Presidency · Presidents

Harry S. Truman

33rd president · Democrat · April 12, 1945 – January 19, 1953

Harry S. Truman was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt in April. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

How to read this

Each card takes a series from one of the site’s Presidency, Congress or Supreme Court pages and shows only the time Truman was in office. Monthly figures run from the month of the inauguration to the month the term ended; a fiscal or calendar year counts for the president who held office for most of its days. Cards whose data begins after 1945 say where it starts, and a card with no data for the term is left out.

These are conditions during a presidency, not a scorecard. Congress, the courts, the Federal Reserve, the business cycle and events abroad move every one of these numbers, and many policies take effect years after they are signed, so a change during a term is not a measure of what the president caused.

All presidents

Dwight D. Eisenhower →

7 years, 9 monthsIn office2,840 days

—Laws signedData starts 1973

—Executive ordersData starts 1994

4Justices appointed

Who held power

Party control of Congress

Democrats held both chambers for 5.5 years and neither for 2 years.

83rd Congress1953House: Rep.213 D · 221 R · 1 otherSenate: Rep.47 D · 48 R · 1 other
82nd Congress1951–1953House: Dem.235 D · 199 R · 1 otherSenate: Dem.49 D · 47 R
81st Congress1949–1951House: Dem.263 D · 171 R · 1 otherSenate: Dem.54 D · 42 R
80th Congress1947–1949House: Rep.188 D · 246 R · 1 otherSenate: Rep.45 D · 51 R
79th Congress1945–1947House: Dem.244 D · 189 R · 2 otherSenate: Dem.57 D · 38 R · 1 other

Seats are at the start of each Congress. Democrats and Republicans include the independents who caucused with them.

Data notes

Each Congress is clipped to the days this president was in office. A chamber’s majority is the party that held it for most of those days; seat counts are at the start of the Congress, with independents counted with the party they caucused with. From the House and Senate historians’ party divisions.

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Timeline →

Supreme Court appointments

Harry S. Truman appointed 4 justices: Burton (1945), Vinson (1946), Clark (1949) and Minton (1949).

Sherman Minton · Associate justiceNominated Sep 15, 1949 · confirmed 48–16
Tom Clark · Associate justiceNominated Aug 2, 1949 · confirmed 73–8
Frederick Vinson · Chief justiceNominated Jun 6, 1946 · confirmed by voice vote
Harold Burton · Associate justiceNominated Sep 18, 1945 · confirmed by voice vote

Data notes

A justice counts for the president who nominated them (a recess appointment from the day it began, if earlier). An associate justice later made chief by another president, like William Rehnquist, counts as an elevation for the second. Failed and withdrawn nominations are not listed. Dates and Senate votes from the Federal Judicial Center.

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Supreme Court →

Economy

Misery index

The misery index (unemployment plus inflation) was 13.6 in January 1948 and 3.6 in January 1953, with a low of 3.6 in December 1952.

Misery index

Data starts January 1948

Jan 1948 13.6 → Jan 1953 3.6

Unemployment and inflation

Data starts January 1948

Jan 1948 3.4% → Jan 1953 2.9%

Unemployment rateInflation

Data notes

The misery index adds the unemployment rate to inflation (consumer prices, change from a year earlier) for the same month. Unemployment is the BLS rate, seasonally adjusted, from 1948; inflation is from the consumer price index, from 1948. The first reading is the month the president took office, the last the month the term ended. Both are national averages and are revised.

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Misery index
Period	Value
Jan 1948	13.6
Feb 1948	13.3
Mar 1948	10.8
Apr 1948	12.2
May 1948	12.9
Jun 1948	13
Jul 1948	13.4
Aug 1948	13
Sep 1948	10.5
Oct 1948	9.8
Nov 1948	8.6
Dec 1948	6.7
Jan 1949	5.7
Feb 1949	5.7
Mar 1949	6.7
Apr 1949	5.7
May 1949	5.7
Jun 1949	5.2
Jul 1949	3.8
Aug 1949	3.8
Sep 1949	4.1
Oct 1949	5.3
Nov 1949	4.5
Dec 1949	4.8
Jan 1950	4.4
Feb 1950	5.1
Mar 1950	5.2
Apr 1950	4.7
May 1950	4.9
Jun 1950	5.2
Jul 1950	6.6
Aug 1950	6.6
Sep 1950	6.9
Oct 1950	7.7
Nov 1950	8
Dec 1950	10.1
Jan 1951	11.7
Feb 1951	12.8
Mar 1951	12.9
Apr 1951	12.7
May 1951	12.3
Jun 1951	11.8
Jul 1951	10.7
Aug 1951	10
Sep 1951	10.2
Oct 1951	10.3
Nov 1951	10.5
Dec 1951	9.1
Jan 1952	7.4
Feb 1952	5.3
Mar 1952	4.9
Apr 1952	5
May 1952	4.8
Jun 1952	5.3
Jul 1952	6.2
Aug 1952	6.6
Sep 1952	5.4
Oct 1952	5
Nov 1952	4.2
Dec 1952	3.6
Jan 1953	3.6

Unemployment and inflation
Period	Unemployment rate	Inflation
Jan 1948	3.4%	10.2%
Feb 1948	3.8%	9.5%
Mar 1948	4%	6.8%
Apr 1948	3.9%	8.3%
May 1948	3.5%	9.4%
Jun 1948	3.6%	9.4%
Jul 1948	3.6%	9.8%
Aug 1948	3.9%	9.1%
Sep 1948	3.8%	6.7%
Oct 1948	3.7%	6.1%
Nov 1948	3.8%	4.8%
Dec 1948	4%	2.7%
Jan 1949	4.3%	1.4%
Feb 1949	4.7%	1%
Mar 1949	5%	1.7%
Apr 1949	5.3%	0.4%
May 1949	6.1%	−0.4%
Jun 1949	6.2%	−1%
Jul 1949	6.7%	−2.9%
Aug 1949	6.8%	−3%
Sep 1949	6.6%	−2.5%
Oct 1949	7.9%	−2.6%
Nov 1949	6.4%	−1.9%
Dec 1949	6.6%	−1.8%
Jan 1950	6.5%	−2.1%
Feb 1950	6.4%	−1.3%
Mar 1950	6.3%	−1.1%
Apr 1950	5.8%	−1.1%
May 1950	5.5%	−0.6%
Jun 1950	5.4%	−0.2%
Jul 1950	5%	1.6%
Aug 1950	4.5%	2.1%
Sep 1950	4.4%	2.5%
Oct 1950	4.2%	3.5%
Nov 1950	4.2%	3.8%
Dec 1950	4.3%	5.8%
Jan 1951	3.7%	8%
Feb 1951	3.4%	9.4%
Mar 1951	3.4%	9.5%
Apr 1951	3.1%	9.6%
May 1951	3%	9.3%
Jun 1951	3.2%	8.6%
Jul 1951	3.1%	7.6%
Aug 1951	3.1%	6.9%
Sep 1951	3.3%	6.9%
Oct 1951	3.5%	6.8%
Nov 1951	3.5%	7%
Dec 1951	3.1%	6%
Jan 1952	3.2%	4.2%
Feb 1952	3.1%	2.2%
Mar 1952	2.9%	2%
Apr 1952	2.9%	2.1%
May 1952	3%	1.8%
Jun 1952	3%	2.3%
Jul 1952	3.2%	3%
Aug 1952	3.4%	3.2%
Sep 1952	3.1%	2.3%
Oct 1952	3%	2%
Nov 1952	2.8%	1.4%
Dec 1952	2.7%	0.9%
Jan 1953	2.9%	0.7%

Economy →

Federal deficit and debt

The federal budget balance, as a share of GDP, was −7% in FY1946 and −1.7% in FY1953, with a high of +4.3% in FY1948.

Budget balance, % of GDP

FY1946 −7% → FY1953 −1.7%

Data notes

The budget balance is the federal surplus (above zero) or deficit (below) as a share of GDP, by fiscal year (July to June through 1976, October to September since); a year counts for the president in office for most of it, though its budget was usually passed the year before. Debt is total public debt as a share of GDP, quarterly from 1966, including debt the government holds in its own trust funds.

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Budget balance, % of GDP
Period	Value
FY1946	−7%
FY1947	+1.6%
FY1948	+4.3%
FY1949	+0.2%
FY1950	−1%
FY1951	+1.8%
FY1952	−0.4%
FY1953	−1.7%

Economy →

Source: the site’s Presidency, Congress and Supreme Court data, each named in its card’s Data notes; party control of Congress from the House and Senate historians; appointments from the Federal Judicial Center. Portrait: public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Built October 19, 2026.