known as the president s veto power. The president can vet any bill he / she does not seem fit, however the congress can override his veto of a bill. Into the beginning of his first term women were still not allow to serve in the armed forces. What is known as the Women s Armed services Integration Act which the executive order was signed by Truman and passed by congress women were now allowed to join in the service. In our system of checks and balances because both the congress and the president agreed this bill was permitted.
While in a controversial and painful war with Japan President Truman had very important decisions to make regarding what type of strategy he should use in order to save many American soldiers lives.