American Experience

Narrator: IN 1944, A LITTLE-KNOWN SENATOR FROM MISSOURI

WAS CAMPAIGNING FOR THE OFFICE OF VICE-PRESIDENT.

NEW ORLEANS, HOUSTON, PORTLAND, SEATTLE, BOSTON, NEW YORK CITY,

WASHINGTON, PITTSBURGH, ST. LOUIS.

HE CRISSCROSSED AMERICA.

ONE NIGHT, IN HIS PRIVATE PULLMAN CAR,

HE AWOKE IN A COLD SWEAT.

HE HAD DREAMED THAT FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT HAD DIED

AND HE, HARRY TRUMAN, WAS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

IN ALL HIS LIFE, TRUMAN TOLD A REPORTER,

HE HAD NEVER HAD SUCH A TERRIFYING NIGHTMARE.

Narrator: APRIL 12, 1945.

VICE-PRESIDENT HARRY S. TRUMAN RECEIVED A CALL

URGING HIM TO COME QUICKLY AND QUIETLY TO THE WHITE HOUSE.

AS HE RAN THROUGH THE CORRIDORS OF THE CAPITOL,

HE REFUSED TO FACE WHAT LAY AHEAD.

"I THOUGHT I WAS GOING DOWN THERE TO MEET THE PRESIDENT,"

TRUMAN SAID LATER.

"I DIDN'T ALLOW MYSELF TO THINK ANYTHING ELSE."

25 P.M., TRUMAN ENTERED THE FIRST LADY'S SECOND-FLOOR STUDY.

ELEANOR ROOSEVELT PUT HER ARM AROUND HIS SHOULDER.

"HARRY," SHE TOLD HIM, "THE PRESIDENT IS DEAD."

"IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO FOR YOU?" TRUMAN ASKED.

"IS THERE ANYTHING WE CAN DO FOR YOU?" MRS. ROOSEVELT REPLIED,

"FOR YOU ARE THE ONE IN TROUBLE NOW."

HE WAS ONLY A HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE,

A FARMER UNTIL HE WAS 33,

A HABERDASHER GONE BANKRUPT AT 38.

NO ONE IN WASHINGTON HAD EVEN HEARD OF HARRY TRUMAN

BEFORE HE WAS 50.

NOW, AT 60, HE WAS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

Man: HERE WAS A LITTLE HABERDASHER FROM MISSOURI--

A SMALL BUSINESSMAN.

FOR HIM TO STEP INTO THE SHOES OF THE GREAT F.D.R.,

THERE WAS AN ENORMOUS FEELING OF LETDOWN.

McCullough: FOR MANY PEOPLE,

IT WAS AS IF THE PRESIDENCY HAD DIED,

NOT JUST THE PRESIDENT.

PEOPLE WERE SHAKEN, NOT JUST BY ROOSEVELT'S DEATH,

BUT WHAT DID THIS MEAN TO HAVE THIS UNKNOWN QUANTITY

STEP INTO SUCH A POWERFUL AND IMPORTANT POSITION?

Narrator: "IF HARRY TRUMAN CAN BE PRESIDENT,"

AMERICANS EVERYWHERE WERE SAYING,

"SO COULD MY NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBOR."

Truman: OUR HEARTS ARE HEAVY.

THE CAUSE WHICH CLAIMED ROOSEVELT ALSO CLAIMS US.

HE NEVER FALTERED, NOR WILL WE.

Man: I FELT THAT THE MAN WAS OUT OF HIS ELEMENT,

AND I THINK MANY OTHER AMERICANS

"WE'VE GOT AN INCOMPETENT THAT WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT

IN THE WHITE HOUSE."

IT WAS A KIND OF FRIGHTENING THING TO CONTEMPLATE.

Narrator: OF ALL THE MEN WHO HAD BEEN PRESIDENT,

HE WAS ONE OF THE LEAST PREPARED.

VICE-PRESIDENT FOR ONLY 82 DAYS,

EXCLUDED FROM ROOSEVELT'S INNER CIRCLE, HE KNEW NOTHING

ABOUT THE WAR RAGING ACROSS THREE CONTINENTS AND TWO OCEANS

EXCEPT WHAT HE READ IN THE PAPERS.

BUT WITHIN FOUR MONTHS,

HARRY S. TRUMAN WOULD HAVE AT HIS COMMAND

THE MOST TERRIBLE WEAPON EVER DEVISED BY MAN

AND HE WOULD HAVE TO DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT TO USE IT.

Narrator: "NOW, HARRY, YOU BE GOOD,"

MARTHA TRUMAN HAD TOLD HER 11-YEAR-OLD SON.

AND HARRY TRUMAN HAD WANTED TO BE GOOD.

HE DREAMED OF BECOMING A CONCERT PIANIST

AND PRACTICED WITH THE SAME DETERMINED, OPTIMISTIC SPIRIT

HIS PIONEER GRANDPARENTS BROUGHT WITH THEM

WHEN THEY FIRST CAME WEST TO MISSOURI.

BORN ON MAY 8, 1884, IN LAMAR,

HARRY WAS SIX WHEN HIS FAMILY SETTLED IN INDEPENDENCE,

A TOWN STILL CLOSE

TO THE RUGGED LIFE OF THE AMERICAN FRONTIER.

MEN CARRIED KNIVES OR GUNS.

FISTFIGHTS WERE COMMON.

INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI, WAS NOT A PLACE

WHERE YOUNG BOYS PLAYED THE PIANO.

Man: HE'S THIS YOUNG KID WHO LOOKS SORT OF LIKE A SISSY.

THERE'S A SURVIVING PICTURE OF HIM

THAT WAS MADE AROUND THE TIME HE WAS 11.

YOU SEE THIS KID WHO LOOKS SORT OF LIKE LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY,

DRESSED UP IN HIS SUNDAY BEST, SORT OF PUDGY,

WEARING THESE BIG, THICK GLASSES,

IN A DAY WHEN IT WAS VERY UNUSUAL

FOR A KID TO WEAR EYEGLASSES.

Narrator: "THE POPULAR BOYS WERE THE ONES WHO WERE GOOD AT GAMES

AND HAD BIG, TIGHT FISTS," TRUMAN REMEMBERED YEARS LATER.

"I WAS NEVER LIKE THAT.

"WITHOUT MY GLASSES, I WAS BLIND AS A BAT

"AND, TO TELL THE TRUTH, I WAS KIND OF A SISSY.

"IF THERE WAS ANY DANGER OF GETTING INTO A FIGHT,

I ALWAYS RAN."

BUT IN SPITE OF THE TEASING, HARRY KEPT ON PLAYING THE PIANO.

ALL HIS LIFE, HARRY TRUMAN WOULD SHOW

THE SAME DOGGED PERSEVERANCE.

McCullough: THERE WAS THAT LITTLE BOY,

00,

FOR TWO HOURS IN ABSOLUTE EARNEST BEFORE GOING TO SCHOOL

SITTING THERE IN THE HALF-LIGHT

WORKING AWAY AT MOZART OR CHOPIN.

Narrator: IT WAS HARRY'S MOTHER

WHO FIRST URGED HIM TO PLAY THE PIANO

AND ENCOURAGED HIM TO PRACTICE.

"HARRY WAS THE SORT OF BOY," A FRIEND RECALLED,

"WHO SEEMED TO DO WHATEVER HIS MOTHER TOLD HIM."

THE DAUGHTER OF A PIONEER FARMER,

MARTHA TRUMAN HAD GONE TO COLLEGE

AND STUDIED MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE.

BEFORE HARRY WAS FIVE, SHE SAT HIM ON HER LAP

AND TAUGHT HIM TO READ FROM THE FAMILY BIBLE.

Man: I THINK HARRY'S MOTHER

WANTED HIM TO BE A REAL GENTLEMAN

AND DO THINGS JUST RIGHT.

SHE ACTUALLY BABIED HARRY A GOOD DEAL,

IF YOU WANT TO SAY IT THAT, BUT SHE HAD NO OTHER CHOICE

BECAUSE HE COULDN'T DO THE ROUGH AND TUMBLE WITH THE OTHER KIDS.

Narrator: HARRY'S INTRODUCTION TO POLITICS WAS ROWDY AND BOISTEROUS.

ELECTION DAY AT THE END OF THE 19th CENTURY

WAS MARKED BY HIGH SPIRITS, CAROUSING AND BRAWLS.

AND IN INDEPENDENCE, HARRY'S FATHER, JOHN TRUMAN,

WAS ALWAYS RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ACTION.

McCullough: HIS FATHER WAS ABOUT FIVE-FOOT-FOUR OR SO, BUT TOUGH.

HE WOULD FIGHT AT THE DROP OF A HAT.

HE WOULD TAKE AFTER PEOPLE, PARTICULARLY ON ELECTION DAY,

AND ONCE WHEN A MAN IN A COURTROOM

ACCUSED HIM OF BEING A LIAR,

HE CHASED THE FELLOW OUT INTO THE STREET

AND THREATENED TO BEAT HIM UP.

Narrator: LIKE HARRY'S MOTHER,

JOHN TRUMAN ALSO CAME FROM PIONEER STOCK.

HE EARNED HIS LIVING TRADING HORSES AND MULES.

"A FIERY FELLOW," PEOPLE SAID OF HIM.

"VERY STUBBORN, BUT ON THE SQUARE.

"A MAN OF HIS INTEGRITY AND INDUSTRY,

YOU EXCUSE A WHOLE LOT OF THINGS."

ALL HIS LIFE, HARRY WOULD TRY TO EARN JOHN TRUMAN'S RESPECT.

McCullough: ONCE HIS FATHER GOT YOUNG HARRY A PONY,

AND THE FATHER WAS LEADING THE PONY

AND THE LITTLE BOY FELL OFF THE PONY AND STARTED TO CRY.

AND THE FATHER SAID, "ANY LITTLE BOY THAT CRIES

WHEN HE FALLS OFF THE PONY HAS TO WALK HOME."

SO HE HAD TO WALK ALL THE WAY BACK.

AND MRS. TRUMAN, HARRY'S MOTHER, DIDN'T LIKE THAT AT ALL.

Narrator: "MAMA THOUGHT I WAS BADLY MISTREATED, BUT I WASN'T,"

TRUMAN REMEMBERED.

"IN SPITE OF MY CRYING ALL THE WAY HOME,

I LEARNED A LESSON."

HARRY LEARNED THAT A MAN KEPT TRYING UNTIL HE SUCCEEDED,

THAT A MAN NEVER ADMITTED HE WAS AFRAID,

THAT A MAN HAD TO SPEAK BLUNTLY AND BE PREPARED TO FIGHT.

BUT NO MATTER HOW HARD HE TRIED,

HARRY COULD NEVER QUITE MEASURE UP.

Hamby: MY OWN IMPRESSION IS

THAT HE REALLY WANTED TO RELATE TO HIS FATHER.

HE FELT THAT THEIR RELATIONSHIP WAS NOT AS GOOD

AS IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN.

IT WAS NOT AS CLOSE AS IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN.

Narrator: HARRY WAS NOT HIS FATHER'S FAVORITE.

HIS YOUNGER BROTHER, JOHN VIVIAN, WAS.

JOHN VIVIAN SHARED HIS FATHER'S INTEREST

IN TRADING HORSES AND MULES.

HARRY PREFERRED TO READ.

HARRY WAS ONE OF THE FEW BOYS IN TOWN WHO WENT TO HIGH SCHOOL.

MOST OF THE STUDENTS IN HIS CLASS WERE GIRLS.

HE SPENT HIS SPARE TIME GOING TO CONCERTS

WHEN HE WASN'T DEVOURING BOOKS.

McCullough: HE CLAIMED TO HAVE READ

EVERY BOOK IN THE LITTLE TOWN LIBRARY.

HE PARTICULARLY LIKED BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY--

GEORGE WASHINGTON, ANDREW JACKSON AND ROBERT E. LEE.

THEY WERE HIS HEROES AND HE WANTED TO BE LIKE THEY WERE.

Narrator: EVERYTHING HE LEARNED REINFORCED HIS NATIVE OPTIMISM

AND TAUGHT HIM TO ADMIRE THE SIMPLE, OLD-FASHIONED VIRTUES.

"A TRUE HEART, A STRONG MIND AND A GREAT DEAL OF COURAGE,"

HE WROTE IN A SCHOOL COMPOSITION,

"AND I THINK A MAN WILL GET THROUGH THE WORLD."

McCullough: TRUMAN GREW UP IN A TOWN

WHERE THERE WERE CERTAIN STANDARDS OF BEHAVIOR.

SELFISHNESS IS NOT TOLERATED.

HYPOCRISY IS DETESTED.

YOU WERE PUT DOWN IF YOU STARTED ACTING

A LITTLE TOO BIG FOR YOUR BRITCHES,

AND YOU JUDGE PEOPLE BY THE WORK THEY DO-- DOING A GOOD JOB.

Narrator: "INDEPENDENCE," HARRY SAID,

"WAS A PLACE WHERE RIGHT WAS RIGHT AND WRONG WAS WRONG

AND YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO TALK ABOUT IT."

THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE, TRUMAN WOULD IDEALIZE HIS HOMETOWN.

BUT INDEPENDENCE WAS ALSO A PLACE

WHERE CATHOLICS AND JEWS WERE NOT TO BE TRUSTED,

ITALIANS AND IRISH NOT TO BE HIRED.

BLACKS LIVED IN A CLUSTER OF SHACKS CALLED "NIGGER NECK."

McCullough: INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI,

WAS MORE LIKE THE SOUTH THAN IT WAS LIKE THE MIDWEST.

IT WAS A JIM CROW TOWN.

WHEN THE CIVIL WAR VETERANS

GATHERED ON THE TOWN SQUARE FOR REUNIONS,

THEY WERE CONFEDERATE VETERANS.

AND TRUMAN GREW UP IN A FAMILY WHERE RACIAL SLURS WERE USED,

WHERE OLD HABITS OF THE MIND AND THE MOUTH PREVAILED.

HARRY'S GRANDMOTHER ESPECIALLY JUST HATED ABE LINCOLN.