Click2Flicks - A CHANGE IN LEADERS - Chapter 2

<body link="0000ff" alink="ff0000" vlink="000000" bgcolor=000033> <table width="100%" bgcolor=000033> <tr> <td align=center valign=top> <table width=90% bgcolor=ffffff> <tr> <td align=center valign=top> <tr> <td> <div align=center><p><b><font face="arial, helvetica" size=5 color=000000><b>VICTORY IN EUROPE</p> <p><font size="4">CHAPTER 2 - A CHANGE IN LEADERS</b></font></p> </div>  <center> <table width="90%"> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top"> <div align="justify"> <p><font face="arial, helvetica" color="000000" size="3">After America joined the <a href="http://www.cyberlearning-world.com/lessons/ushistory/ww2/europeantheater.htm"><b>war in Europe</b></a>, three Allied leaders - Winston <a href="http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=1"><b>Churchill</b></a>, Franklin <a href="http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/index.html"><b>Roosevelt</b></a> and Joseph <a href="http://www.grolier.com/wwii/wwii_stalin.html"><b>Stalin</b></a> -  periodically met, in person, to discuss defeating the Nazis. Although the men were from different countries, and had different political philosophies, they had developed a working relationship and were united in their belief that Hitler’s regime could be defeated.</p> <P>The last Allied <a target="_blank" href="http://history.sandiego.edu/cdr2/BYRD/CONFEREN/YALTA_CO.TXT"><b>meeting</b></a> - before Potsdam - was in the <a target="_blank" href="images/crimea.gif"><b>Crimean</b></a> town of <a target="_blank" href="images/yalta.jpg"><b>Yalta</b></a> during <a target="_blank" href="images/february_1945.jpg"><b>February of 1945</b></a>. On the agenda were potential <a target="_blank" href="http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/churchill/interactive/_html/wc0223.html"><b>occupation zones</b></a> for post-war Germany and end-of-hostilities <a target="_blank" href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bulge/timeline/timeline2.html"><b>control</b></a> over Eastern-European governments.</p> <P>Anyone who saw <a target="_blank" href="images/fdr_yalta.jpg"><b>FDR at Yalta</b></a> would have observed a man <a target="_blank" href="images/worn_down.jpg"><b>worn down</b></a> by war and twelve years as president. Briefing the American congress, after his return to the States, Roosevelt was obviously tired and weak as he discussed the <a target="_blank" href="http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/YALTA.html"><b>Yalta Agreements</b></a>. Not only did he remain seated during his presentation - highly unusual for him - he also acknowledged - for the first time - that <a target="_blank" href="http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/text/ww2/yaltareport.html"><b>he wore braces</b></a> on his legs. Polio had long-since paralyzed him, from the waist down, but he never allowed his physical condition to interfere with public duties.</p <P>Recognizing he needed a rest, FDR told Harry Truman - his new vice president - that he planned to spend a few weeks at his retreat in <a target="_blank" href="images/warm_springs.gif"><b>Warm Springs</b></a>,  Georgia. On the 12th of April, just before a one o’clock lunch at “<a target="_blank" href="images/little_white_house.jpg"><b>The Little White House</b></a>,” FDR suddenly developed “a terrific headache.” With a skyrocketing <a target="_blank" href="http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003398.htm"><b>blood pressure</b></a> of <a target="_blank" href="http://health.usnews.com/usnews/health/articles/050214/14heart_4.htm"><b>300/190</b></a>, the unconscious <a target="_blank" href="http://www.delanoye.org/FDR/"><b>president would die</b></a> within two-and-a-half hours. <P>How the man from Missouri learned about his changed position is legendary. In his <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0671869205/ref=sib_dp_pt/105-8196277-5453220#reader-link"><b>Truman</b></a>  biography, David McCullough tells us what happened when Harry was summoned to the White House:</p> <blockquote><font face="Times New Roman"><b><i>He went out the door </i></b>[of his meeting room] <b><i>alone. . .Then he began to run. . .to his office - to get his hat. . .At the White House. . .two ushers were waiting at the door. They took his hat and escorted him to. . .the second floor. . .<a target="_blank" href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/ar32.html"><b>Mrs. Roosevelt</b></a> was waiting.</i></b></font></blockquote> <P>Because he never publicly shared his thoughts of the moment, we are left to wonder if he suspected what the news would be:</p> <blockquote><font face="Times New Roman"><b><i>Mrs. Roosevelt stepped forward and gently put her arm on Truman’s shoulder.<br> “Harry, the President is dead.”<br> Truman was unable to speak.<br> “Is there anything I can do for you?” he said at last.<br> “Is there anything we can do for you,” she said. “For you are the one <a target="_blank" href="http://www.trumanlibrary.org/eleanor/index.html"><b>in trouble now</b></a>.”  (McCullough, pages 341-342)</i></b></font></blockquote> <P>FDR was not the only missing leader at the Potsdam Conference. </p> </div> <p align="center"><font face="arial, helvetica" size="2"><a href="victory_europe_ch1.htm">GO TO LAST CHAPTER</a>   <a href="victory_europe_ch3.htm">GO TO NEXT CHAPTER</a></p><br> </td> </tr> </table>  </td>  <td align="center" valign="top"> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.awesomestories.com/includes/ad_format.js"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> </td>  </tr> </table>  </td> </tr> </table> </body>