Talk on ‘Truman’s Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb’ is tomorrow
Ken Hechler will speak on “Truman’s Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb” at 1:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, in the auditorium, O’Shaughnessy Educational Center.
Admission is free and the public is welcome.
The author of Working with Truman, Hechler was in a position in the White House to see many of the key decisions that Truman faced when he became president following the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945. The speaker will discuss Truman’s action in the aftermath of World War II.
Hechler was a researcher and editor for the Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was administrative analyst, Bureau of the Budget, 1942, 1946-47; U.S. Army historian, European theater in World War II, where he rose to the rank of colonel; author of six books, including Bridge at Remagen; university professor, 1947-49, 1957, 1981-84; special assistant to the president where he was a speech writer and research director and traveled with President Truman on his campaign trips and visits to Key West, 1949-53; associate director, American Political Science Association, 1953-56; congressman from West Virginia, 1959-77. He was West Virginia Secretary of State from 1984-2000. After leaving office in 2001, Hechler again returned to teaching, as a professor of political science at Marshall University and as a Visiting Distinguished Scholar at West Virginia State College.
He was named West Virginia Son of the Year in 1969. Graffiti named him Mountaineer of the Year for 2003 and he received the Harry S. Truman Award for Public Service in 2002. In addition, he has received a National Audubon Society Conservation Award, 1973, and the Mother Jones Award from the West Virginia Environmental Council, 1996.
This presentation is sponsored by the History Club and supported by the History Department.
