Harry S. Truman: “The buck stops here!”

Please note: All text and photos copyright Gary Crallé. Not to be used without permission. All photos taken with Olympus DSLR cameras and lenses.

Harry S. Truman talked the talk. Now visitors to his boyhood town can walk the walk.

Independence, Missouri, an elbow’s length from downtown Kansas City, is where Truman grew up and cut his political teeth. A compact walk through history traces Harry’s “morning constitutionals” and even crosses paths with Frank James, outlaw brother of Jesse James. Information and brochures are available from the tourism office www.visitindependence.com toll free 1- 800-748-7323).

Did former U.S. President Harry Truman put Barack Obama in the White House? It could be argued he did by starting the ball rolling with Executive Order 9981 which desegregated U.S. armed forces in July, 1948. History is a chain of events linked by surprising cause and effect.

Born in 1884, the Missouri farm boy went on to become the 33rd president of the USA (1945 - 1953). Harry Truman was the last president without a university education, bringing instead a rural notion of common sense to a complex office. Faced with some of the most difficult decisions of that era, he set policies which have shaped the world.

Tumultuous times brought the atomic bomb, the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe, the Truman Doctrine, Korean War, McCarthyism, recognition of Israel & Pakistan, and creation of NATO.

It was the Cold War fight against communism which largely defined Truman’s presidency. By signing the National Security Act of July 26, 1947, he created today’s Department of Defence, National Security Council, Joint Chiefs of Staff and the CIA.

Bess Wallace attended Trinity Episcopal Church (409 N. Liberty), where she eventually married Harry Truman on June 28, 1919.

I requested some time in the Jackson County Courthouse for photos of the Truman Courtroom and Harry’s office. While waiting in the hall, my camera witnessed one of the civil weddings still performed in the court.

Harry Truman was a judge in the administrative, not judicial, sense. Writing instruments and reading glasses lie scattered across his desk on the ground floor of the courthouse. Self-educated in many respects, Truman had read every book in the town’s library by the age of 12.

In the old tradition of covering mirrors and stopping ticking clocks upon the death of someone in the household, this single remaining clock in the Truman Courtroom was set at 7:50, the time when Harry S. Truman died on the morning of December 26, 1972.

Not a replica, this is the real thing: an 1859 frontier jail in which Frank James, Jesse's bank robber brother, was imprisoned. The cell is confining, but proved no barrier to Frank who would eat with the marshal, attend the opera in Independence Square and read Shakespeare while awaiting trial. Harry Truman used to meet with fellow legionnaires in a room above the jail.

After lunch in Ophelias Restaurant www.opheliasind.com on Independence Square we crossed the street to Clinton’s Soda Fountain & Gifts where young Harry got his first job. Lindsey Page prepared a chocolate soda for us -- Harry’s favorite.

Purely for research purposes, I ate the creation.

The Wallace House/Truman Home of Harry and Bess (it belonged to her family) was a monument to detailed frugality, as evidenced by a torn kitchen linoleum tile tacked neatly into place instead of being replaced. Harry managed to earn the respect of his mother-in-law for whom no man was good enough for her only daughter. Regards aside, she always sat at the head of the dining table. Truman was indeed a humble man, with the only indication of his presidency being two plates in the dining room cabinet.

The house now sits within the Harry S. Truman Historic District, a National Historic Landmark site. Harry erected the white picket fence in 1949 to help keep tourists at bay. The Victorian dwelling is now protected by the National Parks Service whose members we’ve found to always enjoy their work. As proof: first we photographed the rangers, then they photographed us!

Inn keeper/owner Charlotte Olejko was up to her elbows setting flag stones for a patio when we arrived at The Woodson Guest House www.woodsonguesthouse.com. Regardless, an impromptu welcome tour was quickly offered. Each room is themed and packed with memorabilia she has been collecting since childhood.

We were shown to the Santa Fe guest room with its western motif, complete with movie posters. The front living room was full of red glass plus all sorts of knick knacks, as was the library which had book shelves stacked to the high ceiling. A lovely whimsical environment.

Charlotte’s hospitality matched her collectability. Returning from an evening’s late supper and tour of the Crossroads Art District in Kansas City, we found her waiting for us, having baked a fresh buttermilk pie.

The cornucopia of abundance continued with next morning’s breakfast of oatmeal soufflé, cinnamon rolls, hot stewed apples, bacon, juice and coffee.

It’s remarkable to think that weighty issues of the time such as slavery and frontier development were debated in a dimly lit 2-room log building. The 1827 structure (107 West Kansas, Tel 816-325-7111 for tours) was where Truman conducted business in the 1930s as a much larger county courthouse was being readied.

A Saturday morning art market was setting up in front of the Jackson County courthouse where Truman had an office in his early years. Ted Stilwell, one of the artists, told us a story. As a child, his school class had visited the Truman house to make some drawings. The teacher made it clear beforehand that this was an assignment to be handed in for grading. The students were completing their drawings when a car pulled out of the driveway, the window came down and President Truman himself enquired of Ted, who was nearest the car, what they were doing.

Seeing Ted’s work, he exclaimed it was the best picture he had ever seen of the house and asked if he might keep it. Ted complied, with unexpected consequences: he received a failing grade for not having artwork to hand in after the class outing. To this day he feels an injustice was done. Ted’s story convinced me that this really is (or was) the “Show me!” state.

Looking as though the welcoming crowds had left earlier in the day, this was the end of the line for Truman’s 1948 whistle stop campaign when he famously defeated Thomas Dewey --- an upset victory which had the embarassed Chicago Tribune eating its pre-printed “Dewey Defeats Truman” headline. That train ride of almost 22,000 miles won the campaign for Truman. And it was this depot to which he returned to waving local supporters after leaving the Presidency in 1953.

The Temple is headquarters of the Community of Christ, one of several Latter Day Saint groups with historical roots in the town. The building is a striking contrast to both Victorian and otherwise low-key architecture throughout Independence.

In keeping with sentiments of the man himself, the Presidential Library and Museum is a building of modest appearance, though once described by the Dallas Morning News as America’s “best presidential library”.

A diorama detailing aspects of Missouri history frames the entrance.

The Library & Museum www.trumanlibrary.org recreate historically critical moments with interactive displays plus audio and visual news clips.

June 25, 2010 marks the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War. Special exhibit “Memories of Korea” will recall the war and its legacy through the eyes and memories of people who lived and fought there. Mar. 27 - Dec. 31, 2010. Telephone 800-833-1225, 816-268-8200 for information.

For newshounds like me, the curved panorama wall of LIFE magazine stories holds a special fascination. I wanted to read them all, as some visitors seemed to be doing.

Truman was instrumental in White House renovations, as indicated by the replica of the Oval Office when he occupied it. During his second term the entire structure, with the exception of his controversial south wing addition, was declared unsafe and rebuilt from the inside out.

Harry and his wife, First Lady Bess (Wallace), the sweetheart he courted after returning from the trenches of Europe in 1919, are buried in the central court. An eternal flame burns nearby.

With some strings attached, a diminutive Harry greeted us at the Puppetry Arts Institute (11025 East Winner Road, Independence, MO 64052, Tel 816-833-9777). Former staff puppeteer Paddy Blackwood gave us a demonstration of the president’s toastmaster abilities with a lively little song and dance. The Institute gives puppet shows and organizes puppet-making classes in addition to its display of international and locally made puppet collection from creators Robert Smith and Hazelle Rollins.

I think Harry’s lighter side would have approved. With a wry sense of humor he once said: "My choices early in life were either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference." [The New York Times]