On January 20, 1949, beginning his second term, President Harry Truman denounces communism and presents a program for peace in his inaugural address.

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Excerpts from Harry Truman's inaugural address on Thursday, January 30, 1940.

On April 12, 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt died of a massive cerebral hemorrhage. Five days after being sworn in as president of the United States, Harry Truman delivers a speech to the U.S. Armed Forces expressing his gratitude for their service and his intention to see through FDR's strategies.

On October 24, 1949, the cornerstone of the permanent United Nations headquarters was laid in New York City. President Harry Truman delivers a speech emphasizing the need to make the common good a top priority.

On June 29, 1947, as the first president to address the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Harry Truman pledges his support for upholding the civil rights of all Americans.

In a broadcast delivered from the White House by direct wire to the United Nations charter conference in San Francisco on April 25, 1945, President Harry Truman describes the challenges facing the new organization.

On April 4, 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty was signed by 12 Western democracies, creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). President Harry Truman speaks at the signing ceremony on the significance of the new military alliance the first ever made during peacetime.