On January 20, 1953, such a transfer of power occurred, when President Harry Truman passed the torch of leadership to incoming President Dwight D. Eisenhower. These two men were giant figures of the 20th Century, yet their relationship that day was deeply strained.

Eisenhower and Truman only met once in person in the time between the election and the day of the inauguration. Eisenhower regarded the advice that Truman had attempted to provide him with as being of little value, and rejected an invitation for a second in-person meeting.

Republican nominee Dwight D. Eisenhower defeated Democratic Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson II in a landslide victory, becoming the first Republican president in 20 years. This was the first election since 1928 without an incumbent president on the ballot. The incumbent in 1952, Harry Truman. His second term expired at noon on January 20, 1953.

At the White House, President Harry S. Truman (left) and President-Elect Dwight D. Eisenhower on November 19, 1952, discuss the upcoming transfer of power. Biographer Stephen E. Ambrose described the meeting as 'stiff, formal, embarrassing, and unrewarding'.

Truman knew a hero when he saw one, and Eisenhower was viewed as a national hero for leading the Allied invasion of Normandy that helped bring about the demise of Hitler’s Third Reich. Truman even indicated he would support Eisenhower for President on the Democratic ticket in 1948, with Truman stepping down to be Vice President once again.

The Bush-Obama transition is widely seen as the gold standard of smooth transitions, one that took place during two wars and a financial crisis. Not every handoff has been smooth. This exchange of letters between President Truman and Republican presidential candidate Eisenhower show a more heated transfer of power.

2015年8月4日 · Truman and Eisenhower served back to back as the 33rd and 34th presidents, but despite many similarities, they had their differences, beginning with their political parties. Harry S. Truman was a Democrat, and Dwight D. Eisenhower was a Republican.

2012年4月12日 · Harry Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower were close friends until Eisenhower ran for president. When he did so, the two men assured one another that no matter what stories were spread during the...

2023年12月8日 · Eisenhower's Cold War policies were different from Truman's in that Eisenhower made it far more clear that he would be willing to use nuclear weapons to fight against communist aggression.

2003年7月11日 · A newly discovered diary kept by President Harry S. Truman in 1947 tells of a private conversation in which he urged Dwight D. Eisenhower to seek the Democratic presidential nomination the next...