Book Excerpt: The Watchdog | April 24, 2024
The Watchdog
How the Truman Committee Battled Corruption and Helped Win World War Two
By Steve Drummond
Winner of the 2024 Harry S. Truman Book Award
EXCERPT FROM THE WATCHDOG
Portland, Oregon, January 16, 1943
SATURDAY NIGHT WAS QUIETER THAN USUAL in war-booming Portland. A cold snap on Friday had killed two people in a storm that brought high winds and left a thin blanket of snow across the city. Temperatures were expected to sink into the low twenties.
The Liberation of Buchenwald | April 11, 2024
The Liberation of Buchenwald
April 11, 1945
On April 11, GIs of the 6th Armored Division entered Buchenwald, the main camp in a large complex of concentration camps near Weimar that had recently been abandoned by German troops. American soldiers who liberated the camp were met by thousands of emaciated camp survivors. Shortly after the camp’s liberation, Bernard Bernstein reached Buchenwald and came face-to-face with the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust. His story is part of the Truman Library’s archives.
Creation of NATO | March 18, 2024
Address on the Occasion of the Signing of the North Atlantic Treaty: April 4, 1949
On April 4, 1949, the U.S. entered into its first peacetime military alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty. After Secretary of State Dean Acheson signed the treaty, President Truman addressed the crowd. “In this pact, we hope to create a shield against aggression and the fear of aggression–a bulwark which will permit us to get on with the real business of government and society, the business of achieving a fuller and happier life for all our citizens.”
Read on for more from President Truman’s address after the North Atlantic Treaty was signed. For the accompanying historic sound recording, click here.
Why I’m Wild About Harry | March 6, 2024
A Q&A With Washington Post Columnist David Von Drehle
KANSAS CITIANS ARE WILD ABOUT HARRY, perhaps none more so than David Von Drehle. A journalist, New York Times best-selling author, and lifelong history enthusiast, Von Drehle initially became involved with the Truman Library and Truman Library Institute more than a decade ago. Now, he is serving as Honorary Chair for the 25th annual Wild About Harry gala, a night celebrating the legacy of Harry Truman while raising vital funds for civics education at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum.
First Family Stories: Margaret and Jack | February 16, 2024
First Family Stories
By Clifton Truman Daniel
“Margaret and Jack”
MY MOTHER, Margaret Truman Daniel, wasn’t much impressed by politics and politicians.
This was almost certainly a case of familiarity breeding contempt. Titles and position meant little to her, even when she was sitting in the White House.
During the early 1950s, while she pursued a singing career in New York, Mom kept an apartment at the Carlyle Hotel at the corner of Madison and 76th. My grandparents stayed there a few times, as well.
A Unique Privilege | February 16, 2024
Margaret Truman in the White House
By Natalie Alms
On June 11, 1945, nearly two months into his presidency, Harry Truman wrote to his daughter Margaret: “you evidently are just finding out what a terrible situation the President’s daughter is facing … so you must face it. Keep your balance and go along just as your dad is trying to go.”
Historic Speeches | January 5, 2024
President Truman’s “Fair Deal” Speech
On January 5, 1949, President Harry S. Truman announced, in his State of the Union address, that every American has a right to expect from our government a fair deal. Truman’s “Fair Deal” was an ambitious set of proposals put forward by U.S. President Harry S. Truman to Congress in his January 1949 State of the Union address. This single historic speech encapsulates the entire domestic agenda of the Truman administration, from 1945 to 1953.
Fall 2023 Research Grants Announced | December 2, 2023
The Truman Library Institute is pleased to announce the awardees of its Fall 2023 Research Grants. Grants of up to $2,500 are awarded twice annually to offset the cost of conducting research at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum.
This grant cycle will assist scholars advancing research on such topics as American intelligence, the U.S. Armed Forces, the history of humanitarian aid, foreign policy, national security and our American political system.
Together, these grants will ultimately help deepen the public understanding of our critical past and serve to illuminate issues of national and global significance today and in the years to come. Read More
First Family Stories: Remembering Rosalynn Carter | November 21, 2023
First Family Stories
By Clifton Truman Daniel
“Remembering Rosalynn Carter”
I DID NOT KNOW ROSALYNN CARTER WELL. We met only once, in 2019, when I was invited to give a talk during the annual meeting of the Carter Political Items Collectors in Plains, Georgia. Even so, I felt her presence throughout the town.
Plains, her home, to which she and Jimmy Carter returned after leaving the White House, was—and is—so small that Lillian Carter, Rosalynn’s future mother-in-law, helped deliver her on the day she was born. Years later, when Jimmy Carter first asked her on a date, she turned him down. Then she “ran around with everyone else in Plains,” as he put it, before accepting his invitation.
First Family Stories: Truman Defeats Dewey | November 1, 2023
First Family Stories
By Clifton Truman Daniel
“Truman Defeats Dewey”
THE FIRST STORY my mother told me about the 1948 presidential campaign had nothing to do with tactics, crowds, or the upset victory.
The Ferdinand Magellan presidential railcar was outfitted with a speedometer connected to the engine, so folks in back could see how fast they were going. Mom and Grandpa were in the lounge one afternoon, reading, when Mom noticed Grandpa glancing up repeatedly at the speedometer, which was climbing. 80. 82. 85 . . . Finally, he said to an aide, “Tell the engineer to slow down.”
