On this day, December 26, 1972, eighty-eight-year-old, former President Harry S Truman died Less than a month later, during President Richard M Nixon’s second inauguration, the Capitol flags remained at half‐staff in Truman’s memory But there was…

This photograph of my mother, sisters, and me, taken in December 1968 at the White House, brings back many memories My mother made matching dresses for my sister Candy and me to wear to the event I…

On this day, 55 years ago, on a chilly morning in the White House Rose Garden, US Treasury Secretary Douglas Dillon presented my father with the Exceptional Service Award in the presence of President Johnson, Treasury and…

I never had the honor of meeting President Kennedy By the time I was born, my father had been transferred from the White House Detail (presidential protection) to the vice presidential protective detail Although, intermittently, he still…

Harry S Truman in WWI doughboy uniform, ca 1918, Truman Library

My nephew was unaware that Veteran’s Day was originally called Armistice Day—in reference to the day fighting stopped in World War I,  “The Great War” This ceasefire…

When I discuss my father’s story, I try to add relatable material for the audience Often I procure a historical photograph featuring one of the five presidents in the town in which I am speaking Since my father…

I was just fifteen-months-old at the time, but my older siblings vividly remember President Kennedy’s televised announcement on the Cuban Missile Crisis on October 22, 1962 As did many Americans, my mother rushed out to purchase supplies…