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President Harry S, Truman was surprised when Secretary of State General George Marshall, the architect of the WWII victory in Europe and who never went to parties, showed up at his 1948 small sixty-forth birthday party. Truman thought of Marshall as the ' " great one of the age." ' Marshal  praised Truman for his integrity and courage in making decisions that only had  the country's best interest at heart. Joseph Stalin, Harry Truman and Winston Churchill in Potsdam, July 1945 Click to enlarge.                                                                              

The Politics

With a new Jewish state was about to be born, Truman's met with Whitehouse council Clark Clifford and Secretary of State George Marshall. Clifford  argued that we should immediately recognize Israel to help protect her from five vastly larger Arab armies ready to pounce. He reasoned that Israel would be a reliable democratic state in the ' "unstable Middle East" '.  Also, America was trying to stop Russia from conquering the world. America had also always felt a ' " a great obligation" ' to stop persecution. Marshal argued that Israel didn't stand a chance and we could not come to her aid. "No longer lauding his ' "integrity," ' Marshall unbranded the President (in what Clifford found ' "a righteous Goddamned Baptist tone" '  for playing politics with the Middle East to attract Jewish voters." Marshal then said he wouldn't vote for Truman if he followed Clifford's advise and a shaken condemned Truman adjourned the meeting. This and other heated debates from both sides put  pressures on Truman. 

Britain controlled 1947 Palestine and they stopped the Jewish  immigrant ship SS Exodus from arriving in Palestine where Jews from all over Europe were hoping to form a new Jewish state. World wide outrage resulted. 

Britain would soon be leaving Palestine and a UN committee had proposed the area be partition into Jewish and Arab states with an economic union.  Assistant Secretary of State Loy Henderson felt American involvement would jeopardize oil supplies and the entire Arab world would become America's enemy. President Truman's Jewess business associations and good heart were to face off with his Midwestern anti-Semitics.

27 HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED?

Soon  Truman's good friend Eddie Jacobson from the Army and Kansas City implored him to back the new Jewish and Arab states in Palestine. Truman warned that financial and military support would not be possible. 

After the partition into two states, Truman's arms embargo to the Middle East hurt Israel as Britain was arming the Arabs. But Jewish friends of Hoover got lax FBI enforcement of the embargo.

Leading up to the UN vote, Truman ordered the UN envoys from the U.S. not to use improper pressure and anger the Arabs. The first vote failed by one vote, Clark Clifford got Truman to let his aids lobby for partition and the final vote easily passed.  "Complaining of pressure from Washington, Arab delegates walked out."  Truman warned a pro-Zionist New York Congressman after the initiative passed that "the pressure boys almost beat themselves... I don't do business that way." 

The President and Marshall had it out over immediate recognition. Truman won and Marshal sent someone to stop the United States U.N. delegation from reigning in mass. The Jewish State was declare, Truman recognize it, and Chaim Weizmann  became its first President of Israel. President Truman with Dr. Chaim Weizmann source Click to enlarge. See Presidential Elections 1932-1972