#33. Truman, Harry S

Linda Lou Burton posting from Little Rock, Arkansas – Harry S Truman (1884-1972) was the 33^rd President of the United States, from 1945 to 1953. His inauguration was the seventh emergency presidential swearing in. Harry, as Vice-President , had just adjourned a session of the Senate and was headed for a drink with Sam Rayburn, then Speaker of the House, when he got a call to “Come to the White House.” He was met there by First Lady Eleanor, who informed him that “President Roosevelt is dead.” Harry asked Eleanor “Is there anything I can do for you?” And Eleanor wisely replied “Is there anything we can do for you? You are the one in trouble now.”

At 7:09 PM on Thursday, April 12, 1945, in the Cabinet Room at the White House, Chief Justice Harlan Stone administered the oath of office, beginning “Do you, Harry Shipp Truman…” to which Harry replied “I Harry S Truman…” before the oath continued. The ceremony lasted about a minute, after which Harry kissed the Bible. First Lady Eleanor was there, of course; and new First Lady Bess and daughter Margaret. Sam Rayburn, and members of the cabinet were there. This was the second inauguration in 1945; Franklin had been sworn in for his fourth term January 20; Harry was Vice President for a total of 82 days.

How To?

Those 82 days had not been training days for “how to be President” either; even though the United States was immersed in war, and Franklin’s health was failing, he didn’t take Harry into his confidence; in fact they only met alone two times. Harry was told nothing about the Manhattan Project, aka, the atomic bomb being built in secrecy. As well as a few other things a President might need to know. So Harry had to face his new job straight on, and he began right there with the oath. You see, his name was NOT Harry Shipp Truman, it really was “Harry S.” His grandfathers were Shipp Truman and Solomon Young, so Mom and Dad decided on “just S” to honor both. Harry gained another name over his years in the public arena, and that was “Give’em Hell Harry,” but I’m getting ahead of the story.

Harry S was the oldest of John Anderson and Martha Young Truman’s three children; he was born in Lamar, Missouri May 8, 1884. John was a farmer and livestock dealer. The next two children, John Vivian and Mary Jane, were born as the family moved several times in Missouri; Harrisonville, Belton, Grandview, and then Independence, where Harry attended Presbyterian Church School. At the age of seven, he began piano lessons, getting up at 5 AM to practice; something he continued for the next eight years, becoming a skilled piano player. Harry served as a Shabbos goy for his Jewish neighbors in Independence, doing tasks for them on Shabbat that their religion prevented them from doing on that day. In 1900, at the age of 16, he worked as a page at the Democratic National Convention in Kansas; his father had friends in the Democratic Party who helped Harry get that opportunity. Harry graduated high school in Independence in 1901; then took classes at business school learning bookkeeping and typing; he worked in the mailroom of the Kansas City Star for a while.

His next job gave him training in, shall we say, “vocabulary” which served him over the years in rather interesting ways. He got a job as timekeeper for construction crews on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, and slept in workmen’s camps along the rail lines. That’s where Harry learned to cuss. (Remember that.) Harry considered going to West Point, but was refused due to poor eyesight. So he enlisted in the Missouri National Guard in 1905 (age 21) and served until 1911, attaining the rank of corporal. How did he get in? He failed the first eye test, deemed “legally blind.” So he took the test again. This time he had memorized the eye chart.

Fast Forward to World War I

When the United States entered World War I on April 6, 1917, Harry, now 33, rejoined the Guard. He’d had farming and clerical jobs over the years, not particularly challenging; but he really hit the mark with the military. That’s where he became a leader. He successfully recruited new soldiers for his unit, Battery D, and was elected as their first lieutenant. By mid-1918, about one million soldiers of the American Expeditionary Forces were in France, and Harry, now a captain, became commander of the newly arrived Battery D, 129^th Field Artillery, 35^th Division. Remember what I said about Harry’s vocabulary? One bit of Army lore about Battery D in France is called The Battle of Who Run, it goes like this: During a surprise nighttime attack by the Germans in the Vosges Mountains, the men started to flee. Harry ordered them back, using those “colorful words” from his railroad days. The men were so surprised to hear such language from him they immediately obeyed. Battery D provided support for George Patton’s tank brigade, and fired some of the last shots of the war on November 11, 1918. Harry’s unit did not lose any men under his command; his leadership was honored; on their return to the States, his men presented him with a loving cup.

Loving Bess. And Margaret

Elizabeth Virginia Wallace (Bess) was born February 13, 1885, in Independence, Missouri, to Margaret Elizabeth and David Willock Wallace. Bess (Bessie as a child) had three younger brothers and was a bit of a tomboy; she pursued golf, tennis, riding, basketball, ice skating; she danced at town balls and went on hayrides. And then. Her father committed suicide. She was 18 when it happened; the event was a major scandal; the family hid in Colorado for a year. Bess’s mother became a recluse, Bess cared for her the rest of her life. Bess also took the responsibility of raising her brothers; they lived in their grandparent’s house. She did go to a finishing school; and she did become “fashionable” (she loved hats, in particular). But she determined to keep her father’s actions a secret and never spoke of him again. Put this background onto the role of “First Lady” that would be hers in 1945, maybe it explains her absolute refusal of publicity.

Harry and Bess met in school when they were quite young. But socially, they traveled in different circles. Nevertheless, Harry proposed in 1911; Bess turned him down. And yet, in 1917, before Harry left for France, Bess wanted to get married; this time Harry refused, saying he would not risk making her a young widow. They finally married June 28, 1919 in Independence; after a short honeymoon they moved into Bess’s childhood home so she could continue caring for her mother. Bess had two miscarriages before daughter Margaret was born in 1924. And all the while Bess tried to “teach Harry some etiquette” – in particular, refining that “colorful language.” Harry, meanwhile, kinda-sorta spoiled his little girl.

Eventually, Politics

You know about the haberdashery Harry opened after the war? It gave him another nickname as well as Give’em Hell Harry – the Haberdasher. It also contributed to his sense of style; he was always well dressed. By 1922 (age 38) however, he became a county judge; in 1934 he was elected to the US Senate; and between 1940-1944 gained prominence as chairman of the Truman Committee, aimed at reducing waste in wartime contracts. And it was that position that landed him on the Democratic ticket in 1944 as a Vice Presidential candidate. Franklin Roosevelt was a shoo-in for his fourth term; but due to his failing health, the Party considered his current VP Henry Wallace too eccentric and left wing to be a suitable president (should there be a need). Harry’s name was out there; Franklin didn’t know him but reluctantly agreed to the switch. Election Results in 1944 you already know. And then, those 82 days.

1945

When Harry took the oath of office the evening of April 12, he also took on the weight of US involvement in war to the east and war to the west. Did he sleep that evening, I wonder? The next day Secretary of War Henry Stimson told him that a new weapon was being built that was capable of destroying the world. How’s that for an after-breakfast surprise, first day on the job?

“The buck stops here.” Harry became famous over time for the sign on his desk clearly stating where he believed a president’s responsibility lay. HERE. Maybe he wore thick-rimmed glasses, but he could see the path; he gathered information; he analyzed; he consulted; and, he made some very, very, tough decisions. 1945 passed like a whirlwind.

• Day 1: April 12 Harry Truman sworn in
• Day 2: April 13 Sec of War advises Harry of Manhattan Project
• Day 25: May 7 Harry and Bess move into the White House, after leaving Eleanor time to vacate
• Day 25: May 7 Nazi Germany signed unconditional surrender in Reims, France
• Day 26: May 8 VE Day Celebrated
• Day 96 Jul 17 Harry learns of successful test of atomic bomb while attending Big Three summit conference in Potsdam, Germany, gives his approval to use it
• Day 116 Aug 6 Atomic Bomb Little Boy Dropped on Hiroshima
• Day 119 Aug 9 Atomic Bomb Fat Man Dropped on Nagasaki
• Day 125 Aug 15 VJ Day Japan surrenders
• Day 143 Sep 2 Japan signs official surrender aboard USS Missouri; Harry Truman makes speech from the White House.

Did you catch that? The USS Missouri.

Now The Hard Stuff Really Begins

Abe Lincoln had to deal with war during his presidency. But he missed the aftermath; that bucket of snakes fell into Andrew Johnson’s lap. Not so with Harry; he was faced with war and then the transition from war to a peacetime economy. Price controls were ending; inflation was soaring. Railroad strikes, labor unions, general bedlam; Harry’s approval rating dropped from 82% to 52% to 32%. Senator Fullbright suggested Harry resign; colorful Harry said he did not care what “Senator Halfbright” said.

In one of the most “off the mark” polling errors ever made, resulting in one of the most GLOATABLE moments of newspaper error, “Dewey Defeats Truman” ran on the front page of the Chicago Daily Tribune November 3, 1948, the day after Harry won an upset victory over Thomas Dewey. See that Presidential smile. I was old enough that year to laugh about it too!

But in fact, the next four years were even more stressful. Harry presided over the onset of the Cold War in 1947. He oversaw the Berlin Airlift and Marshall Plan in 1948. Domestically, Harry proposed that Congress pass comprehensive civil rights legislation. Congress refused, so he issued Executive Order 9980 and Executive Order 9981, which prohibited discrimination in federal agencies and desegregated the US Armed Forces. Though Harry was eligible for reelection in 1952, he chose not to run.

Get Me Outta Here

Bess never liked traditional First Lady duties; she refused publicity so daughter Margaret fielded many of the hostessing responsibilities. The White House staff enjoyed having the Trumans around; they affectionately called the trio – Harry, Bess and Margaret – the Three Musketeers. Bess would chide Harry when he lost his temper; “you didn’t have to say that” became an inside joke among White House staff. In 1948, engineering investigations deemed the White House “unsafe for occupancy” due to structural deterioration; Harry, Bess and staff were relocated across the street to Blair House from 1949 to 1952.

On January 20, 1953, with the inauguration of Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon, the Trumans headed back to Missouri, and the home Bess grew up in. Harry wrote his memoirs. Upon turning 80 in 1964, Harry was feted in Washington, and addressed the Senate, availing himself of a new rule that allowed former presidents to be granted privilege of the floor. After a fall at his home later that year, his physical condition declined. In 1965, when President Lyndon Johnson signed the Medicare bill at the Truman Presidential Library, he gave the first two Medicare cards to Harry and to Bess, to honor Harry’s fight for government health care while in office.

Harry died of pneumonia December 5, 1972, at the age of 88. Bess chose a simple private service at the library; a memorial service was held at the Washington National Cathedral a week later. Bess died in 1982 and is buried next to Harry; she lived to 97 and to this day is the longest-lived First Lady.

Daughter Margaret? Quite a lady! She was a classical soprano, actress, journalist, radio and TV personality, and writer; married to Clifton Daniels, managing editor of the New York Times; together they had four sons. Margaret gave two precious gifts to her Mom and Dad – grandkids, and she wrote their biographies.

About the party? Well yes, if Harry will agree to play the piano.