September 12, 2007

To day we went to Independence, Missouri to see the home of President Truman. It was President Truman's home all 53 years of his married life.(picture) It was called the "Summer White House" during his presidency, 1945-1953. The house was the family home of Bess Wallace Truman , Truman met her while visiting his aunt who lived across the street. There was an instant attraction and they were married and her home became their family home. The tour was very interesting learning about how common the Truman's were. The home looked like they just walked out and closed the door and would be returning. The dishes are set on the table and his hat and jacket were on the hall tree. The linoleum on the kitchen had a large worn spot where the linoleum was completely gone and they had tacked it down with large tacks to keep it from lifting up or tearing more. You can tell that they weren't too interested in television as it was placed in an area away from the comfortable seating of the chairs. They were quite private and didn't entertain much at home, the curtains were always drawn, as people would just walk up and press their noses against the window to see in. We were told that one day while Bess was entertaining a friend, two ladies walked in off the street, looked around and left. The White House had an iron fence and gate put around the house for their safety and protection from looters who wanted a piece of something to take home. In those days the president had no Secret Service men. Truman inherited the presidency on Franklin Roosevelt's death in April 1945 with very little experience for the position. Truman brought World War ll to a thunderous close with the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
We also toured the Truman Museum and Library which was about a mile away from their home. In later years Truman would meet with dignitaries in a office in the Library that was designed on a smaller scale of the Oval office that's in the White House.