V-J DAY | AUGUST 14, 1945

“I HAVE RECEIVED THIS AFTERNOON A MESSAGE FROM THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT…”

At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, August 14, 1945, President Truman announced to reporters gathered in the Oval Office that Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, effectively ending World War II.  Read More

HISTORIC PHOTOS OF CAMP DAVID

Nestled in the Catoctin Mountain Park in Frederick County, Maryland, is Camp David, a retreat for use by the President of the United States.

Officially a U.S. Navy installation, the facility was originally built by the Works Progress Administration as a camp for government employees, opening in 1938. President Franklin D. Roosevelt took it over and named it “Shangri-La,” for the mountain kingdom in Lost Horizon, the 1933 novel by James Hilton. It was later renamed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in honor of his then-five-year-old grandson, Dwight David Eisenhower II.

Over the years, American presidents and their families have used it for a variety of reasons. Some spent weekends there relaxing with their families. Others have used it to study, write, or confer with top advisers. A few have used it to conduct global diplomacy and forge historic peace agreements. During his first visit to Camp David, President Biden played Mario Kart with his granddaughter Naomi (and won!).  Read More

President Harry S. Truman and President Lyndon B. Johnson enjoyed a friendship stemming from a shared belief in national healthcare, civil rights, and other policies that endured through Johnson’s presidency and beyond. Johnson attributed many of his successes to the early steps that Truman took on these important policies. “It was really Harry Truman of Missouri who planted the seeds of compassion and duty which today have flowered into care for the sick and serenity for the fearful,” Johnson said. Read More

70 Years Later, a look back at this history-jammed 12 months

The following piece was contributed by A.J. Baime, author of The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months that Changed the World who is currently working on a book about the 1948 election. It originally appeared in the 1948 Commemorative Issue of TRU Magazine.

In the early evening of November 2, 1948, a secret service car pulled up behind Harry Truman’s home in Independence, Missouri, and scooped up the President of the United States. The car motored north out of town and over the Missouri River. It was Election Night, and Truman had just completed the most exhausting campaign of his life. In the quiet town of Excelsior Springs, he checked into a room alone at the Elms Hotel. Few outside of Mrs. Truman knew of his whereabouts. Read More

In 1948, nearly everyone – The New York Times, LIFE Magazine and even Bess Truman – believed Harry Truman would lose the 1948 presidential election. But 68 years ago, the Democratic National Committee understood the power of branding through personal storytelling. We found the proof in the digital archives of the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum and this 1948 graphic biography of Truman’s life, published by the DNC:

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY: June 6, 1944

President Roosevelt’s D-Day Prayer

In a national radio broadcast on June 6, 1944, as 160,000 Allied troops land in Normandy in an attempt to liberate France, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asks “my fellow Americans” to join him in this prayer:

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Inside the Vault

The 2016 race to the White House may be remembered as one of the strangest, most contentious presidential elections in history. That’s good news for collectors of campaign memorabilia: historic elections can turn those trinkets into treasures. Take, for instance, a 1.25-inch pin created for Harry Truman’s 1949 inauguration. Thanks to Truman’s surprise defeat of Dewey, that freebie is now selling for $750 on eBay. We saw that pin, and much more, during a recent visit to the Truman Library Collection Room. Take a look…
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Inside the Vault

The 2016 race to the White House may be remembered as one of the strangest, most contentious presidential elections in history. That’s good news for collectors of campaign memorabilia: historic elections can turn those trinkets into treasures. Take, for instance, a 1.25-inch pin created for Harry Truman’s 1949 inauguration. Thanks to Truman’s surprise defeat of Dewey, that freebies is now selling for $750 on eBay. We saw that pin, and much more, during a recent visit to the Truman Library Collection Room. Take a look…
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PICTURING HISTORY: February 10, 1945

Harry S. Truman had been Vice President of the United States for only a few weeks when he showed up on February 10, 1945, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. He had agreed to take part in a show for some 800 servicemen. For his part of the show, Truman sat down at an upright piano to demonstrate his talent at the keyboard.

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VICTORY!

“I have received this afternoon a message from the Japanese Government…”

At 7 pm on August 14, 1945, President Harry Truman stood before reporters gathered at the White House and announced the unconditional surrender of Japan. The Pacific War was over. Although the formal signing of the terms of surrender ending World War II would not occur until September 2nd, the announcement of Victory over Japan Day, or V-J Day, sent millions of Americans–citizens and members of the armed forces, out into the streets of cities and towns across the country and around the world.

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