Revisiting the Harry S Truman Presidential Library

After three long days, driving almost 1,400 miles, and sleeping in truck stop parking lots, we made it to our first destination stop on our Colorado road trip.  No we’re not quite in Colorado, but smack in the middle of the country making a stop in Independence, MO to visit the Harry S Truman Presidential Library. 

I visited the Library (and Independence) in 2013 on my Western Road Trip and figured my son, who loves history and politics, would enjoy visiting this Presidential Library.  Also, we both needed a break from the long days behind the wheel.

When Truman’s family first settled in Independence after the Civil War it was still somewhat considered the frontier.  Truman’s parents were farmers.  And while the center of Independence has been preserved to have the feel of a small town from the 1930’s, the whole are has been sucked into the general built up urban sprawl of big city Kansas City.

The Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum is situated about a mile from the town center.  It’s set in a nice residential area and sits on a few acres of nicely manicured grounds.  Banners of Truman’s image are seen from many light poles in Independence.  After his Presidential years, Truman retired to his home in Independence and took daily walks around town.  The banners depict Truman’s walking silhouette.

Compared to some of the other presidential libraries that I’ve visited (Eisenhower, Roosevelt, Kennedy, Johnson), the Truman Library is smaller, more compact, and somewhat austere.  Truman chose the site and helped design the buildings and it shows his style as a no non sense type of person.  Its just like Truman wanted it and for $8 you get an objective look at what the the years of Truman’s presidency where like.

Here’s some new stuff I saw and learned from the Library.

• Truman had a middle initial but no middle name.  He was named Harry S Truman but the S stood for no specific name.  His parents included the S to honor Truman’s grandparents (Anderson Shippe Truman and Solomon Young)
• On the day Roosevelt died, Truman was meeting with Senators in Sam Rayburns office at the Senate office building. He got a call that he was needed at the White House.  Truman was used to walking and so he immediately left the Senate building and walked by himself to the White House and was told to see Mrs Roosevelt in the living quarter.  There she told him the President has died.
• Truman served in World War I enlisting as a private and rising in rank to captain.  After active duty he was in the Army Reserves for several years and rose to the rank of colonel.  When World War II broke out, he was still in the reserves and serving in the Senate. In 1942, he requested to return to active duty.  General George Marshall denied his request citing his service as a Senator was more important.
• Truman took the oath of office on a Bible that was found in the desk of the Chief Justice Harlan Stone. Stone brought it to the White House to swear in Truman on the evening of April 12th (Truman didn’t bring his own bible).  Truman used a note card placed on top of the Bible to read back the oath as Stone read it to him.  The staff was concerned that due the trauma of Roosevelt’s death he would stumble on the words.
• Truman held daily meetings with his staff and cabinet members.  The meetings where held around Truman’s desk in the Oval Office.  There were no sofa’s, easy chairs, or coffee table in Truman’s Oval Office.  He wasn’t a conference table type of guy and didn’t hold meetings for show.

• Truman paid attention to his attire and was known to dress well usually wearing well tailored suits. In October 1950, at the start of the Korean War, he met with General MacArthur on Wake Island.  It was the first time they had met. Truman’s hand written notes of the meeting start by saying that when he met MacArthur, the General was wearing no tie and was wearing a “greasy ham and eggs cap” that he’d been wearing for twenty years.  The rest of the notes show that Truman was not impressed with MacArthur.  He fired him 9 months later.
• During his presidency, Truman routinely signed about 600 documents per day.
• Truman was essentially broke when he left the White House.  He had no Presidential pension, no allowance for office expenses, and no Secret Service detail.  He had to borrow money during his last few months as President so he’d have some money when he retired to carry him until he could publish his memoir.

Truman, his wife Bess, and their daughter Margaret are buried in the courtyard of the Library.  The museum is very objective about Truman’s accomplishments and the serious domestic and world issues he dealt with while President.  It’s not a shrine like some of the other presidential libraries.  It’s a worthwhile visit, if you’re into history and in the Kansas City area.  Touring the museum takes about 2 hours.

Truman’s house is a National Historic Site and is open for tours.  The tours cost $5 per person and take about an hour.  The tour is a great way to see how the Truman’s lived.  The home is just a couple blocks off the town center.

A great book about Truman is David McCullough’s book Truman.

Here are some pictures from our visit.