[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 76 (Wednesday, May 21, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1034-E1035]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           TRIBUTE TO THE 33RD PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. IKE SKELTON

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 21, 2003

  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, let me take this means to bring to your 
attention an article that was written by Jeff Joiner and appeared in 
the May 2003 addition of Rural Missouri magazine. The article, 
``Where's Harry'', gives a brief history of President Harry S. Truman's 
life from his birth in Lamar, MO, until his death in Independence, MO. 
It also explains the various places you can learn about the history of 
President Truman, most notably the Truman Library in Independence, MO.
  Mr. Speaker, I wish to share this article with the rest of the 
chamber.''

                             Where's Harry?


a tour of western missouri offers a glimpse at harry truman's life and 
    the rural background that shaped one of the 20th century's most 
                           important leaders

                            (By Jeff Joiner)

       The voice of Harry S Truman welcomes a group of children as 
     they step into the Oval Office. Of course the office is a 
     reproduction and Truman's voice recorded but the kids, on a 
     tour of the Truman Presidential Museum and Library in 
     Independence, instantly recognize the most famous office in 
     the world. Truman's Oval Office, decorated as it was when he 
     occupied it from 1945 until 1953, contains one artifact the 
     kids find most interesting, a television with a tiny screen 
     set in a large wooden cabinet. A tour guide tells the group 
     Truman was the first president to have a TV in the Oval 
     Office.
       A visit to the Truman Library in Independence is a reminder 
     of some of the most volatile history of the 20th century. As 
     president, Truman witnessed the end of World War II and the 
     beginning of the rebuilding of Europe and Japan. But he also 
     faced the expansion of communism, which led to confrontation 
     in Berlin and the bloody Korean War, and devised a policy to 
     contain communism known as the Truman Doctrine. Often loudly 
     criticized for unpopular decisions, like firing Gen. Douglas 
     MacArthur, Truman dealt with his heavy responsibilities 
     straight on, without flinching or laying blame.
       Many historians credit Truman's plainspoken manner and 
     upfront ``The Buck Stops Here'' frankness to his rural 
     upbringing. Born in Lamar and raised on the family farm near 
     Grandview, Truman came from humble beginnings. And once his 
     presidency was finished, he and wife, Bess, returned to their 
     home at 219 North Delaware in Independence where they lived 
     only a few blocks from where Truman's political career began 
     in the Jackson County Courthouse 30 years earlier.
       A real understanding of Truman and how he faced the 
     problems of post-World War II America can't be appreciated 
     without looking at where the man came from. Fortunately for 
     travelers Truman's home state offers many places to see and 
     touch the history that shaped the president.


                         a birthplace in lamar

       Truman was born May 8, 1884 in a small, white frame house 
     in Lamar where he and his parents lived for 11 months before 
     moving to Harrisonville and later Grandview to the north. On 
     the day his first child was born, John Truman planted an 
     Austrian pine tree and today, 119 years later, that tree 
     still lives in the front yard of the house, which has been 
     the Harry S Truman Birthplace State Historic Site since 
     1959. The house, managed by the Missouri Department of 
     Natural Resources, recreates a typical midwestern American 
     home at the dawn of the 20th century.
       Truman was the first person to sign the guest book on the 
     day the historic site was dedicated and typical of his down-
     to-earth style, he wrote, ``Harry Truman, Independence, Mo., 
     retired farmer.''


                         a life begun on a farm

       The Truman family eventually moved to a 600-acre farm near 
     Grandview in 1887 where they lived for three years before 
     moving to Independence. Harry Truman often worked on the farm 
     as a youngster and was responsible for the operation after 
     his father's death in 1914 until he joined the military three 
     years later. An Army captain, Truman led an artillery battery 
     during World War I.
       What today is called the Truman Farm Home is part of the 
     Harry S Truman National Historic Site administered by the 
     National Park Service, which includes the Truman Home 30 
     miles away in Independence. A shopping complex called Truman 
     Corners now surrounds what's left of the family farm, which 
     includes 5 acres of land and the farmhouse, which is not open 
     to the public. The farm is located near the intersection of 
     Highway 71 and Blue Ridge Boulevard.


                 the summer white house in independence

       The centerpiece of the Truman National Historic Site is the 
     home that Harry and Bess occupied as a young married couple 
     in 1919. Though he lived for many years in Washington, D.C., 
     first as a United States senator, vice president and then 
     33rd president of the United States, Truman always considered 
     the house in Independence home. Even during his presidency it 
     was known as the Summer White House.
       Following the inauguration of Dwight Eisenhower as 
     president in 1954, Harry and Bess returned to Independence 
     where he was occupied with the planning and construction of 
     his presidential library. Until late in life, Truman was 
     known for taking long walks around Independence, a fact 
     commemorated by the city on its street signs in the Truman 
     Historic District which feature a silhouette of the former 
     president, cane in hand, walking.
       Truman lived in the house on Delaware until just before his 
     death on Dec. 26, 1972 at the age of 88. Bess continued to 
     live in their home for another decade and died there. In her 
     will she left the home to the United States and it was 
     dedicated as a national historic site in 1983.
       The Truman Home, located on the corner of Truman Road and 
     Delaware Street, is open for tours by National Park Service 
     rangers. Tickets can be purchased at the site visitor's 
     center on Main Street in downtown Independence.


                    a library worthy of a president

       The crown jewel of Truman's Missouri is the presidential 
     library which documents in letters and historic papers his 
     legacy as the first president to step into the dark waters of 
     the Cold War, a period that continued until the collapse of 
     the communist government of the United States' chief 
     adversary, the Soviet Union, in 1991.
       The library details in a series of exhibits Truman's 
     political rise and his presidency including his whistle stop 
     train campaign and upset re-election in 1948. It also 
     documents the dark, early history of the Cold War. A painful 
     reminder of that era is the Purple Heart medal and angry 
     letter sent to Truman by the father of a U.S. soldier killed 
     in Korea. The medal and letter were found in Truman's desk in 
     his office after his death.

[[Page E1035]]

       Other Truman historic spots include the Jackson County 
     Courthouse in Independence which maintains the office and 
     courtroom of Presiding County Court Judge Truman and the Elms 
     Hotel in nearby Excelsor Springs where the president holed up 
     during election night in November 1948 when he, and most of 
     the nation's press, expected Thomas Dewey to defeat him.
       By visiting any number of spots in Missouri frequented by 
     the ``Man from Independence,'' people can appreciate how a 
     simple, rural beginning shaped world history.

                          ____________________