Harry S. Truman (1884 – 1972) was the 33rd President of the United States (1945–53). He is known for launching the Marshall Plan to rebuild the economy of Western Europe, for leading the Cold War against Soviet and Chinese communism through the Truman Doctrine and NATO, and intervening in the Korean War. In domestic affairs, he was a moderate Democrat whose liberal proposals were a continuation of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, but the Conservative-dominated Congress blocked most of them. Under Executive Order 9981, he used presidential authority to desegregate the armed forces.