When Harry Truman told his cabinet in 1948 that he was going to recognize the new country of Israel (without yet knowing what its name would be), most of his closest collaborators and friends vehemently opposed such a move.

Truman always considered that he had made the right decision, and in many ways, his was an extremely lonely choice; not backed by a majority of his cabinet or by most members of his own political party. //

While it’s true that Harry Truman had a soft spot in his heart for the Jewish people because of his Baptist and Biblical upbringing, and while it’s true he had close Jewish friends, and while it’s also true that he was deeply moved by the suffering of the Jews at the hands of the Nazi’s, these were not the main reasons that he came to his momentous decision. Looking at the actual arguments advanced at the time by Clifford and others who defended Truman’s move, it’s evident that the reason Israel was recognized was that they wanted a liberal democratic nation to exist in an area of the world where such a phenomenon was woefully absent. Not much has changed in the past 75 years. //

One sees in Harry Truman’s step a clear sense of right and wrong, but at the same time, there was a fierce spirit of courage in this lonely but righteous decision.