{"id":761,"date":"2018-12-26T09:00:31","date_gmt":"2018-12-26T13:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rufusyoungblood.com\/blog\/?p=761"},"modified":"2026-06-10T11:44:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T15:44:36","slug":"truman-truly-a-great-american","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rufusyoungblood.com\/blog\/truman-truly-a-great-american\/","title":{"rendered":"Truman – “Truly Great”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

  <\/span>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.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
My father protected President Truman in 1952, near the end of his presidency. He later saw him numerous times while protecting LBJ, when he was serving as both president and vice president. LBJ made several trips to Independence, Missouri, to visit his comrade. In addition, when my father became the deputy director of the Secret Service, he oversaw and visited all former presidents, their families, and their details \u2014 including the Trumans.<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
 <\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Truman Library, Independence, MO, July 1965, (WHPO\/Courtesy LBJ Library)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
President Johnson signs Medicare bill at Truman Library: Truman becomes first Medicare beneficiary. Independence, MO, July 1965. (WHPO\/Courtesy LBJ Library)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Yet, I was still surprised when an archivist told me there were two boxes of \u201cpost-presidential papers containing correspondence between Rufus W. Youngblood and Harry S. Truman\u201d 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\u2019s death, my father concluded with the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Letter to Bess Truman from RWY written Jan. 1974. (Courtesy of the Truman Library)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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 \u201cprincipals.\u201d 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\u2019s summation of him. Harry Truman was “truly a great American.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

______________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goettling, Gary. \u201cEyewitness to the Death of a President.\u201d <\/span>Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine<\/i>, Spring 1992.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McCullough, David.  <\/span>Truman<\/i>. New York:  <\/span>Simon & Schuster, 1992.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Truman, Margaret. Harry S. Truman<\/i>. New York: William Morrow & Co., 1973.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beschloss., Michael. LBJ and Truman: The Bond That Helped Forge Medicare. <\/i>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“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<\/a> Mark Updegrove. https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TrumanLibInst\/videos\/2071324226224263\/?type=3&permPage=1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 … Continue reading Truman – “Truly Great”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":762,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[223],"tags":[202,54,224,42],"class_list":["post-761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-harry-s-truman","tag-harry-truman","tag-president-johnson","tag-state-funeral","tag-vice-president-johnson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rufusyoungblood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rufusyoungblood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rufusyoungblood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rufusyoungblood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rufusyoungblood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=761"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/www.rufusyoungblood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1692,"href":"https:\/\/www.rufusyoungblood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761\/revisions\/1692"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rufusyoungblood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rufusyoungblood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rufusyoungblood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rufusyoungblood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}