My father had high regard for Harry Truman, whose framed photograph remained displayed in our home for years. In a 1992 interview with the Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine, my father described Truman:
He was an immaculate dresser, a carryover from his days when he was a haberdasher. And one of the most brilliant historians I ever ran across. He did a lot of reading of history as a hobby. It was always quite interesting to listen to him.
Yet, I was still surprised when an archivist told me there were two boxes of “post-presidential papers containing correspondence between Rufus W. Youngblood and Harry S. Truman” at the Truman Library. Most of these letters were formal and friendly, relating to a birthday or anniversary remembrance. But in a two-page letter from my father to Mrs. Truman after Harry Truman’s death, my father concluded with the following:
After reading these letters, the preservation of which I am forever grateful, I toured the handsome Truman Library, aware that my father had walked these same historic halls while protecting his “principals.” I have learned a lot about Harry Truman and have gained much respect for our 33rd president. I concur with and pass on my father’s summation of him. Harry Truman was “truly a great American.”
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Goettling, Gary. “Eyewitness to the Death of a President.” Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine, Spring 1992.
McCullough, David. Truman. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992.
Truman, Margaret. Harry S. Truman. New York: William Morrow & Co., 1973.
Beschloss., Michael. LBJ and Truman: The Bond That Helped Forge Medicare. Feb. 28, 2015, New York Times website, accessed Dec. 25, 2018, https:// www.nytimes.com/2015/03/01/upshot/lbj-and-truman-the-bond-that-helped-forge-medicare.html.
“A Presidential Friendship: HST & LBJ” Facebook video of forum on December 12, 2018, President Truman’s grandson Clifton Truman Daniel, President Johnson’s daughter Luci Baines Johnson and President / CEO of the LBJ Foundation Mark Updegrove. https://www.facebook.com/TrumanLibInst/videos/2071324226224263/?type=3&permPage=1
