Truman at 13 years of age in 1897. Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 - December 26, 1972) was the 33rd President of the USA (1945-53). He succeeded to the presidency in 1945, when Roosevelt died three months into his unprecedented fourth term. Truman used executive orders to end racial discrimination in the armed forces and created loyalty checks that dismissed thousands of communist supporters from office. His presidency was also eventful in foreign affairs, with the defeat of Nazi Germany and his decision to use nuclear weapons against Japan, the founding of the United Nations, the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe, the Truman Doctrine to contain communism, the beginning of the Cold War, the Berlin Airlift, the creation of NATO, the Chinese Civil War, and the Korean War. Truman was a folksy, unassuming president who relied on his cabinet. He popularized such phrases as "The buck stops here" and "If you can't stand the heat, you better get out of the kitchen." His approval ratings in the polls started out very high, then steadily sank until he was one of the most unpopular men to leave the White House. He died in 1972, of pneumonia, at the age of 88.