Who was Harry Truman?哈里·杜鲁门是谁？The American people didn't really know.美国人民并不真正知道。He had been vice president for all of 82 days.他担任副总统整整82天。And now, on April 12, 1945, upon Franklin Roosevelt's death, Truman had become the 33rd president of the United States,现在，1945年4月12日，富兰克林·罗斯福去世，杜鲁门成为美国第33任总统，the commander in chief of the biggest army in the world, in the biggest war in history,世界上最大军队的总司令，在历史上最大的战争中，and about to make some of the biggest decisions any president would ever make.并且即将做出一些任何总统都会做出的最重大决定。"Is there anything I can do for you?"“有什么我可以为你做的吗？"Truman asked the late president's wife Eleanor upon his arrival at the White House to take the oath of office."Is there anything we can do for you, Harry?杜鲁门抵达白宫后要求已故总统的妻子埃莉诺宣誓就职。“我们能为你做点什么吗，哈利？For you are the one in trouble now."因为现在有麻烦的是你。"Harry Truman was born on May 8, 1884, in a small farm village in southwestern Missouri.哈里·杜鲁门于1884年5月8日出生在密苏里州西南部的一个小农场。His values — faith, hard work, and common sense — came from the middle of the middle of America.他的价值观--信仰、努力工作和常识--来自美国中部。It's the key to understanding this straightforward, but complex man.这是了解这个直率但复杂的人的关键。He never finished college – not because he wasn't capable -- he was a voracious reader of history, biography,他从未读完大学--并不是因为他没有能力--他是一个贪婪的历史、传记、and the classics – but because his family needed his income, and family loyalty always came first.还有经典--但因为他的家人需要他的收入，而家庭忠诚总是第一位的。He expected to be a farmer, just like his father and his father's father.他期望成为一名农民，就像他的父亲和他父亲的父亲一样。But that path changed in April 1917, when the United States entered World War I.但这条道路在1917年4月发生了变化，当时美国加入了第一次世界大战。Truman, then 33, enlisted.Truman commanded an artillery battery.当时33岁的杜鲁门入伍了。杜鲁门指挥着一个炮兵连。His unerring tactical instinct and coolness under fire earned him the respect of his men.他准确无误的战术直觉和在炮火下的冷静为他赢得了手下的尊重。That loyalty never faded.这种忠诚从未褪色。The friendships he made during the war lasted a lifetime.他在战争期间建立的友谊持续了一生。Truman returned home transformed: more confident, more worldly, and more ambitious.杜鲁门回国后变了：更加自信、更加世俗、更加雄心勃勃。Now that he had seen Paris, he wasn't going back to the farm.In 1919, he married his hometown sweetheart, Elizabeth "Bess" Wallace.既然他已经看到了巴黎，他就没有再回到农场了。1919年，他与家乡的恋人伊丽莎白·“贝丝”·华莱士结婚。That same year, he opened a men's clothing store with an army friend, Eddie Jacobson.同年，他与军人朋友埃迪·雅各布森（Eddie Jacobson）开了一家男装店。After a successful first year, the enterprise failed when the country fell into a postwar recession.在成功的第一年后，当国家陷入战后衰退时，该企业失败了。Truman refused to declare bankruptcy, though he was almost $20,000 in debt.杜鲁门拒绝宣布破产，尽管他负债近20，000美元。It took him 13 years to pay it back.他花了13年的时间才偿还。During this period, Truman came to the attention of Tom Pendergast, the powerful Democratic Party boss of Kansas City.在此期间，杜鲁门引起了堪萨斯城强大的民主党领袖汤姆·彭德加斯特的注意。Pendergast recognized a natural politician when he saw one.Truman rose from county judge in 1923 to U.S.彭德加斯特在见到一位天生的政治家时就认出了他。杜鲁门于1923年从县法官晋升到美国senator in 1935.1935年参议员。So close was his association with his political patron that his opponents mocked him as "the senator from Pendergast."他与政治赞助人的关系如此密切，以至于他的对手嘲笑他是“来自彭德加斯特的参议员。"Once again, it was a world war that transformed him.世界大战再次改变了他。He turned the chairmanship of an obscure committee into a national platform.他将一个默默无闻的委员会的主席变成了一个国家平台。It was officially known as the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program, but everyone called it the Truman Committee.它的正式名称是参议院调查国防计划特别委员会，但大家都称其为杜鲁门委员会。Its purpose was to investigate waste and incompetence in the war effort—and there turned out to be a lot.它的目的是调查战争中的浪费和无能--结果发现有很多。By forcing defense contractors to meet minimum quality standards, Truman not only saved taxpayers billions but saved thousands of lives.通过迫使国防承包商达到最低质量标准，杜鲁门不仅为纳税人节省了数十亿美元，还挽救了数千人的生命。In 1944, President Roosevelt, despite his failing health, sought a fourth term.1944年，罗斯福总统尽管健康状况不佳，但仍寻求第四个任期。He wanted to see the war to its end.他希望看到战争结束。To win what promised to be a close election, the party bosses felt FDR needed a new running mate.为了赢得一场有望势均力敌的选举，党的老板们认为罗斯福需要一个新的竞选伙伴。They worried that the current vice president, Henry Wallace, with his very progressive views, would turn off moderate voters.他们担心现任副总统亨利·华莱士的观点非常进步，会让温和派选民望而却步。The moderate, midwestern Truman, buoyed by the positive press from his committee work, seemed to be an ideal fit.Wallace was out.温和派、中西部杜鲁门在委员会工作的积极新闻的鼓舞下，似乎是一个理想的人选。华莱士出局了。Truman was in.That fall, the Roosevelt-Truman ticket won handily.杜鲁门加入了。那年秋天，罗斯福-杜鲁门的选票轻松获胜。FDR barely acknowledged Truman's existence, sharing nothing about war strategy—and nothing about the development of a new secret weapon,罗斯福几乎不承认杜鲁门的存在，没有分享任何关于战争战略的信息，也没有分享任何关于新秘密武器的开发的信息，the atomic bomb.原子弹。And then Roosevelt died.然后罗斯福去世了。Truman had to get up to speed on everything—fast.杜鲁门必须尽快了解一切。In less than four months, he made monumental decisions, not only on the direction of the war, but on the direction of the world.在不到四个月的时间里，他做出了重大决定，不仅是关于战争的方向，而且是关于世界的方向。He confirmed the US commitment to a new international organization, the United Nations.他确认了美国对新国际组织联合国的承诺。He authorized the use of the atomic bomb against Japan.他授权对日本使用原子弹。On this agonizing decision, he never hesitated.对于这个痛苦的决定，他从未犹豫过。Advised that Japan had no intention of surrendering, and consequently, that an invasion of Japan would cost millions of American and Japanese lives,建议日本无意投降，因此入侵日本将导致数百万美国人和日本人丧生，the choice for Truman was obvious.杜鲁门的选择是显而易见的。"It was a terrible decision," he later wrote.“这是一个可怕的决定，”他后来写道。"But I made it… and I'd make it again..." When the war finally ended with Japan's surrender on August 15, 1945,“但我做到了……而且我会再次做到……“当战争最终随着日本于1945年8月15日投降而结束时，Truman had to figure out how to bring home 16 million servicemen and integrate them back into a peacetime economy.杜鲁门必须弄清楚如何将1600万军人带回家，并将他们重新融入和平时期的经济。The feisty Midwesterner met these challenges and more.这位精力充沛的中西部人应对了这些挑战以及更多挑战。The famous sign on his desk, "The Buck Stops Here," was no mere ornament.他办公桌上的著名标志“巴克停在这里”不仅仅是装饰品。He lived it.他经历过。But there were many more "bucks" to come.但还有更多的“钱”即将到来。A new war was looming, and Truman would soon be tested again.一场新的战争即将来临，杜鲁门很快就会再次受到考验。I'm Elizabeth Spalding, senior fellow at Pepperdine University School of Public Policy and author of The First Cold Warrior, for Prager University.我是伊丽莎白·斯伯丁，佩珀代因大学公共政策学院高级研究员，普拉格大学《第一个冷战战士》一书的作者。