When World War II ended in August 1945, President Harry Truman was a man in a hurry.

In the final few months of that year, he pushed hard to help establish the United Nations to handle international political disputes, and the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to deal with the shattered global economy.

"He knew the United States was going to have to do a lot, but that the United States couldn't do it all," said Elizabeth Spalding, a biographer of Truman who teaches at Claremont-McKenna College.