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Truman presided over the onset of the [[Cold War]] in 1947. He oversaw the [[Berlin Airlift]] and Marshall Plan in 1948. With the involvement of the US in the [[Korean War]] of 1950–1953, [[South Korea]] repelled the invasion by [[North Korea]]. Domestically, the postwar economic challenges such as strikes and inflation created a mixed reaction over the effectiveness of his administration. In 1948, he proposed Congress pass comprehensive civil rights legislation. Congress refused, so Truman issued Executive Order 9980 and [[Executive Order 9981]], which prohibited discrimination in federal agencies and desegregated the [[United States Armed Forces|U.S. Armed Forces]].
Investigations revealed [[Corruption in the United States|corruption]] in parts of the Truman administration, and this became a major campaign issue in the [[1952 United States presidential election|1952 presidential election]], although they did not implicate Truman himself. He was eligible for reelection in 1952 but, with poor polling, he chose not to run. Truman went into a retirement marked by the founding of [[Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum|his presidential library]] and the publication of his memoirs. It was long thought that his retirement years were financially difficult for Truman, resulting in Congress establishing a pension for former presidents, but evidence eventually emerged that he amassed considerable wealth, some of it while still president. When he left office, Truman's administration was heavily criticized, though [[Historical rankings of presidents of the United States|critical reassessment]] of his presidency has improved his reputation among historians and the general population.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Alonzo L.|last=Hamby|date=October 4, 2016|title=Harry S. Truman: Life in Brief|url=https://millercenter.org/president/truman/life-in-brief|access-date=February 2, 2022|agency=[[Miller Center of Public Affairs]]}}</ref> Despite this controversy, scholars [[Historical rankings of presidents of the United States|rank]] Truman in the first quartile of American presidents.
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