Speaker Spotlight | David McCullough

The following is an excerpt from David McCullough’s speech on December 9, 2001, at the rededication of the Truman Library. McCullough is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Truman, the definitive biography of Harry S. Truman. He will be honored with the Harry S. Truman Legacy of Leadership Award at Wild About Harry, on Thursday, April 19.

Harry Truman, as we all know, is the frst and only president who ever came from Missouri. He was also the only president in the 20th and 21st centuries who never went to college. But very few presidents … have been so conscious of their predecessors as was Harry Truman… He was never without a sense of history. Read More

100 years ago, as Captain Harry S. Truman and the rest of the 129^th Artillery were preparing to ship off to fight in the Western Front and face combat in World War I, the wives and sweethearts of the Battery D men were taking on a project of their own. These women banded together to create a quilt that was eventually raffled off to raise money to buy wool yarn, which would in turn be used to knit socks for the troops. This year only, this special quilt is on display in the Truman Library’s special exhibition, “Heroes or Corpses”: Captain Truman in World War I.

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Harry S. Truman may have entered World War I as a struggling farmer, but he left with the leadership skills and a personal network of friends that launched him into a lifetime of public service that culminated with him becoming one of the greatest presidents of the United States. Read More

Carrying on the legacy of a family member can be a challenge for anyone, but even more so when that family member was the president of the United States. Clifton Truman Daniel, Harry Truman’s eldest grandson, serves as the Honorary Chair of the Truman Library Institute board and often speaks of his grandfather’s legacy and memories he has of “grandpa.”

Daniel was recently interviewed on the podcast Conversations with Ed Tracy, where he shared about his recent work playing his grandfather in a one-man play, reflected on his travels to Japan to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and discussed the role he plays in promoting President Truman’s legacy. Listen to the interview or read an abridged transcript here. Read More

The Harry S. Truman Library and Museum is commemorating the 100th anniversary of Truman entering combat during World War I this year through a new temporary exhibition, ‘Heroes or Corpses’: Captain Truman in World War I. We went behind the scenes and spoke with Curator Clay Bauske about this new exhibition.

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Hundreds of Truman fans celebrated Presidents’ Day with a full day of activities at the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum. Not only that, but Harry Truman made headlines across the country on what turned out to be a very exciting day for Truman! And, according to the Kansas City Star, 2018 is “the year of Truman.” Read More

Each year some two dozen historians, writers and scholars receive Research Grants to explore the archives at the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum. These prestigious research grants are made possible thanks to the generosity of Truman Library Institute members and donors.

Donors have made it possible for the Truman Library Institute to give out nearly $2.7 million over the years for researchers all over the world to travel to Independence to immerse themselves in archival research and further our understanding of the Truman era.

Meet one of these grantees, Hannah Ontiveros, who recently traveled to the Truman Library to study how American women influenced foreign policy during the Korean War era. We took a few minutes of Hannah’s time to learn about her research and what she learned while on site at the Truman Library. Read More

Harry S. Truman passed away on this day in 1972. The former president was 88 years old.

The following week, on January 3 and 4, 1973, 47 Congressmen and 70 Senators offered memorial tributes eulogizing the 33^rd President of the United States on the floors of House of Representatives and the Senate, including Senators Robert Dole, Barry Goldwater, Edward Kennedy, George McGovern, Walter Mondale, Stuart Symington, Adlai Stevenson and Strom Thurmond. Republicans and Democrats alike joined together to praise Truman, his decisiveness, his humility and, above all, his service to the American people. Read More

President Harry S. Truman made eight Christmas addresses to the nation during his presidency. In these speeches, which were broadcast from Washington, D.C., or his home in Independence, MO, President Truman spoke about his faith and the connections between it and democracy, compared the plight of Jesus and Mary to that of those doing without or homeless during Christmas, heralded the bravery and purpose of those fighting in Korea, and called on his fellow Americans to uphold the promise of the Christmas story, democracy, and world peace.

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Welcome guest blogger Kaete O’Connell, a Ph.D. candidate in history at Temple University, who received a Research Grant to explore the archives at the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum thanks to the generosity of Truman Library Institute members and donors. Thank you to the American Historical Association for allowing us to reprint her blog post on food relief in post-war Germany.

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