President Harry Truman

Harry S. Truman was born in Lamar, Missouri on May 8, 1884. He was the first President born in Missouri. The "S" in his name is the first letter in both of his grandfathers' names.

Harry Truman was the great-great-great nephew of John Tyler

He was a Baptist.

He met his wife Bess in Sunday school when he was six years old.

Harry Truman was 5' 11" tall and weighted about 185.

He was left handed.

He served in the military during WW I. He was a captain in a artillery unit. He was also the first president to take office during war time.

Harry Truman owned a men's clothing store with some other men. The store went bankrupt in 1921. He also failed as a farmer. (He was later voted one of the top ten best dressed congress men.

A good piano player, Truman considered a career in music but went into politics instead.

As a congressman he gained fame but identifying waste in the U.S. Army.

Harry Truman became president when Franklin Roosevelt died. Truman was playing poker when he found out he was going to be president.

Harry Truman didn't have a Vice President. He had been Franklin Roosevelt's last VP, and the position was not filled until Truman was elected for his own term in 1948.

When he ran against Dewey for president, the papers ran headlines after the election the Dewey had won. Truman won, but was the 15 president to not get the majority of the votes.

Dewey Wins

Truman enjoyed taking walks. He took a two mile morning walk at a pace of 128 steps per minute. (Give it a try!)

Truman was the first President to have his inauguration televised. He was the first President to give a speech on television. In 1951, he was part of the first Trans continental TV broadcast.

One day Harry Truman walked into the Green Room and looked down at the rug. Something bothered him about that rug--finally he realized that the head of the eagle on the presidential seal in the center of the rug was turned the wrong way. Instead of facing the olive branch, this eagle's head pointed toward the arrows. Promptly Truman ordered that the rug be re-stitched with the eagle's head turned the right way.

The smartest boy in Truman's graduating class of 1901, Charles G. Ross, became Truman's press secretary.

President Truman was the only 20th Century president who did not attend college.

President Truman was the first President to travel under water in a modern submarine. He was underwater for almost an hour of Key West.

He was the first president and the first American to have a Medicare Card. (Federal Health Insurance) He had card number one and his with Bess had card number two.

Harry Truman was President at the conclusion of WWII and during the Korean War - 1950-1953. Truman sent troops to Korea without the approval of Congress.

He escaped assassination on November 1, 1950. Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola tried to shoot their way into Blair House. A White House guard was killed and two others were wounded. See Assassinations for more detail.

Bess never found a laundry she liked in Washington, so she sent the family's clothes back to Independence to be washed.

When the House of Representatives wanted to award him with a Congressional Medal of Honor. The former president refused saying he hadn't done anything to deserve it.

Harry S. Truman 1945 - 1953 33rd President

Harry S. Truman
1945 - 1953
33rd President