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Rather than run for another term, Truman decided to return to his hometown where he worked to shape this Presidential library and write his memoirs.

Return to Independence

During the Eisenhower Administration in Washington, Congress passed the Presidential Libraries Act of 1955. The new law allowed for the creation of privately-funded organizations and institutions that would operate Presidential museums with federal support. Prior to this law, President Roosevelt's library was established between 1940 and 1941. The 1955 law has supported the creation of fourteen libraries as of 2016. Truman began planning for his Library and Museum almost immediately after being sworn in as President, well before the Federal Archives set up its system. The effort to fund and build the library was led by the Harry S. Truman Library Incorporated and supported by donations from more than 17,000 individuals and organizations. The groundbreaking ceremony for the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library &amp; Museum took place on May 8, 1955, Truman’s 71st birthday. It opened to the public on July 6, 1957. Truman dedicated much of his time and energy to the library and museum until his death in 1972. He maintained an office (now preserved as an exhibit) where he spent time writing his memoir, answering letters, giving tours, and speaking to many students who visited the library. After his death, he was buried within the library in the courtyard. His wife, daughter, and son-in-law were later buried there as well.The 70,000 square foot library was originally designed by the Gentry and Voscamp, Architects, firm at a cost of $1.75 million. Since then, the building has undergone a series of expansions and renovations over the years. In 1967, the Library and Museum had an addition added to the southern wing that was used for office space, storage, and exhibit preparation. Again, in 1979, an east wing was added, expanding the libraries total square footage to 100,000 square feet.  Recently the Library and Museum has begun an ambitious multi-million dollar renovation to completely redesign the entire property. The plans, which include creating a walking trail leading to Truman’s boyhood home, are expected to be completed in 2020.The Truman Library is situated upon a 13.2-acre portion of the twenty-two-acre Slover Memorial Park. The structure is irregularly shaped and includes stack areas, staff offices, conference and seminar rooms, an auditorium, a research room, and storage areas. The research room, located near the north entrance, allows for the public to access the manuscripts, oral histories, and other materials relevant to the life of President Truman. Many of these items were transferred to the library during the dedication ceremony, including about 10,000 books, gifts, and mementos which Truman had received during his presidency. The Library's main collection is the papers associated with Truman's White House, but there are numerous other documents regarding other parts of his life.The Library is also the home to a museum examining different parts of Harry Truman's life. One of the permanent exhibits, the “Presidential Years,” provides information, artifacts, and videos regarding many of the decisions and events that took place during 1945-1953. In this exhibit, one can see a replica of Truman's Oval Office. The other permanent exhibit revolves around Truman's life. In this exhibit, “Truman: His Life and Times,” one can view areas dedicated to his childhood, military service, years in the Senate, and life after the Presidency. In addition to the two permanent exhibits, there is a location where the museum presents different temporary exhibits. In 2018, the Library &amp; Museum acquired the entire collection of the defunct Korean War Veterans National Museum &amp; Library in Springfield, Illinois. It plans to incorporate these artifacts in future exhibits.

Since its opening in 1957, the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum has offered a research library and galleries that preserve and share the history of Harry Truman's life and presidency. This was also the first Presidential Library established following a 1955 law that supported the creation of these institutions. Truman personally worked to build the library and maintained a personal office which has been preserved and serves as one of the highlights of the tour. Today, the library helps bring the late President's life and legacy to light for modern scholars and everyday Americans through exhibits and a vast archival collection of documents from the Truman Administration.Listen to the clip below under Backstory and Context when you are on the Truman Walking Tour!

Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum

The museum gallery includes a pair of Chrysler Windsor Sedans purchased by Harry S. Truman in November 1940. The more elegant Chrysler was driven by the future First Lady while the Senator drove the other car. Both vehicles were donated to the Truman Library and restored to their showroom appearance. The fam buggy was manufactured by the Hercules Buggy Company of Evansville, Indiana between 1910 and 1914. An inventory and ledger book reveals the likelihood that this was the buggy purchased by the Truman family in 1914 for six dollars.

The basement of the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum includes an art gallery and rotating exhibits. This permanent gallery includes several vehicles that belonged to the Truman family along with a farm buggy that was in the family for many years.

One of two vehicles purchased by the Truman family in 1940

Transportation Gallery

This gallery offers a variety of temporary exhibits that focus on important historic themes and topics related to Truman's life and career.

Special Exhibits 

Lower Level

Missouri BoyhoodThe world that formed Harry Truman was vastly different from the one he shaped as president. Born in Lamar, Missouri, in 1884, his family had no electricity or running water. There were no cars or paved roads. Harry’s father plowed with horses and forged his own iron tools. Harry lived on farms until he was six. Then his parents brought he and his sister and brother to Independence, in part, for the community schools. A good-natured, curious child, Harry adored his teachers, music, and books. By 4th grade, he also adored a girl in his Sunday School class who would later become his wife.A Willing WorkerAfter graduation, tenacity and hard work pulled Harry through two major setbacks. First, West Point rejected him for poor eyesight. Then his father risked everything on wheat futures — and lost. Forced to sell their house in Independence, the family moved to Kansas City to find jobs. Bustling city life held many temptations, but Harry kept his head down and found he could get along with most anyone. He impressed his bank bosses and amused the itinerant workers (or “hobos”) as a timekeeper for the Santa Fe Railroad. Keeping accurate records and paying close attention to detail would become a hallmark of Truman’s work ethic.The Trumans in Kansas CityHarry took an accounting course at Spalding’s Commercial College. He worked in the mailroom of the Kansas City Star. He got a “down-to-earth” education living in tent camps tracking hours for itinerant railroad workers. Following that, he landed a job at the National Bank of Commerce. There he cleared checks and kept detailed longhand notes, developing a habit for careful record keeping that would last his entire life. At one point, he roomed with a young Kansan, Arthur Eisenhower, whose brother Dwight landed the spot at West Point that eluded Harry.FarmingAt age 22, Harry Truman left Kansas City and returned to Grandma Young’s six-hundred-acre Grandview Farm. He spent long hours riding the plow and kept meticulous notes on planting and harvesting. The Trumans raised cows, pigs, horses and chickens. They grew oats, wheat, alfalfa, corn and potatoes. Harry grew closer to his father, bonding with him over politics and their shared admiration for Democratic Party founder Andrew Jackson. When John Truman died in 1914 after an intestinal surgery, Harry was devastated. He assumed the enormous responsibility for the farm, its debts, and his father’s position as road overseer.Courting BessOne day in 1910 changed Harry’s life. While in Independence visiting cousins Ethel and Nellie Noland, he volunteered to return a cake plate to the wealthy Wallace family across the street. Bess Wallace, whom he’d long admired, invited him in. Telephones were unreliable, and travel from Grandview to Independence took hours. So, their friendship blossomed through hundreds of letters. When Harry bought a car in 1914, traveling to Independence became easier, and he could be found visiting Bess on many Sundays. Although Bess’ family warmed to him, Bess’ mother Margaret remained cool to “that farmer boy” — even after he became president.Romance by MailFuture first lady Bess Wallace was born to a wealthy family. She was fashionable and athletic. For Harry, it was love at first sight. Though they met in Sunday School as children, their romance began a decade after high school graduation. Often apart, much of their courtship took place by mail. Bess burned most of her letters, but Harry’s survive. They reveal his dreams, devotion, and lively sense of humor. They also include racial slurs that are typical of the time but difficult to reconcile with his public promotion of high ideals.

This first exhibit focuses on Harry Truman's early life. The future President spent his first six years on a farm before moving to Independence with his family. The gallery includes artifacts from his boyhood and military service in World War I, his early business ventures, his work as a county judge, and his entrance into politics culminating with his service as a Senator and his term as Vice President under Franklin Delano Roosevelt. These exhibits collectively help to show how Truman's past shaped the future President.

Plow to Politics

April 12, 1945 started as a typical day, but before the sun had set, Truman’s life would be forever changed, as would the course of history. Truman had dropped Margaret off at George Washington University, gone to work, dictated letters to his sister-in-law and James Pendergast, and planned a poker game. After the Senator adjourned, he was standing in the office of House Speaker Sam Rayburn, having a drink, when the telephone rang. Franklin Roosevelt had died in Warm Springs while having his portrait painted. Truman must come to the White House at once. He would be sworn in as President by day’s end.The First Four MonthsPresident Roosevelt had shared little with his vice president. Now Truman faced some of the most momentous decisions ever put before an American president. On the day he was sworn in, President Truman was shaken and uncertain. He had to learn on the job. By August, he was more confident and resolute. The decisions he made in these chaotic four months ended the Second World War and foreshadowed the immense new challenges of the post-war world. At the same time, Truman and his family struggled to adjust to their new lives in the White House and in the spotlightThe Manhattan ProjectIn 1939, physicists Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard wrote President Roosevelt, warning that the Nazis were developing a superbomb. Armed with this knowledge, the U.S. embarked on a massive program to build an atomic bomb before the Germans. Six years and two billion dollars later, “the Gadget” would soon be ready to test.VE DayOn the day President Truman announced Victory in Europe he celebrated his 61st birthday. Millions around the world celebrated V-E Day. Yet triumph in Europe was tempered by ongoing grief and suffering. Truman proclaimed the United States ready to “turn the greatest war machine in the history of the world loose on the Japanese.”First Step to Lasting PeaceTruman’s first decision as president was to proceed with the United Nations Conference in San Francisco. The United Nations would be dedicated to promoting peaceful international cooperation and preventing another global war. A successor to the failed League of Nations, the U.N. – originally comprising 55 member nations – had greater power to compel international norms. The Soviets nearly backed out, but Stalin sent Molotov as a representative at the last minute. Truman addressed the conference on the closing day.July 26, 1945At 5:29 a.m., the U.S. Army detonated the world’s first nuclear weapon. The test was code-named “Trinity.” “The Gadget” was a plutonium device. Its yield was between 15 and 20 thousand tons of TNT. Officials downplayed resulting radioactivity. The test site was located in New Mexico’s Jornada del Muerto desert.Potsdam ConferenceTruman met with Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill in Potsdam, Germany to discuss the political future of postwar Europe. He was unaware of Roosevelt’s growing distrust of Stalin. Now, the Soviets were breaking agreements made at Yalta. They installed a puppet government in Poland while other Allies were denied access. Though untested, Truman felt confident. He wrote Bess that he got what he wanted most - Soviet support in the war against Japan.A Changed WorldTruman’s decision to use atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki is still controversial. Some credit Truman with ending the war and saving thousands of lives. Others believe Japan’s defeat was certain, the bombs savage and unnecessary. The technology was new. Radiation hazards and casualties were vastly underestimated. The bombs established short-lived American atomic weapons dominance. They also brought in a new era of global anxiety. The U.S. now had the means to obliterate the human race. Soon it would not be alone.When the Enola Gay dropped a uranium bomb, nicknamed “Little Boy,” over Hiroshima, 70,000 people were killed instantly. Tens of thousands more later died of injuries and radiation poisoning. The B-29 bomber was flown by Col. Paul Tibbets. Hiroshima was targeted because it was a center of military production, and the weather patterns that day were favorable to the mission. President Truman was returning from Potsdam on the USS Augusta when the bomb was dropped.August 9th, 1945A second atomic bomb was released on Nagasaki from a B-29 bomber Bockscar, piloted by Major Charles Sweeney. Called “Fat Man,” it was a plutonium bomb like the one detonated in the Trinity test. 20,000 people died instantly. Tens of thousands more died in the weeks that followed. Firebombing campaigns continued. Japanese leaders argued over their next steps.Instrument of SurrenderOn August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration in a recorded statement. Some Japanese military leaders tried to steal the recording in a coup but failed. Hirohito’s statement was broadcast throughout Japan. It was the first time the Japanese people heard his voice. He did not use the word “surrender.” The United States did not try him for war crimes. He was retained to forge a new ally from a foe. The instrument of surrender was signed aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945.

This exhibit utilizes artifacts and photographs to interpret the issues President Truman faced in his first four months in office, a period that was defined by the end of World War II.

The First Four Months

Tension in Postwar AmericaTruman hoped his job would be easier once Japan surrendered. Yet he faced domestic upheaval as the nation shifted from a war to peace economy. Twelve million GIs were headed home in need of jobs, homes, and stability, just as the defense industry was closing factories and laying off workers. After years of rationing, the spirit of sacrifice and cooperation at home was spent. Pent-up consumer demand roiled the economy. Prices rose at an annual rate of 30 percent. Unions that held off demands during wartime hit the picket lines.Justice, Not RevengeTruman weighed two approaches toward postwar Germany. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau had been key to Roosevelt’s New Deal. Now, his Morgenthau Plan proposed dividing Germany into smaller states. They would be rebuilt around agriculture. Any war-related industry would be dismantled. Secretary of War Henry Stimson was an attorney and foreign policy advisor. He worked for decades in both Democratic and Republican administrations. He saw the plan as vindictive. He felt Germany should be rebuilt strong. It should be a democracy. Truman put his support behind Stimson’s approach.Emerging SuperpowersWhile the U.S. emerged stronger after the war, the Soviet Union had suffered horrific losses. Industries lay in ruins. A staggering 27 million people had been killed. Post-war military buildup became the Soviet Union’s top priority. Stalin moved to establish communist governments throughout Eastern Europe. He seized labor and resources in Germany and other nations as reparations. This was done in spite of agreements made at Yalta. Economic development for the Soviet people suffered. In spite of this, the nation secured its place as a world superpower.Cold WarRelations swiftly deteriorated between the U.S. and Soviet Union after the war. The Soviets installed puppet governments in defeated Eastern European states. Drought, floods, and winter storms stalled recovery and boosted communist support in Western Europe. Truman wanted to spread democratic ideals, governance and capitalism. He believed the Soviets must be contained through economic and military action. Bitter suspicion between the two powers worsened. It calcified into a massive geopolitical conflict – the Cold War. It would not be fought directly. It was waged through espionage, atomic weapons development, and the exchange of aid for influence.The Truman Doctrine and ContainmentIn Eastern Europe, by 1947, Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria were ruled by communist governments. The Soviets occupied northern Iran. Communist Yugoslavia pressed Italy for control of Trieste. Great Britain, near bankruptcy, was forced to withdraw from Greece and Turkey. Both nations faced strong communist pressure. Truman saw this as a threat to national security. If Greece and Turkey fell, he reasoned, Western Europe would be next. He secured $400,000,000 in aid during an emergency joint session of Congress. The use of aid to “contain” Soviet expansion became the basis of the Truman Doctrine.Marshall PlanFood and fuel shortages slowed European recovery. They also stoked communist sentiment in France and Italy. The goal of the Truman Doctrine —Soviet containment—could not be met under these conditions. Truman enlisted his popular Secretary of State George C. Marshall to promote a historic initiative. The Marshall Plan would give massive economic aid to Europe. Over concerns it could bankrupt the U.S., Marshall’s prestige helped carry the bill through Congress. It passed by overwhelming majorities. Between 1948 and 1951, the Plan provided more than $13 billion in aid. It funded housing, food, infrastructure, and industry. The Plan succeeded in rebuilding Europe’s infrastructure and bonding European nations in cooperative ventures. Although the Soviet Union was offered participation in the Plan, it declined.Berlin BlockadeAt the Potsdam Conference, the Allies had divided Germany into four temporary occupation zones – American, British, French, and Soviet. Berlin fell within the Soviet zone. It too was split into four zones. On June 24, 1948 the Soviets cut rail, road and water access to West Berlin. The “Berlin Blockade” was the Soviet response to a plan by the Western Allies to join Western sectors into one federal state. It would also introduce a new currency, the Deutsche Mark. The Soviets controlled Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. Now they sought all of Berlin. The blockade might start World War III. Truman’s solution – the Berlin Airlift - would become a crucial test of containment.The Berlin AirliftOn June 28th, Truman gave the American commander in Berlin, General Lucius Clay, approval for a full-scale airlift operation. It was a huge undertaking. The mission was carried out by pilots from the U.S., France, Great Britain, Australia, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. They delivered 4,652,812,000 pounds of supplies in over 270,000 flights, averaging almost 600 per day. Stalin thought it could not last through the winter. Yet he lifted the blockade after nearly a year. The airlift was a dramatic win for Truman. It showed America’s resolve to resist the Soviet threat without direct confrontation.

This gallery explores the new challenges faced by the United States and President Truman including the rebuilding of Europe and Asia, an uncertain economy, and the rise of authoritarian regimes.

This urn was presented to President Truman by leaders of Belgium in 1946 at a ceremony at the White House.

The Post-WWII World

The call for a Jewish homeland began well before the war. The modern Zionist movement arose due to false, anti-Semitic propaganda in the late 19th and early 20th century. It was used as a pretense for mob violence, atrocities, and massacres of Jewish people called pogroms. During World War II Hitler pursued systematic genocide. Two-thirds of Europe’s Jewish population were killed. After the war, many Jews still could not safely return home. Some thought Jewish people should return to the historic Land of Israel. There they could establish self-rule and perhaps find safety. Truman &amp; Jacobson As a senator, Truman helped his friend Eddie Jacobson secure visas for Jews fleeing the Nazis. Now as president, he was approached by Jacobson about Israel. This time, the request was that Truman meet with Chaim Weizmann, head of the World Zionist Organization. Truman refused. On March 13th, Jacobson entered the White House without an appointment. He pleaded Truman. Finally, Truman responded, “You win you baldheaded son-of-a-bitch.” Truman met with Weizmann on March 18th. He asserted that the U.S. would recognize the new state if the U.N. could not establish trusteeship over Palestine. On May 12, 1948, President Truman and Counsel to the President Clark Clifford met with Secretary of State George C. Marshall and other key advisors. By now, a partition compromise was unlikely. Truman asked Clifford to state the case for recognizing Israel. Marshall, whom Truman called “the greatest living American,” rebuked Clifford. He suggested support was motivated by the Jewish vote in the upcoming election. Nearly all in Truman’s State Department advised against recognition. Arab nations might align with the Soviets and could cut access to oil.  On May 14, 1948, Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, read a Declaration of Independence. It announced the first Jewish state in nearly two thousand years. It would begin the next day at midnight. At 6 p.m. Washington time, the British Mandate expired. Eleven minutes later, President Truman issued recognition of the provisional government of the State of Israel on a de facto (in practice) basis. The Soviets issued legal (known as du jure) recognition on May 17th. The U.S. eventually followed suit, issued de jure recognition after the first Israeli elections in 1949.

This gallery explores the issues facing President Truman the culminated in his decision to extend diplomatic recognition to the State of Israel, often over the objections of many of his advisors. Although contemporary polls revealed that this decision was unpopular with a majority of the American public, Truman later described his decision to recognize Israel as one of the proudest moments of his Presidency.

Recognition of Israel

After a brief post-war recession, many white Americans enjoyed prosperity. But people of color were denied many political and economic opportunities. Racial violence and prejudice were a constant threat. The G. I. Bill gave veterans low-cost mortgages, low-interest loans and school tuition. Yet its benefits were denied to many non-white veterans. Their families, in turn, could not build wealth. Segregation barred people of color from schools, restaurants, trains and buses. In many places, they were denied the vote. The Ku Klux Klan used terrorist violence to enforce white supremacy. Others used political, economic and social means.While some progress began under Roosevelt, the Democratic Party was long controlled by a southern faction that opposed civil rights. At the 1948 Democratic National Convention, Minneapolis Mayor Hubert Humphrey pressed for a strong civil rights plank. The “Dixiecrats” walked out in protest. The split endangered Truman’s reelection. Yet he used his power as president to affirm the plank two weeks later. He issued executive orders 9980 and 9981 to desegregate the military and federal government. Though they did not end discrimination, the orders were a crucial step in the nation’s journey toward its constitutional ideals.

This museum exhibit begins with an acknowledgement that Harry Truman did not believe in social equality between races, and he came of age in a segregated time and place. His letters included racial slurs occasional racial slurs and he even met with the Ku Klux Klan during his first run for office. As a senator, he promoted segregated public housing. Yet he also spoke of “brotherhood of all men before the law.” As a veteran himself, President Truman was infuriated by brutal lynchings and abuse of veterans of color. He authorized a civil rights committee. He called for anti-lynch laws and an end to poll taxes. He also desegregated the military and government.

Truman and Civil Rights

The 1948 ElectionTruman’s approval in 1948 was at an all-time low. Still, he enjoyed being President. He threw himself into the challenge of his long-shot reelection bid with confidence and verve. His aggressive cross-country “Whistle Stop” campaign began nearly broke. Defections by southern “Dixiecrats” on the right and Henry Wallace supporters on the left endangered the party. Yet these setbacks only energized Truman. He predicted victory using his own electoral calculations. His win over the heavily-favored Republican candidate, Thomas Dewey, was one of the greatest upsets in U.S. political historyFew thought Truman could win. Some suspected Truman’s recent actions on desegregation and Israel were a cynical attempt to engage northern Black and Jewish voters. After all, a secret 1947 memo by James Rowe and Clark Clifford noted these votes were essential. Yet his direct campaign approach was familiar and echoed his longshot 1940 Senate race. Flanked by Bess “The Boss” Truman and crowd favorite Margaret, he crisscrossed the country three times by train. He met with midwestern farmers and cheering crowds in Harlem. He stressed high prices and housing. He attacked the “Do Nothing” 80th Congress. In the last campaign where television did not play a role, Truman spoke directly to the voters.VictoryAcross the country, Truman’s victory amazed the public and the press. Democrats also reclaimed both houses of Congress. Farmers, liberals, northern Black and Jewish voters, the border and western states, and Cold War concerns all helped propel him to victory. On his triumphant return to Washington, 750,000 people lined the street. The Washington Post, which had predicted a Dewey victory, mounted a sign: “Welcome home from the crow-eaters.” H.V. Kaltenborn, an NBC political commentator who called the race for Dewey on election night, gave Truman his microphone as a memento.

This gallery explores President Truman's domestic policies, including the extension and expansion of FDR's New Deal, a program Truman labeled as "The Fair Deal." The gallery also explores international relations with an emphasis on tensions between the United States and Russia, the origins of the Cold War, and the Truman Doctrine.

The exhibit includes exhibits related to the election of 1948 in addition to Truman's second term

The President's Second Term

This part of the tour takes visitors to the museum's original entrance, a lobby designed around an original mural by famed Missouri artist Thomas Hart Benton entitled Independence and the Opening of the West. The mural depicts the artist's intersection of the interaction of peoples in the mid-19th century, a time when Independence was a bustling frontier community at the confluence of the Sante Fe, California, and Oregon Trails.

Thomas Hart Benton Mural

Truman’s WashingtonFor almost eighteen years, from 1935 to 1953, the Truman family made their home in Washington, D.C., far from their roots in Independence, Missouri. Harry Truman worked hard to distinguish himself as a Senator. Bess adjusted to life in their cramped apartment. Margaret tried to fit in at her new private school. For the Trumans, family was always a centering force. Sometimes called “The Three Musketeers,” their bond carried them through the dizzying events of senatorial politics, a world war, and the presidency.Truman called his decade in the Senate his “ten happiest years.” He relished the work and comradery. He also swiftly earned access to the “the Club” — the Senate’s inner social circle. Bess and Margaret explored the Capital and navigated its new social demands. Senator Truman called Bess “the Boss.” He sought her council on nearly all matters. She worked alongside him in the office, answering mail and later editing Truman Committee reports. Bess and Margaret split their time between Washington and Independence. While apart, the family wrote letters revealing private jokes, insights and observations of the widening world around them.Making a Home in the Great White JailWhen the Trumans moved into the White House in 1945, they were shocked to find it falling apart. Bess went to work, hoping fresh paint and new curtains would improve morale. When she and Margaret were in town, the Trumans read, played the piano and talked most evenings. Yet with his family in Independence half the year, Truman was often lonely. He buried himself in work. Late at night, the creaks and groans of the aging White House conjured up thoughts of past presidents who had roamed the same rooms. His fascination with White House history guided him later when major repairs became an urgent necessity.Harry Truman revered the office of the President. He worked hard to strengthen presidential power for his successors. He also reorganized the Executive branch to better meet the challenges of the modern world. To do this he had to know how the presidency fit into the framework of government as set out in the Constitution. Truman was a lifelong student of history and government. Unlike his predecessor Franklin Roosevelt, who reveled in ad hoc personal decision-making, Truman preferred a more organized and streamlined process. He delegated when possible and took advice in a more open system of decision-making.“The Buck Stops Here”This wood and glass desk sign is one of President Truman’s most well-known trademarks. Its saying comes from an old poker game expression “pass the buck,” meaning to give responsibility to someone else. Truman believed a President must be decisive and accountable, and the buck stopped with him.This sign was made at the federal reformatory at El Reno, Oklahoma. It was a gift from the warden at the suggestion of Truman’s long-time friend Fred Canfil. Truman received it in October 1945. He referred to it periodically to emphasize a president’s ultimate responsibility to make decisions.Inside the Oval OfficeThis replica of President Truman’s Oval Office is decorated exactly as the original was on August 28, 1950. In an age when television broadcasts from the White House were rare, the office was decorated more for personal taste and practicality than as a showcase. The center of the room was open, in part, to allow for large numbers of reporters during press conferences.

This exhibit includes original artifacts from the White House as it shares the history of Truman's time in office, a period that coincided with a complete renovation of the building.

The Trumans in Washington

This exhibit recreates the Oval Office as it appeared during Harry Truman's Presidency. While several other Presidential museums include recreations of the Oval Office, this exhibit is unique in its precision and accuracy thanks in part to hundreds of photographs that were taken during the renovation of the White House during Truman's tenure in office.

The Oval Office

This exhibit includes exhibits that place Truman's presidency in historical context. While often recognized as one of the most successful Presidents owing to his leadership at a challenging moment in American history, the exhibit acknowledges Truman's low approval rating at the time he left office owing to the Korean War and offers context for how historical interpretations change over time. The exhibit also offers a chance to watch a video of Truman's funeral and internment from almost the precise location where it was filmed.

President Truman's Lasting Legacy

This is the final resting place of Harry and Bess Truman, their daughter Margaret, and her husband Clifton Daniel, Jr.

Graves of Harry S. and Bess Wallace Truman

Gravesite

This office was former President Truman's place of work between 1957 and 1966, a period when he would arrive at the museum daily and work on his memoirs in addition to a variety of projects. Truman regularly met visitors and even personally led tours during these years.

Truman's office has been carefully maintained to match its appearance when Truman worked from the museum

President Truman's Office

A gift from the local post of the American Legion, this memorial was dedicated on the 72nd anniversary of the American Legion and is located near the original starting place of the tour. There are also exhibits on the lower level, which is always open to the public when the museum is open.

Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum

Return to Independence

Introduction

Images