TRU Magazine | Spring-Summer 2022

Annual event delivers historic victory for Truman 6

S PR I NG / SU M M E R 2022 A DVAN C I N G P R E S I D E N T TR U MA N ’S LI B R A RY A N D LEGACY

William J. Burns accepts 2022 Truman Legacy Award 8

HST75 event explores Truman’s bold strides for civil rights 16

“If we wish to inspire the peoples of the world whose freedom is in jeopardy, if we wish to restore hope to those who have already lost their civil liberties, if we wish to fulfill the promise that is ours, we must correct the remaining imperfections in our practice of democracy.

We know the way. We need only the will.”

TRU MAGAZINE HIGHLIGHTS FEATURED CONTENT Throughout this issue of TRU, you’ll discover programs, articles, speeches and photographs that examine and illuminate the 75th anniversaries from Truman’s presidency. Look for this symbol for featured HST75 content.

Harry S. Truman COVER

DEPARTMENTS

President Truman inspects the personnel of the USS Missouri accompanied by Admiral James Foskett, August 9, 1947.

The Iowa-class naval vessel was the last battleship commissioned by the United States and is best remembered as the site of the surrender of the Empire of Japan, which ended World War II.

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TRU Letters

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News Briefs

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Worth Watching

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Program Notes

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Digital Digest

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Give ’Em Hell, Harry!

TRUMAN LIBRARY INSTITUTE OUR VISION People are inspired, enriched and empowered through the many resources of the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum.

OUR MISSION To bring the life and legacy of Harry S. Truman to bear on current and future generations through the understanding of history, the presidency, domestic and foreign policy, and citizenship.

COVER CONTENT Watch Margaret Truman christen the USS Missouri.

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LEGACY OF LEADERSHIP

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TRUMAN’S BOLD STRIDES FOR CIVIL RIGHTS

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WORTH WATCHING

Access online programs and exclusive content you may have missed.

CIA Director William J. Burns accepts the 2022 Truman Legacy of Leadership Award and reflects on a lifetime of service.

75 years on, Richard Gergel recalls the events that led to Executive Order 9808, the President’s Civil Rights Committee, and Truman’s historic address to the NAACP.

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DEAR FRIENDS, I am excited to share this issue of TRU with you. Your magazine is full of exclusive stories and features honoring 75th anniversaries of President Truman’s consequential presidency.

As you explore this issue, look for our HST75 icon for anniversary-themed features, like CIA Director William Burns’ Truman Legacy of Leadership Award acceptance remarks, which reference the 75th anniversary of the 1947 National Security Act; Richard Gergel’s riveting story of Truman’s response to racial injustice and a watershed speech to the NAACP; and a reflection on the legacy of the Truman Doctrine by John Avlon, CNN senior political analyst.

And there’s more – from Truman’s entertaining voyage on the USS Missouri to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, to his veto of the Taft-Hartley Act, which helped seal his presidential victory in 1948.

There’s no better place to explore Truman’s story – and some of the most dramatic chapters of America’s story – than the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum. In fact, the lessons of history waiting to be discovered at the Truman Library are directly connected to world events unfolding now.

Attendance is soaring as travelers and staycationers discover the all-new exhibition.

Membership is soaring, too. As we finalize this issue of TRU, our team is preparing for the largest Members’ Night at the Museum in our history – expanded to two nights to meet the demand.

It’s wonderful to see the Museum galleries filled again with families, students, tourists, journalists, contributors and members. I am reminded of something that was said at our annual fundraising dinner, WILD ABOUT HARRY. The Truman Library isn’t just a museum or a presidential archive. It’s a community of leaders, visionaries, civil servants, volunteers, educators, scholars, citizens and students who care deeply about our nation and the state of our democracy.

And that’s exactly what President Truman envisioned – a presidential library that would serve as a classroom for democracy. When he opened the doors to the Truman Library in 1957, America’s 33rd president essentially issued an invitation and a challenge to each one of us: Get involved. Play a role in this grand democratic experiment that the founding fathers envisioned over 240 years ago. Take nothing for granted, and be a citizen leader who helps protect the freedoms we value and treasure.

Thank you for stepping up to the challenge and helping us fulfill President Truman’s vision.

We are deeply grateful for your participation and support as we strive to share the lessons of history that can help light our way forward.

ALEX BURDEN Executive Director Truman Library Institute

Design: Jaron Theye Event Photography: Mark McDonald Send comments, requests, and changes of address to: Truman Library Institute, 5151 Troost Ave., Ste. 300, Kansas City, MO 64110 info@TrumanLibraryInstitute.org | 816.400.1220 TRU is published twice a year for members and friends of the Truman Library Institute.

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“Never have I been more excited to write a check; the Truman Library looks great, and I am proud of all you have accomplished.”

TRU LETTERS SHARING THE LEGACY

NOTE OF THANKS

BROUGHT TO TEARS

On Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the Truman Library Institute propitiously issued an outstanding publication entitled “Legacy Letter.” What is so significant in recognizing President Truman’s involvement in civil rights is that he, like Abraham Lincoln, did so as our nation’s Chief Executive at a time in our history when it was politically inadvisable to do so. President Truman’s signing of Executive Order 9808 to form the President’s Committee on Civil Rights was, in my opinion, comparable to Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Historically, the far-reaching action that President Truman took in 1946 established a precedent for succeeding presidents to follow, including Lyndon B. Johnson, whose civil rights advocacy culminated in landmark legislation (the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act).

What a delight it was to read this issue of the Legacy Letter and to share it with friends.

Thank you for your great work in keeping the memory of one of our greatest presidents alive and well in this age of political chicanery and hypocrisy. I’ve read several books about President Truman, including the McCullough biography, and am constantly impressed with Truman’s political acumen and strength of character. There haven’t been men like him often in our history, and Truman stands out as one of the greatest there was. Not appreciated in his time, he nevertheless stands out from the crowd now for his achievements and courage.

We attended “Freedom from Fear” today. The presentation was deeply moving, especially the story of Sgt. Isaac Woodard, which brought me to tears. As a fellow Missourian and graduate of Westminster College, I always appreciated President Truman, but that respect has grown exponentially.

Bruce W.

NEW STANDARD

Charles Fischbach

STAYING TRU Attached is my Stay TRU Capital Campaign pledge payment. Never have I been more excited to write a check; the Truman Library looks great, and I am proud of all you have accomplished. I am looking forward to our continued work to elevate President Truman as he so rightly deserves. We need his story now more than ever.

Greg Gunderson

WILD ABOUT HARRY President Truman has always been one of my heroes. When I was at the University of Missouri, I had an opportunity to briefly meet him after he gave a speech at the university. A highlight in my life in regard to the president was being able to go to his new library and his office, and to talk with and interview him as part of a small group of political science graduate students. I went on to obtain my doctorate in history, and then became a university president. I am proud of what you have done for the Truman Library, and I wish you well.

Leon E. Boothe President Emeritus, Northern Kentucky University

Stephen W. Davis Editor’s Note: You can read a transcript of this remarkable program on page 16.

Thanks so much for a very memorable visit this week. It was a great pleasure catching up with you, and I’m grateful for your generous hospitality, a delightful program [see page 6], a wonderful dinner and a fabulous tour.

You have every reason to be proud of the new exhibit. It sets a new standard for the presidential libraries. Congratulations, again!

Mark K. Updegrove President & CEO, LBJ Foundation

We want to hear from you! Submit your letters to info@TrumanLibraryInstitute.org or TRU Magazine, Truman Library Institute, 5151 Troost Ave, Ste. 300, Kansas City, MO 64110.

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NEWS BRIEFS The Remarkable Story of Reconstruction

TRU Honors

June 5, 2022 marked

The Truman Library Institute has

the anniversary of a

received Charity Navigator’s highest

speech that altered

rating for sound fiscal management,

world history. Secretary

accountability, and transparency. In

of State George C.

other words, there’s no smarter place

Marshall, who had been a

to invest in the safeguarding of our

five-star general in World

nation’s history and democracy.

War II, was at Harvard

Digitizing Civil Rights History

to receive an honorary degree and deliver the

MUSEUM

CAMPAIGN

EVENTS

Step S tep inside inside the the world-class world-class renovation renovation 4

Donor D onor Honor Honor Roll Roll salutes salutes support support for for Harry Harry S. S. Truman Truman 23 23

Access A ccess exclusive exclusive content content and a nd programming programming 34 34

commencement address.

The William T. Kemper Foundation

In unadorned remarks – and with little fanfare – he laid out a plan

has generously granted $50,000 to

that would redefine U.S. foreign policy and transform the modern

fund the digitization of the Truman

world. To mark the 75th anniversary of the Marshall Plan and share

Library’s Civil Rights collection. The

the rich historical resources archived at the Harry S. Truman Library

strategic grant will expand access to

and Museum, the Truman Library Institute has partnered with the German Marshall Fund of the United States to highlight the

T R U M A N T R A N S F O R M AT I O N – S PE CI A L E D I T I O N 2021 FALL / W I N T E R

T R U M A N T R A N S F O R M AT I O N – S PE CI A L E D I T I O N FALL / W I N T E R 2021

one of the most important collections in the presidential library system, shedding

achievements of one of the most important American diplomatic

The Fall/Winter issue of TRU Magazine

light on a crucial chapter in the civil

initiatives of the 20th century. Commemorative exhibits are on display

has won a 2022 PIA MidAmerica

rights struggle, from President Truman’s

at GMF’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., highlighting the post-

Graphex Award for excellence. If you

1946 Civil Rights Committee to the

war crisis, President Truman’s recovery program, and the beginning

missed this special edition, you can view

desegregation of the U.S. Armed Forces

of a new epoch in western Europe. View exhibit highlights at

the flipbook at TrumanLibraryInstitute.org.

in 1948.

TrumanLibraryInstitute.org/MARSHALL.

Civil Rights Symposium Planned for 2023 On July 26-28, 2023, the Truman Library Institute will convene a Civil Rights Symposium in Washington, D.C., to mark the 75th anniversary of President Truman’s Executive Order 9981 and the desegregation of the U.S. Armed Forces. Military leaders, prominent civil servants and historians will explore the context and legacy of Truman’s actions through speeches, panels and spirited conversation, while also celebrating the long history of service to our nation by those who were denied a full measure of the nation’s promised liberty and justice. Committee members currently include U.S. Senator Roy Blunt; Rep. Emanuel Cleaver and Rep. Jim Clyburn, co-chairs (pictured left, respectively); Adm. Michelle Howard (Ret.), vice chair; Judge Richard Gergel; Claire McCaskill; and General Donald Scott (Ret.). Thank you to these lead sponsors: The Boeing Company, William T. Kemper Foundation and Leigh and Tyler Nottberg. For symposium updates, watch future issues of TRU and subscribe to TRU e-news at TrumanLibraryInstitute.org.

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Picturing History

CROSSING THE LINE Pollywogs to Shellbacks In a time-honored naval tradition, when a ship crosses the equator, King Neptune comes aboard to exercise authority over his domain and to judge charges brought against “pollywogs” who are only posing as sailors and haven’t paid proper homage to the god of the sea. Today, crossing the equator is a routine event, but in the days of wooden ships, the ceremonies were designed to test young sailors on their first cruise out in the open sea.

Thus it was that, on September 11, 1947, Margaret Truman was charged with “living in a fish bowl.” The entire first family enjoyed and participated in Crossing the Line ceremonies aboard the USS Missouri, following President Truman’s official state visit to Brazil, where he addressed the Rio de Janeiro Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Continental Peace and Security.

SCAN THE QR CODE TO WATCH THE HISTORIC NEWSREEL. For more photos from this collection, search for “crossing the equator” at TrumanLibrary.gov.

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In a breathtaking victory, the 23rd annual benefit raised a record-breaking $764,968 for Harry S. Truman’s enduring legacy and presidential library.

Support for WILD ABOUT HARRY helps open the doors for tens of thousands of students each year. They count on the history and civics programs at the Truman Library, just as America is counting on their service and leadership in the years to come.

THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2022 23RD ANNUAL EVENT SUPPORTING TRUMAN’S PRESIDENTIAL LIBR ARY AND LEGACY

HONORARY CHAIRS PATRICK OTTENSMEYER AND DEANNE PORTER EVENT CHAIRS DAVID AND TAMARA CAMPBELL KEYNOTE JEFFREY FRANK Author of The Trials of Harry S. Truman HONOR E E WILLIAM J. BURNS Director, Central Intelligence Agency R E S U LTS $764,968 RAISED

TO P S E C R ET

Thank you to everyone who joined us – in person and virtually – for WILD ABOUT HARRY on April 28 in Kansas City, Missouri. On-stage guests included Senator Roy Blunt; author Jeffrey Frank; Clifton Truman Daniel; Kansas City jazz vocalist Eboni Fondren; and our 2022 honoree, CIA Director William J. Burns.

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PRESENTING SPONSOR

PRESIDENT’S CLUB Brig. Gen. Jack L. Capps, USA (Ret.) The Evans Family Evergy Jean and Tom McDonnell Leigh and Tyler Nottberg Family Foundation Marny and John Sherman

OVAL OFFICE UNDERWRITER Bonnie and Herb Buchbinder

WEST WING UNDERWRITERS Americo Financial Life and Annuity Insurance Co. G. Kenneth & Ann Baum Philanthropic Fund Black & Veatch Millie and Mike Brown Jane and Richard Bruening Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP Burns & McDonnell David and Tamara Campbell JE Dunn Construction Company Gattermeir Family Foundation Cheryl and William Geffon Donald J. Hall Marlys and Mike Haverty Marilyn and Jim Hebenstreit Mary and John Hunkeler Alison and Eric Jager Muriel McBrien Kauffman Family Foundation The McMeel Family Foundation Newhouse Periodontics Shook Hardy & Bacon The Sosland Foundation M. Jeannine Strandjord / Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Jean and Don Wagner Katie and Clyde Wendel

Mark your calendars for the 24th Annual WILD ABOUT HARRY! APR I L 20, 2023

For a complete list of sponsors, visit TrumanLibraryInstitute.org/WILD. View the event photo albums on Facebook @TrumanLibInst.

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By William J. Burns, Director, Central Intelligence Agency

The 2022 Harry S. Truman Legacy of Leadership Award was presented to CIA Director William J. Burns on Thursday, April 28, 2022 (see page 6). Director Burns’ acceptance remarks represented only his second public speech as CIA Director and were delivered in a week in which the U.K. and United States announced further military help for Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression.

It is truly humbling to receive this year’s Truman Legacy of Leadership Award. Harry Truman’s extraordinary example of American leadership has inspired generations of us struggling to do our duty and do our best in the arena, in the complicated world of national security.

My own career in public life has been very fortunate. I never had to look any further than my father, a career Army officer and a very fine man, to see the best possible model of leadership and public service. When I was finishing graduate school four decades ago and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life,

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“Public service is not an abstraction.

It’s about deep commitment, sometimes at great risk. It’s about patriotic Americans defending the interests and values that animate America in the world.”

my dad sent me a letter. “Nothing will make you prouder,” he wrote, “than to serve your country with honor.” I have spent the last forty years learning the truth of that wise advice.

with more reach in more domains than any adversary we’ve ever encountered. The revolution in technology – the main arena for competition with China – is changing the way we live, work, compete and fight.

As a young diplomat, I worked for Secretary of State James Baker, the first Truman Leadership honoree. He was an exceptional statesman, the best negotiator I have ever served with, responsible along with President George H.W. Bush for one of the high points in American statecraft – the successful management of the end of the Cold War. It was a moment in history when massive transformations on the international landscape intersected with one of the most talented teams of national security leaders this country has ever known. That intersection of leaders and events was much like the dawn of the Cold War, the historic time in which Truman and Marshall and Acheson shaped the winning strategy and institutional architecture that Bush and Baker and Scowcroft later applied so skillfully.

The women and men I am so proud to lead at CIA are working hard every day to stay ahead of those challenges and keep Americans safe.

Those examples are especially important this year, as we mark the 75th anniversary of Truman’s historic National Security Act, and the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Central Intelligence Agency.

This is another of those transformational moments on the international landscape, one of those plastic moments that come along once or twice in a century. Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is a brutal reminder of the resurgence of Great Power politics. Xi Jinping’s China poses the biggest geopolitical challenge that we face, as far out into the 21st century as I can see,

I am particularly proud of the critical role that U.S. intelligence has played in supporting Ukraine against the vicious aggression of Putin’s Russia. Armed with accurate and precise insights and information, the U.S. government shared them energetically with our allies from the start. We have been equally committed to rapid and effective intelligence sharing with our Ukrainian partners, throughout the fighting and for months beforehand. As Allied leaders and counterparts have emphasized directly in my travels in Europe, the credibility of American intelligence has helped cement the solidarity of the Alliance.

At President Biden’s direction, the U.S. government has also taken unprecedented steps to declassify intelligence and use it publicly to preempt the false narratives which Putin has used so often in the past.

The last chapter in Putin’s war has yet to be written, as he grinds away at Ukraine.

But the Ukrainian will is unbroken, and the courage and resolve of President Zelensky and all Ukrainians remain profoundly impressive. Among the many mistakes Putin has made is to underestimate that resolve.

He has argued for years that Ukraine is not a real country. He is learning the hard way that real countries fight back, with strong support

from their friends and partners.

Every day, CIA officers are also doing hard jobs in other hard places around the world.

They do not seek public acclaim, and their profession often keeps them in the shadows, out of sight and out of mind. The risks they take and the sacrifices they make are little understood and often underappreciated.

But the role they play is vital to our nation’s security, just as Harry Truman foresaw 75 years ago when he created the CIA. A month from now, we’ll have our annual memorial ceremony, in front of the most hallowed place at CIA, our Memorial Wall in the Main lobby of our headquarters. Its marble surface is marked today by 137 stars, each one a tribute to the sacrifice of officers who died protecting our country.

It’s a vivid reminder that public service is not an abstraction. It’s about deep commitment, sometimes at great risk. It’s about patriotic Americans from across the richness and diversity of our society who dedicate themselves to defending the interests and values that animate America in the world, and that President Truman did so much to honor and foster.

So in this 75th anniversary year, I accept the Truman Leadership Award on behalf of all the men and women of CIA – people who I’m extraordinarily fortunate to lead, people who rarely get the recognition they deserve, people whose dedication makes possible strong American leadership in the world.

SCAN TO READ THE FULL ACCEPTANCE SPEECH.

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TRU FRIENDS WILD ABOUT HARRY PATRONS’ PARTY WILD ABOUT HARRY underwriters were treated to an extraordinary pre-event Patrons’ Party on March 19. Deanne Porter and Patrick Ottensmeyer, honorary chairs, and Tamara and David Campbell, event chairs, hosted a private event on Kansas City Southern’s luxurious executive train, the Southern Belle. Departing from Kansas City’s Union Station (where Captain Truman boarded a train for WWI in 1918, and returned from The White House in 1953), the three-hour railway excursion featured a sumptuous and historic venue, stunning views, cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, and the good company of TRU friends. President Truman’s grandson, Clifton Truman Daniel, was on board as a special guest.

To inquire about VIP donor events in 2022, please contact Kim Rausch, development director, at 816.400.1214 or Kim.Rausch@TrumanLibraryInstitute.org

Top Right: Mindy Sosland, Don & Jean Wagner, Marlys Haverty Middle Right: Amy Gattermeir Mattox & Peter Gattermeir Bottom Right: Jeff & Isabel Kramer

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Clockwise from top: Pat Ottensmeyer & Deanne Porter, Tamara & David Campbell; Paul McGraw & Nancy Newhouse; Chris Black & Charlotte Kemper Black; Jeannine Strandjord, Dave Gale, Kathy Honan, Susie Gale, Kathie Allison, Mary & John Hunkeler, Lauren & Benn Garrett; Pat Ottensmeyer, Clifton Truman Daniel, Alex Burden, executive director; Alex Burden, Pat Ottensmeyer, Marlys & Mike Haverty, Mary Kay & Brad Speaks, Jonathan & Nancy Lee Kemper; Tamara Campbell, Jane & Dick Bruening, David Campbell

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WELCOME NEW MEMBERS Member support advances the enduring legacy of Harry S. Truman and ensures that education programs, exhibits, research, and public programs continue to thrive.

WEST WING COUNCIL Jacqueline and Richard Leach PRESIDENTIAL AIDE Pamela Miller and Michael Cummings Lynn and Joe Poskin AMBASSADOR Philip Neuer DIPLOMAT JoAnn and Kelly Griffin William J. Hammond Piper E. Parker Mary and Richard Schindler ASSOCIATE Becky and Steve Buchholz Linda and David Carlson Kimberly Demel and Kelly Demel Barbara Dooley Bonnie and Thomas Eyestone Sharon and Henry Feldheim Kenneth Gallegos Shannon Giles Paul Hauschen and Mary Anne Hess Rebecca and Neil Hergatt Michael Karbowski and Charles Pinzino Sandra and Paul LoPilato Bonnie and Michael McMullen Ann Mesle and Terry Christenberry Anita and Harrison Philbrick Jerry Phillips and Eileen Flink Nathan Robfogel Rosanna and Roger Smith Sara and Benjamin Tompkins Patrice Truman Stumpf and Richard Stumpf FAMILY Deanna and Steve Arnone Heather and Gregory Astill Christa and Jennifer Atchison Suzanne and Jeffery Bailey Linda Ballard Sharon and Larry Barlow Anne and Theodore Benditt Renee Boling Leesa and Tim Brown W. Jean Buck Suzanne and Bruce Bureman Karyl Lynn Burns and James O’Neil Belinda Cambre and Jarrod Van Hoogstraten

Ansley and Jonathan Cannon Debra and Albert Carpenter Sara Orwa and Chuck Chionuma Lori and Laurence Crozier Kathryn Davis and James Starnes Donna and Paul Fisher Margaret L. Foley Philip Freeburg and Anna Evansen Dorothy and Jerry Fry Karen and Robert Gibbons Lori and Charles Good Gladys and James Griffin Stephen Hallett Paula and Casey Halsey Steven Hartley Sherri and Robert Hartnett Alison and Norman Heisler Lauren Ginestra and Carl Helmstetter Amy and JC Hoyt Roy Jensen and Brett Jensen Donna Joannes Kelly and Scott Johnson Sarah and Justin Jones Maria and Jack Jordan Kathleen and Albert Kaine Thelda Kestenbaum Harry Leeman Marcia and Bret Lesan Dawn and Mike Loehr Melody and Randy Lowe Michelle and Jeff Macke Tracy and William Mackey Sarah and Joel Markowitz Travis Marshall Maria K. McGuire Deborah and Jack McLaren Suzanne and Matthew Meyer Melissa Mihal Linda and John Mintier Curtis Moats Kathryn and David Moore Carol and John Mueller Linda and Howard Novick Soninta and Maraden Panjaitan Amy and Raj Patel Pat Pearce Carol and David Porter Cindy and John Pritchard Richard Quon and Steven Quon Patricia Redington Timothy Roberts and Rebecca Buchholz Martie Ross Annegret Royal and Raymon Staton

Ann and Mark Samuelson Robert Scaman George Schluter Griffin Schrack and Aline Roy Darren Sextro and John Rensenhouse Irene and Peter Shen Sue Shineman Jan and Robert Smith Morton E. Spitzer Don Spreitzer Charlotte and Robert Stevenson Cheri Tabor William and E. Haydee Vogel Lynn and William Weese Pascale Simunic and Jeffery Wells Sherri and Phillip Whitesell Karla Williams Seth Wing Samuel Young Rita and Gary Zhao BASIC Melissa and Mark Anderson Darrel Ashlock John Baird Amy Beckett and Helen Beckett Bob Bivens John Boylan Madison Boynton Jenna and Cory Cairns Mary and Dennis Caskey Joe Cebula and Marion Paulette Melanie and Russ Cline Kathryn Cole Drake M. Davis Allan Degenhardt Dee Edwards Robert Facer and Susan Baughman David Fosnough Rev. Richard W Frank Kathleen Godfrey and Desiree Bertrand Trudie and Greg Goldberg Ann and Ralph Goodrich Elizabeth and Eric Green Phyllis Hansen Anthony Hart Sandra and Brian Hearn Joyce and Jim Hess Garry Hess

Andrew Jensen Ida Jeppesen and Ken Zink Sarah Johnson and Kenneth Tucker Julie and David Jones Sue King Diana and Steve Kornfeld Shannon and Thomas Krahenbuhl Michelle Leive Donna and Rex Martin Mary McClure Andrew S. McElwaine Dawn and Marc Miller Benjamin Minson Rochelle Needham Leanne and Joe Patterson Catherine and Norman Peacock Michael Pietrykowski and Asya Lou Henry Plimack Bobi Raysik Zeoli Robert Riel Pattie and Kevin Robertson Sharon Royer Suzanne and Michael Saltz Nathan J. Sambul Jean and Steven Schaeffer Janelle and Ken Scofield Heather and Jon Shawver Mollie and Marvin Singleton Janet Skees Joy and Wayne Smith Linda Sturgeon Victoria Turner Lindsay Tyrrell Theresa Von Colln Susan Walston Carolyn Watley Erin and Jared Werges Jackie and Mark Wilson Kimberly and David Wilson Holly R. Zane STUDENT/TEACHER Margaret Juhnke Andrew O. Pace Kelly Perkins Matthew Tarnowski Richard Warmbold Jessica Waters

Members make the difference.

To learn more, call 816.400.1220 or visit TrumanLibraryInstitute.org/JOIN.

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MEMBERSHIP HAS ITS REWARDS HONORARY FELLOWS Truman Library Institute members enjoy these exclusive benefits: • Free Museum admission at the Truman Library and all Presidential Libraries of the National Archives • Museum Store discounts • Invitations to Member-only events • Recognition in TRU Magazine • Free or discounted tickets to the annual Howard & Virginia Bennett Forum on the Presidency STUDENT/TEACHER | $25 1 membership card Free and unlimited admission for 1 to the Truman Library BASIC | $35-$49 1 membership card Free and unlimited admission for 2 to the Truman Library FAMILY | $50-$119 2 membership cards Free and unlimited admission for 4 to the Truman Library DVD of Harry S. Truman by award-winning filmmaker Charles Guggenheim (one time gift for new and upgrading members) ASSOCIATE | $120-$249 All Family benefits, plus a special gift from the Truman Library Institute DIPLOMAT | $250-$499 All Associate benefits, plus recognition on the Annual Donor Honor Roll in Museum Lobby AMBASSADOR | $500-$999 All Diplomat benefits, plus a private tour of The White House Decision Center

YOUR FREE GIFT Renew or join the Honorary Fellows at the Associate Level or higher, and you’ll receive an exclusive gift—a limited edition “The Buck Stops Here” tumbler. You’ll sip in style every season with this insulated 12oz mug that keeps drinks warm or cold for 8+ hours.

MEMBERSHIPS MAKE GREAT GIFTS Share the gift of membership while helping preserve and advance the legacy of America’s 33rd president.

Your gift recipient will receive a gracious acknowledgement of your thoughtfulness, will receive recognition in TRU Magazine, and will enjoy all the benefits of membership. It’s a gift that gives all year long. Use the enclosed gift envelope or call 816.400.1220.

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3 EASY WAYS To Join, Renew, or Upgrade your Truman Library Institute Membership CALL

BUCK STOPS HERE SOCIETY The Buck Stops Here Society is the Truman Library Institute’s premier membership program, designed specifically for individuals and corporations wanting to make a significant annual investment in the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum.

Learn more: Kim.Rausch@TrumanLibraryInstitute.org or 816.400.1214.

816.400.1220 | Monday–Friday, 8:30am to 5:00pm MAIL Complete the gift envelope enclosed in this issue of TRU. ONLINE TrumanLibraryInstitute.org/JOIN

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Honorary degree recipients pose at the 1947 Harvard University commencement on June 5, 1947. Front row, left to right: J.R. Oppenheimer, atom bomb scientist; Ernest C. Colwell, Chicago University President; George C. Marshall, soldier-statesman; President Conant of Harvard, who awarded the degrees; Omar N. Bradley, Vets’ Administrator; T.S. Eliot, poet; and James W. Wadsworth, former New York Senator. Back row, left to right: William A. Dwiggins, type designer; George H. Chase, former Harvard dean; W. Hodding Carter Jr., editor and author; Ivor A. Richards, Harvard professor; William F. Gibbs, naval architect; and Frank L. Boyden, Deerfield principal.

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY THE MARSHALL PLAN 75 years ago, a Harvard Commencement speech outlined the Marshall Plan and calmed a continent.

On June 5, 1947, U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall delivered a short, unadorned Commencement speech that seemed unremarkable to most listeners at the time. Yet it changed the world.

The retired five-star general, credited during World War II with organizing the fastest and biggest military buildup in U.S. history, took just under 11 minutes to announce the creation of one of the largest international economic aid programs in history. Over the next four years, the United States delivered nearly $13 billion (in today’s dollars, $122 billion) in assistance to participating European nations under the European Recovery Program, soon known as the Marshall Plan.

Those actions stabilized a continent riven by two world wars and exhausted by them. The Marshall Plan’s assistance benefited more than a dozen nations, steadied their economies, encouraged their cooperation, stemmed the spread of communism, and helped create the European Union that led to decades of prosperity and ended the continent’s ruinous cycle of warfare.

Marshall, who had been invited to receive an honorary degree at Harvard’s 296th Commencement exercises, recounted in his speech how, two years after the end of World War II, the devastated European economies were continuing to struggle, and hunger was ravaging the land.

EXAMINE MARSHALL’S HISTORIC SPEECH

Left unspoken was a fear he shared with President Harry Truman that continued economic turmoil would lead to political chaos, shatter European democratic rule, and foster the growth of Soviet-backed communist parties across Western Europe.

Reprinted with permission from the Harvard Gazette.

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TRUMAN’S BOLD STRIDES FOR CIVIL RIGHTS

By Richard Gergel Author of Unexampled Courage: The Blinding of Sgt. Isaac Woodard and the Awakening of President Harry S. Truman and Judge J. Waties Waring The following is a transcript of the online program “Freedom from Fear,” presented in honor of the 75th anniversary of Executive Order 9808.

As World War II ended with the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany and imperial Japan, there was a great sense of optimism about America’s capacity to spread democracy and liberty across the globe.

The newly-installed president, Harry S. Truman, along with leaders in his administration, hoped the nation would now address the discriminatory conditions – including government-mandated racial segregation – confronting African Americans residing in the South.

In the year following the end of World War II, as 900,000 African American soldiers returned home, most of them to the rural South, numerous racial incidents arose as

returning veterans challenged the racial status quo. Having fought for their country, they felt they were entitled to a piece of America’s prosperity and the right to participate in its government.

As the United States’ post-war conflict with the Soviet Union emerged, pitting America’s model of democracy against Soviet-style communism, our country’s enemies widely publicized lynchings and other racial incidents as evidence of American hypocrisy.

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As the tragic story of Sergeant Woodard’s beating and blinding un­folded, Truman sat riveted and became visibly agitated....“My God!” he said, “I had no idea it was as terrible as that. We have got to do something.”

Something had to be done, but what and by whom?

TERROR AND INTIMIDATION On February 12, 1946, Sergeant Isaac Woodard, a battlefield-decorated Army veteran, was beaten and blinded by a police officer in Batesburg, South Carolina, on the day of his discharge and while he was still in his dress uniform. Sergeant Woodard’s offense was that he had declared to a disrespectful Greyhound bus driver, “Speak to me like I’m a man. I am a man, just like you.”

Several weeks after Woodard’s blinding, law enforcement officers in Columbia, Tennessee, entered an African American neighborhood, ransacking homes, shooting wildly, and writing “KKK” on coffins in a Black-owned funeral home, all in response to protests by the African American community over an incident involving a Black Navy veteran.

Then in July, 1946, an African American

veteran, Maceo Snipes, was shot and killed in the front door of his home in Taylor, Georgia, a day after he dared to vote in the Georgia Democratic primary. Just days later, in Monroe, Georgia, four African Americans, two women and two men, were shot 63 times and killed by a mob, which included local law enforcement officers. One of those murdered, Roger Malcolm, was a recently discharged veteran. In explaining the need to lynch Malcolm, one of the participants stated that after Malcolm returned from his military service, he thought he was good as white people.

In each of these horrific incidents, no individuals were prosecuted by the state.

TURNING POINT FOR TRUMAN On September 19, 1946, a delegation of civil rights leaders – all deeply distressed by this wave of racial violence against returning veterans – met with President Truman in the White House.

Prior to the meeting, Truman’s staff advised the president that despite his desire to respond to the concerns of African American leaders, there was little he could do as president to address these incidents. Criminal prosecutions by the federal government for civil rights violations in the South were fraught with problems, most notably all-white juries who were deeply unsympathetic to civil rights cases.

Further, Congress was under the control of powerful Southern committee chairs, who were determined to block even the most modest civil rights legislation, even legislation to make lynching a federal crime.

There was also a daunting political problem for Truman if he was perceived to support any sort of civil rights legislation by white Southern Democrats, the most reliable block of voters in the Democratic Party.

Southern elected officials were resolutely committed to racial segregation and Black disenfranchisement, and any support by the Truman administration to advance the rights of African Americans would likely be viewed as an existential threat to white supremacy.

On the other hand, since World War I, there had been a significant migration of Southern Blacks to major urban areas of the North.

There they could register to vote, and they had become crucial swing voters in closely contested cases in the North, Midwest and far West. African American leaders had become strong supporters of Franklin Roosevelt through the New Deal, but it was uncertain whether they would remain loyal to the Democratic Party under Truman or return to the Republican Party of Abraham Lincoln.

World War II veteran Isaac Woodard after being assaulted and blinded.

Courtesy of Library of Congress

Truman’s staff urged the president to privately

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express sympathy to the civil rights leaders during his meeting but to publicly do nothing that would alienate the segregationists of the South.

As the meeting opened, civil rights leaders urged Truman to call Congress back into special session to address the spreading violence against Black veterans. The president expressed sympathy but, following his advisors’ guidance, lamented there was little he could do because there was little public support for new civil rights legislation.

The meeting included Walter White, the executive secretary of the NAACP. White was the most influential civil rights leader in America and also one of Truman’s biggest supporters in the civil rights community.

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It was apparent to Walter White that the president did not appreciate the gravity of the situation. White changed the discussion by sharing with Truman in detail the blinding of Isaac Woodard. As the tragic story of Sergeant Woodard’s beating and blinding unfolded, Truman sat riveted and became visibly agitated and red-faced with the idea that a uniformed and decorated American soldier had been so cruelly treated. Abandoning the advice of his staff, Truman stated, “My God! I had no idea it was as terrible as that. We have got to do something.”

A BOLD AGENDA FOR CIVIL RIGHTS The following day, President Truman wrote

his Attorney General Tom Clark and shared Isaac Woodard’s story, noting that the police officer had deliberately put out the sergeant’s eyes. Truman made it clear that the time for federal action had now arrived. He further indicated that he intended to appoint the first President’s Committee on Civil Rights to propose a new agenda to address America’s serious racial problems.

Three business days after Truman’s letter was delivered to the attorney general, the Department of Justice announced that Police Chief Lynwood Shull of Batesburg, South Carolina, was to be prosecuted in the federal district court in South Carolina for the deprivation of the civil rights of Sergeant Isaac Woodard.

On December 5, 1946, President Truman signed the Executive Order 9808, establishing the President’s Committee on Civil Rights, noting that the protection of the individual rights of all citizens was essential to domestic tranquility, national security, the general welfare, and the continued existence of our free institutions.

At the time, polls showed that only 6 percent of voters supported new civil rights legislation.

By any measure, Truman’s appointees to the civil rights committee were impressive.

They included major corporate leaders like Charles Wilson, president of General Electric, who served as the chair, as well as college presidents, labor leaders, civil rights activists and religious leaders. Notably, Harry Truman didn’t appoint any segregationists, figuring that the time to debate the propriety of segregation and disenfranchisement had now passed.

President Truman (center) in the Oval Office with the President’s Committee on Civil Rights.

The civil rights committee convened its first

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In 1947, membership in the NAACP was so controversial in the South that if a schoolteacher was determined to be a member, she would almost certainly lose her job.

meeting on January 15, 1947, in the Cabinet Room at the White House to emphasize the importance of its work. President Truman personally appeared at the first meeting and urged the members to be bold in attacking what was obviously America’s deep-seated racial problems and to determine “just how far the federal government under the Constitution has a right to go in these civil rights matters.”

Truman charged his committee to complete its work before the end of the calendar year. The civil rights committee thereafter set about its work with a flurry of activity, conducting public hearings and gathering detailed information about recent racial incidents.

AN HISTORIC ADDRESS

national government as the protector of the constitutional rights of all citizens.

He stated that we must move forward “with new concepts of civil rights to safeguard our heritage. The extension of civil rights means not only protection of the people against the government, but the protection of the people by the government.”

President Truman referenced the recent racial violence and the failure of state and local governments to prosecute those crimes – the legal machinery of the country had “not yet secured to each citizen freedom from fear.” Recognizing the urgency of the moment, Truman declared that America “can no longer afford the luxury of a leisurely attack upon prejudice and discrimination or await the growth of a will to action by the slowest state or most backward community.

Instead, we must strive to advance civil rights whenever it lasts within our power.”

troops, hearing the broadcast over shortwave radio from a remote island in the Pacific, were so moved that they passed the hat to make a contribution to the NAACP. One historian, noting Truman’s history as a former haberdasher and machine politician, later observed “No one expected it would be this man who would be the first president to publicly advance a bold civil rights agenda for America.”

In less than a year after its formation, Truman’s civil rights committee issued its landmark report, To Secure These Rights.

The report was an amazing public document, setting forth in clear and unguarded language the stark truths of America’s profound racial problems.

The speech was delivered at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial and was broadcast live by four national radio networks, producing then the largest audience ever to hear a civil rights address in American history.

The NAACP’s magazine, The Crisis, called Truman’s address the most comprehensive and forthright statement of the rights of minorities in a democracy, and the duty of the government to secure those rights, that had ever been made by a president of the United States.

This was not an easy report to issue to a nation in which a majority of states had some form of Jim Crow laws. The great majority of African Americans in the South were disenfranchised, and residential segregation existed in virtually every region of the country.

Moreover, despite the long service of African Americans to the United States military, the Armed Forces remained rigidly segregated.

The entire stream of disenfranchisement and government-mandated segregation was grounded on legal documents, explicitly authorized by the United States Supreme Court, despite the provisions of the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments, eliminating the last vestiges of slavery and guaranteeing all citizens the equal protection of the laws and the right to vote.

With thousands present on the mall and literally millions listening on radio, President Truman delivered an historic address, redefining the role of the modern

Members of the President’s Civil Rights Committee preparing to meet huddled around the radio to hear the address and buzzed with excitement. African American

The committee’s report addressed forthrightly disenfranchisement, mob violence, residential segregation, police violence and school segregation. Lynching was described as a

On June 29, 1947, while his civil rights committee was actively conducting its work, President Truman accepted an invitation to speak at the annual meeting of the NAACP. At that time, no president had ever delivered an address to the nation’s premier civil rights organization. Membership in the NAACP was so controversial in the South that if a schoolteacher was determined to be a member, she would almost certainly lose her job.

As Truman sat down, an amazed Walter White privately congratulated him for his remarkable address. Truman responded, “Walter, I said what I did, because I meant every word of it.”

TO SECURE THESE RIGHTS

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In a time when America desperately needed a leader to help the country shed the vestiges of its slavery past and its Jim Crow present, Harry Truman stepped forward.

terrorist device, and the committee lamented that participants in lynching enjoyed “almost complete immunity.” The report described the various devices used to deny Black citizens the right to vote, from the poll tax to terror and intimidation. The report was unsparing in its criticism of the discrimination of the Armed Forces, with Blacks relegated to the most menial tasks with little hope for advancement or appointment to the officer corps.

The report was equally bold in its recommendations, proposing the desegregation of America’s Armed Forces and federal workforce, ending the poll tax and other barriers to voting, and banning restrictive racial covenants in housing and segregation in interstate travel.

In additional, a new federal agency was proposed to enforce anti-discrimination standards among private employers, and the committee recommended that discrimination in public accommodations be prohibited. A new law was proposed to make lynching a federal crime.

July 26, 1948, in the heat of his reelection campaign, Truman issued Executive Order 9981, mandating the integration of America’s Armed Forces. The same day, he issued another executive order, ending segregation in federal employment. Truman explained, “Whatever my inclination as a native of Missouri might have been, as president, I know this is bad. I shall fight to end evils like this.”

A friend from Missouri, Ernest Roberts, who had served with Truman in France during World War I, wrote the president, privately urging him to back off his civil rights program or face certain political defeat.

Truman responded in a private note to Mr. Roberts, trying to describe for him various racial incidents which had inspired him to act.

He mentioned the Isaac Woodard case, said it was simply radically wrong that the South Carolina law enforcement officials had not prosecuted the man who had beaten and

blinded the sergeant. He went on to write, “I can’t agree to such going-ons and I shall never approve it. I am going to remedy it, and if it ends up in my failure to be reelected, that failure will be for a good cause.”

As the summer of 1948 ended, it appeared President Truman was heading to certain defeat, with polls showing him trailing Thomas Dewey, his Republican opponent, by ten points. However, Truman remained confident that if he could speak directly to the American people, he would win. Just after Labor Day, Truman launched a whirlwind train trip dubbed “The Whistle Stop Tour.” Over thirty days, Truman traveled with Margaret, his daughter, and Bess, his wife, across America, sometimes making as many as twelve stops in a single day. Many of the towns he visited had never seen a president, and crowds in the thousands often waited hours to greet him.

Truman blistered what he called the “do

ENDING EVILS LIKE THIS President Truman, to the surprise of many, publicly endorsed the committee’s findings and recommendations in a special message to Congress. The endorsement triggered a third-party effort by Southern Democrats, dubbing themselves the “Dixiecrats.” They nominated Strom Thurmond, the Governor of South Carolina, as president. The Dixiecrats understood they had no chance to win the election, but they were prepared to defeat their own party’s nominee if Truman would not disavow his civil rights efforts.

Harry Truman did not blink. Instead, on

South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond (right) meets with Dixiecrat politicians on July 24, 1948. At left is Mississippi Governor Fielding Wright, Dixiecrat V.P. candidate.

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nothing Republican Congress,” often invoking from his audiences the famous cry, “Give ’em hell, Harry.”

Thomas Dewey made his own train trip, but it was leisurely. Even when polling showed that the race was getting close, Dewey remained confident that nothing was going to upset his clear election victory. Indeed, the greatest talk in Washington was who was going to be in the Dewey cabinet.

By the time Truman’s Whistle Stop tour reached California, he sensed that the momentum had swung in his favor. Although he did not make civil rights a prominent campaign issue, he never backed down from his support of his committee’s recommendations or his dramatic order desegregating America’s Armed Forces.

Civil rights leaders, including Walter White and Thurgood Marshall, worked tirelessly for Truman’s reelection in critical swing states.

Days before the election, Truman traveled to New York, the home state of his opponent, Governor Thomas Dewey, and spoke to a massive cheering crowd in Harlem. He was the first president ever to speak there.

On election night, political pundits were stunned – Truman was winning the electoral college by a landslide. Critical to that success was his surprising wins in Illinois, Ohio and California, where election returns would later show massive African American turnout.

Despite the campaign of the Dixiecrats, Truman carried 8 of the twelve Southern states, including every county in Texas.

Truman’s extraordinary electoral success was a reflection of the public’s admiration for his willingness to fight for what he believed in, even if they might not agree with every aspect of his platform.

SHEDDING THE VESTIGES OF SLAVERY In the aftermath of the election, President Truman fully embraced his efforts to complete the desegregation of America’s Armed Forces. Truman appointed a committee to implement his executive order, known as the Fahy Committee, which was resolutely committed to ending segregation in the military. Each branch was required to present to the committee for approval a plan to desegregate all of its operations – housing, officer corps, basic training, everything.

The Air Force and the Navy quickly gained approval for their plans, but the Army resisted, contending their Black soldiers were uniquely suited only for menial labor, and arguing that the percentage of Black soldiers in the military should never exceed 10 percent of the total force. The Fahy Committee rejected multiple plans submitted by the Army brass, and Truman stood by his committee, despite outspoken criticism from some of the most prominent present and retired Army generals. Finally, the Army relented and agreed to remove all racial quotas and to fully desegregate all aspects of military life.

Thereafter, progress was remarkably fast with 95 percent of the troops serving in desegregated units by the time President Truman left office in January 1953. Harry Truman’s successful desegregation of the military created the nation’s first truly multiracial organization, put a lie to the idea that a tolerant and inclusive society could not work, and marked the beginning of the end of Jim Crow in America.

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Several years after, a year or so after the full implementation of the Truman desegregation order, the Army and the military generally conducted a secret study. It would be later publicly released, but it was confidential at the time, and it was seeking to evaluate the impact on efficiency of the desegregation of the military. The report revealed that there had been absolutely no loss of efficiency and that morale was outstanding. A draft copy of the report was secretly provided to all nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court shortly before the decision in Brown v. Board of Education was issued.

President Truman’s remarkable civil rights legacy has, until recently, been largely overlooked by historians. In a time when America desperately needed a leader to help the country shed the vestiges of its slavery past and its Jim Crow present, Harry Truman stepped forward. He placed himself directly into the line of fire, just as he had done as a battery commander in World War I. He put in jeopardy his reelection. He did it to do what he thought was right and necessary for the United States to carry the mantle as the world’s leader in the cause of democracy and human rights.

We fittingly remember Harry Truman’s first bold step in that direction, the appointment of the first President’s Committee on Civil Rights, which marked the beginning of a journey that would help this nation live up to its highest creed – that all persons are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, including the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

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2022 Scholar’s Award Announced

SPRING / SUMMER 2022

HARRY S. TRUMAN

BOOK AWARD The Truman Library Institute has selected Between Containment and Rollback: The United States and the Cold War in Germany (Stanford University Press) by Christian F. Ostermann as the winner of the 2022 Harry S. Truman Book Award.

Dr. Johnson’s academic research focuses on the origins and conduct of war, as well as the maintenance of peace, and the $30,000 Scholar’s Award was made in support of his forthcoming book, Armies of Peace: The United Nations, NATO, and the Korean War. “The Truman Library Institute’s Grants Committee was very impressed with Dr. Johnson’s project,” said Dr. Kari Frederickson, professor of history at the University of Alabama and chair of the Truman Library Institute’s Grants Committee.

“From a very competitive field of entries, Ian Ona Johnson stood out as a ‘leading young historian of his generation,’ and we are thrilled to support the completion of what will certainly be an essential addition to our understanding of conflict, peace and Truman-era Cold War policies.”

The prestigious Scholar’s Award is given biennially by the Truman Library Institute to a post-doctoral scholar engaged in work focused on the life and career of Harry S. Truman or on the public and foreign policy issues which were prominent during the Truman years.

“In a competitive field of entrants, Between Containment and Rollback distinguished itself and is richly deserving of our prize,” said Dr. Jason Parker, committee chair and associate professor of history at Texas A&M University.

Christian Ostermann is director of the History and Public Policy Program (HAPP) at the Woodrow Wilson Center. Prior to joining the Wilson Center in 1997, Ostermann worked at The George Washington University’s National Security Archive, where he remains a senior research fellow.

The Harry S. Truman Book Award recognizes the Institute’s selection of the best book published within a two-year period that deals primarily with some aspect of the life or career of Harry S. Truman or the history of the United States during the Truman presidency, 19451953. The award is given in even-numbered years.

Photo: Annette Hornischer

The Truman Library Institute has awarded the 2022 Scholar’s Award to Ian Ona Johnson, P. J. Moran Family Assistant Professor of Military History at the University of Notre Dame.

Drawing on recently declassified documents from American, Russian and German archives, Ostermann demonstrates that U.S. efforts from 1945 to 1953 went beyond building a prosperous democracy in western Germany and “containing” Soviet-Communist power to the east. Under the Truman and then the Eisenhower administrations, American policy also included efforts to undermine and “roll back” Soviet and German communist control in the eastern part of the country. This story sheds light on a darker side to the American Cold War in Germany: propaganda, covert operations, economic pressure, and psychological warfare. Christian F. Ostermann takes an international history approach, capturing Soviet and East German responses and actions, and drawing a rich and complex picture of the early East–West confrontation in the heart of Europe.

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TRUMAN LEGACY SOCIETY The Truman Library Institute honors every planned gift donor with membership in the Truman Legacy Society.

The Truman Legacy Society is a group of people who have, through their estate plans, invested in the Truman Library Institute’s future. The Truman Legacy Society was created to acknowledge and thank these supporters for their generosity and to connect them to the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum in meaningful ways.

We hope you will consider including the Truman Library Institute in your estate or financial plans, and join these other Truman Legacy Society members whose commitments total $12 million. With your planned gift, you may enjoy financial or tax benefits while also helping preserve the enduring legacy of America’s 33rd president. Your gift, whatever its size, will help fulfill the Truman Library Institute’s mission to enrich the public’s understanding of history, the presidency, public policy and citizenship, for generations to come.

HARVEY S. BODKER

THURMAN OLIVER

MARY SHAW BRANTON*

DUANE R. OLSEN

KIRK W. CARPENTER

JACK W. OLSEN*

KIM CHAMBERLIN

KAREN DEVINKI PACK

SPENCER DAYTON

STEVEN PACK

VIRGINIA T. DUNN*

DR. MARVIN ROGOLSKY

CHERYL & WILLIAM GEFFON

DAVID STANLEY

HULSTON FAMILY FOUNDATION

R. JAMES & MARY R. STILLEY, JR.

MARY & JOHN HUNKELER

SULLIVAN FAMILY FOUNDATION – JO ANN & WILLIAM SULLIVAN

MARY* AND MICHAEL JOHNSTON CONNIE* & HARRY JONAS DOROTHY & MILTON P.* KAYLE GRETA KEMPTON* PHILIP D. LAGERQUIST* JENNIFER & ANDREW LAWRENCE

LOUIS W. TRUMAN* MARGARET STEVENSON TRUMAN* JUDY TURNER ERIC WATKINS JEFFREY R. WAYNE KATIE & CLYDE WENDEL

MARJORIE MARTIN*

MCKINLEY WOODEN*

LARRY L. MCMULLEN

MARY LINNA & DICK WOODS

MARGARET & JEROME NERMAN*

ELAINE & KENNETH ZIMMERMAN

*Deceased

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SPRING / SUMMER 2022

WORTH WATCHING Popular Programs Now Available on YouTube

WHITE LIES: THE DOUBLE LIFE OF WALTER F. WHITE AND AMERICA’S DARKEST SECRET From best-selling author A.J. Baime comes a riveting new biography. Walter F. White led two lives: one as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance and the NAACP in the early 20th century; the other as a white newspaperman who covered lynching crimes in the Deep South at the blazing height of racial violence. Born mixed race and with very fair skin and straight hair, White was able to “pass” for white. He leveraged this ambiguity as a reporter, bringing to light the darkest crimes in America and helping to plant the seeds of the civil rights movement. This Distinguished Author Event was made possible, in part, by The Boeing Company.

WOMEN WITH SILVER WINGS: THE INSPIRING TRUE STORY OF THE WOMEN AIRFORCE SERVICE PILOTS OF WWII A new Truman Legacy Series, Women Rising, has lifted off to rave reviews.

Dr. Katherine Sharp Landdeck, associate professor of history at Texas Woman’s University, shares the story of WWII’s unsung heroes, the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPS) – dazzling “lady bird” pilots who tested B-17 bombers, dressed in custom Bergdorf Goodman uniforms and were “weapons waiting to be used” in the Allied campaign against genocide and fascism. The Women Rising series is generously sponsored by the Martha Jane Phillips Starr Field of Interest Fund.

INCOMPARABLE GRACE: JFK IN THE PRESIDENCY On May 25, the Truman Library Institute celebrated the return of in-person programs with a Distinguished Author Event featuring presidential historian Mark K. Updegrove, in conversation with Truman Library Director Kurt Graham.

In what Doris Kearns Goodwin calls “an important book that captures the energy,

Watch these and other programs on our YouTube channel.

hope and vision of a young president,” Updegrove eschews the Camelot myths and paints a full, textured portrait of a complicated leader, examining the major

TRUMAN LIBRARY INSTITUTE: SUBSCRIBE Don’t miss another program! Sign up for TRU E-news at TrumanLibraryInstitute.org.

challenges JFK faced and the influential figures that surrounded him. This onstage event was live-streamed to a national audience.

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PROGRAM NOTES Excerpts from “The Cold War Gets Hot: The Truman Doctrine and Democracy’s Challenge, Then and Now,” presented online March 15, 2022. View the full program on our YouTube channel.

JOHN AVLON ON THE TRUMAN DOCTRINE SPEECH, 75 YEARS ON It is an honor to mark the 75th anniversary of the Truman Doctrine – a speech, and a policy, and a set of principles whose importance, I don’t think, can be overstated.

Harry Truman spoke to Congress on March 12, 1947, at a hinge of history. His speech was much more than the start of the Cold War, as it is sometimes discussed. It was that, but of course it was so much more. It was a final determination that the United States would accept a mantle of leadership in the world, not on behalf of itself but on behalf of free people and democracies everywhere. It was a statement of democracies standing up to autocracies, in this case, the Soviet Union.

But it also distanced America definitely from a policy of isolation, which had dominated American politics, at first through the mere fact of our isolation from the rest of the world, courtesy of two oceans, but after the second world war, an understanding that there needed to be an investment in peace, that multilateral organizations needed to be created, as was done so effectively under the Truman administration, to bolster liberal democracy, and a new order based on the idea that small nations would not be at the mercy of big ones, that there was such a thing as human dignity and self-determination, and that the United States and its allies had an important role to play – not in encouraging confrontation but to standing up against aggression.

And that’s where I think today, with Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine – vicious and unprovoked – we realize that the past is not past, that history is something that takes place in the here and now, and we all contribute to making it, and there are certain principles, certain moments that we draw on for inspiration. Harry Truman’s stewardship of the post-war world in the wake of the second world war remains core to America’s identity and, indeed, to the hopes of the world.

John Avlon, CNN Senior Political Analyst

America is and was, as articulated by Harry Truman, a republic, not an empire. We seek to create a rules-based society where individuals and nations can flourish according to the best of their abilities, and that means being free from the specter of invasion by foreign nations.

We are not perfect, because perfect is never on the menu, but at our best we do remember that we are a republic, not an empire. We are a republic of ideas that can rally the spirit of free peoples.

We’ve learned in recent years that we cannot take our own democracy for granted. We cannot take the relative peace and prosperity in Europe over the past 75 years for granted, either. Many did. I think we all recognize now, in the face of the invasion in Ukraine, that taking anything for granted is unwise, and the need for the multilateral organizations that were created, in large part, by President Truman and our allies in the wake of the second world war have shown themselves to be newly relevant – indeed, revived with a renewed sense of purpose.

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SPRING / SUMMER 2022

DIGITAL DIGEST THE BEST OF WHAT YOU MAY HAVE MISSED ONLINE

“I have always been disturbed by the tragedy of people who have been made victims of intolerance and fanaticism because of their race, color or religion. These things should not be possible in a civilized society.”

A word from Harry. #StayTRU

“A specific Federal measure is needed to deal with the crime of lynching— against which I cannot speak too strongly....So long as one person walks in fear of lynching, we shall not have achieved equal justice under law.”

On February 10, 1945, Vice President Harry S. Truman sat down at an upright piano to show off his musical talent at the National Press Club. 20-year-old actress Lauren Bacall joined him, and this legendary photo was snapped. Bacall “loved it,” but Truman recalled the day a little less fondly. Visiting the Club 15 years later, he said how wonderful it was to be back, even though “some smart press fellow” had “caused me a hell of a lot of trouble at home.”

- Harry S. Truman

On April 13, 1918, Captain Harry Truman arrived in Brest, France, aboard the USS George Washington. His experiences on the battlefields of World War I proved to be transformative – and demonstrated that this future President had the right stuff for leadership under fire.

“We live in a world in which strength on the part of peace-loving nations is still the greatest deterrent to aggression.”

“I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell.” — Harry S. Truman

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The Truman community is social, engaged and growing. Join us!

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75-in-5: The Spring of 1947 To honor the 75th anniversary of Harry S. Truman’s world-defining presidency, Cassie Pikarsky brings you 75 IN 5 – five-minute video podcasts highlighting the important moments and significant developments that led to some of President Truman’s biggest decisions.

In this episode, travel back to the Spring of 1947 to explore “America’s most perilous problem” – the Soviet Union. In answer to the USSR’s growing military and aggressive expansion into vulnerable democratic nations, the president delivered the “Truman Doctrine” speech to Congress on March 12, 1947, ushering in the most significant change in U.S. foreign policy in American history and ending a century and a half of isolationism.

As Truman confronted Communism abroad, he faced pressure to address possible threats at home, leading to the controversial federal loyalty program. On a lighter note, Harry and Bess’ daughter, Margaret, made her radio debut; more than 15 million people tuned in for her March 16 performance. What were the reviews? And how did the proud president respond? Discover this and more in Episode 3 of 75 IN 5.

Watch this episode and the full series on YouTube.

“While the struggle for the rights of man goes forward in other parts of the world, the free people of America cannot look on with... indifference to the outcome. In our effort to make permanent the peace of the world, we have much to preserve, much to improve & much to pioneer.”

President Truman’s pride and joy was born on this day in 1924 (February 17).

“There are ways of disagreeing; men who differ can still work together sincerely for the common good.

We shall be risking the Nation’s safety and destroying our opportunities for progress if we do not settle disagreements in this spirit, without thought of partisan advantage.”

53 years ago this week, President Nixon sits down to play the piano he presented to former President Truman at the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum on March 21, 1969.

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SPRING / SUMMER 2022

GIVE ’EM HELL, HARRY A PLAIN-SPEAKING PRESIDENT’S SPEECHES, ADDRESSES AND LETTERS

Radio Address to the American People on the Veto of the Taft-Hartley Bill June 20, 2022 marked the 75th anniversary of President Truman’s veto of H.R. 3020, the “Labor Management Relations Act,” also known as the Taft-Hartley Act. On June 23, 1947, the Republican Congress overrode the veto: the Senate vote was 68-25, followed by a House vote of 331-83.

President Truman would go on to use Congress’s support of the anti-union, anti-labor act to his benefit as part of a surprise re-election victory in 1948.

My fellow countrymen: At noon today I sent to Congress a message vetoing the Taft-Hartley labor bill. I vetoed this bill because I am convinced it is a bad bill. It is bad for labor, bad for management, and bad for the country….Under no circumstances could I have signed this bill….

The bill is deliberately designed to weaken labor unions. When the sponsors of the bill claim that by weakening unions, they are giving rights back to individual workingmen, they ignore the basic reason why unions are important in our democracy. Unions exist so that laboring men can bargain with their employers on a basis of equality. Because of unions, the living standards of our working people have increased steadily until they are today the highest in the world….

We must always remember that under our free economic system management and labor are associates. They work together for their own benefit and for the benefit of the public.

The Taft-Hartley bill fails to recognize these fundamental facts. Many provisions of the bill would have the result of changing employers and workers from members of the same team to opponents on contending teams.

I feel deep concern about what this would do to the steady progress we have made through the years.

I fear that this type of legislation would cause the people of our country to divide into opposing groups. If conflict is created, as this bill would create it—if the seeds of discord are sown, as this bill would sow them—our unity will suffer and our strength will be impaired.

This bill does not resemble the labor legislation which I have recommended to the Congress. The whole purpose of this bill is contrary to the sound growth of our national labor policy.

There is still time to enact progressive, constructive legislation during the present session. We need such legislation to correct abuses and to further our advance in labor management relations.

We seek in this country today a formula which will treat all men fairly and justly, and which will give our people security in the necessities of life.

As our generous American spirit prompts us to aid the world to rebuild,

ABOVE: “Taft-Hartley Act” was published on July 31, 1947 by the Washington Evening Star. This copy, part of the Truman Library’s collection, carries an inscription from the artist, Jim Berryman: “Regards to President Quixote.”

RIGHT: Taft-Hartley Bill protest in Madison Square Garden in New York City, June 1947 (credit: FPG/Staff)

we must, at the same time, construct a better America in which all can share equitably in the blessings of democracy.

The Taft-Hartley bill threatens the attainment of this goal. For the sake of the future of this Nation, I hope that this bill will not become law.

Broadcast from the White House at 10 p.m., June 20, 1947

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