President's Mother

Independence - the President, greeted by Mrs Truman and his daughter Margaret, comes home to Missouri by plane to spend Christmas at the family home. His neighbours turn out to wish him well.

Washington DC - At George Washington College, Margaret Truman receives her diploma. The President receives a law degree and again pleads for peace in the Atomic Age. "Civilisation cannot survive an atomic war", he states.

Washington DC - 5,000 cheer President Eisenhower as he arrives at National Airport in Geneva

President Truman makes the announcement that Japan has surrendered unconditionally. Newsmen race to spread the word to the nation, and giant "VJ Day" (Victory of Japan) festivities are set off all over the land. Washington DC starts the ball rolling, and Chicago, San Francisco and Seattle go wild. In Times Square, New York, two million people have been waiting all day for the official word. when it comes, they erupt in a celebration to end all celebrations that goes on for days.

Following Japan's refusal to submit to the ultimatum agreed on at the Potsdam Conference, President Truman warns Japan that its war-making capacity will be totally obliterated, and that it will be completely engulfed by sea and land forces.

In Washington DC, the United States signs a joint defence treaty with eleven other Western democratic nations - the first such peace-time alliance in America's history. President Truman calls it a "shield against aggression".

On the Korean front. Superforts just arrived from the US take off from Okinawa to bomb North Korean targets. In Washington, President Truman makes his first major address to the nation since the conflict erupted. He says that Communist aggression must be stopped or all nations will be in jeopardy, and reminds the American public that free nations have learned from the 1930's that appeasement leads to all-out war. In the course of his speech, he asks for partial warime powers and an increase of $10 billion in defence appropriations, with a possible tax increase, saying "the cost of freedom is high".

Washington - The president tells a solemn joint session of Congress that the "fateful hour" has come when the US must halt the spread of Communism or risk a global war. To do this, he urges financial and military aid to both Greece and Turkey.

Pope Benedict XVI arrived at a baseball stadium here Thursday to celebrate mass with tens of thousands of Catholic faithful. Waving to the estimated crowd of 48,000 from his "pope-mobile," the pontiff did a lap of the new Washington Nationals stadium ahead of the first public mass of his six-day visit to the United States.