Harry S. Truman ~ May 8, 1884 - December 26, 1972

33rd President 1945-1953

Truman sites we've visited:

Independence, Missouri, has Truman's home, Presidential Museum & Library, and his gravesite.

He and Bess moved into this house at 219 N. Delaware in 1919 when they married. They still lived there when Harry died in 1972.

Truman had his first job at this drug store.

The Jackson County Courthouse in Independence is where Truman served as an administrative judge, beginning in 1922. He became a senator in 1934. Truman never received a college or law degree.

A few artifacts from a 2023 exhibit at the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

This car was built for Truman but became most associated with Eisenhower. The car can be found in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

Truman's plane is kept in the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.

The grounds of the Truman Presidential Museum and Library are quite beautiful.

Truman enlisted in the army in 1917 and served in France.

Other miscellany from the museum.

A common relic found in Presidential Museums 😊

Assassination attempt

Oval Office

This was Truman's working library/office that was built inside of the museum. Sometimes he would pop out and talk to museum visitors. That would have been amazing 😊

A few cars are housed in the museum.

Harry and Bess, and Margaret and her husband, E. Clifton Daniel, Jr., are buried on the museum property.

Truman's portrait as it hangs in the White House (taken on our 2015 White House tour).

Key West, Florida, has Truman's Little White House and we toured it a few years ago. Unfortunately, no photos were permitted inside. The interior was airy and open, and looked typical Florida, but was otherwise unremarkable (other than the table and chairs where Truman played poker with his friends - that was cool 😊). A small exhibit/gift shop permitted photos.

In August of 1955, Truman visited Mackinac Island, Michigan, and stayed at the famous Grand Hotel, one of five presidents to do so (Kennedy and Clinton came before they were presidents, Truman and George H.W. Bush visited post-presidency, and Gerald Ford was the only sitting president to stay in the Grand).

Truman was the first president to have a nationally televised inauguration and was the first president (and person) to be issued a Medicare card. He (and six other presidents) was alive for two presidential assassinations, McKinley and JFK. Truman is one of twelve presidents without a college degree.

Five months after leaving office, Harry and Bess took a 19-day road trip - on their own and long before Bill & Ted. How down-to-earth was that ~ cheers to Harry & Bess!

"All my life, whenever it comes time to make a decision, I make it and forget about it."