The Buck Stops Here – Truman Library

At Blue Springs Lake Campground, Lee’s Summit, MO

Arriving in the Kansas City / Independence area yesterday, and with plans to visit with my Aunt (and other relatives) tomorrow, we decided to take some time today to visit the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library in Independence.  I have been here at least 3 or 4 times before, but Marcia had never visited it before.  Above and below is a re-creation of the Oval Office during Harry Truman’s administration.

   

As you stand at the entrance, you hear Harry Truman’s talking about the items in the oval office, such as…

…“The globe, in front of the mantel, replaces the one which was given to me by General Eisenhower at his headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, in Nineteen Hundred and Forty-Five. When General Eisenhower succeeded me in the Presidency, I returned the original globe to him.”

   

One thing not found in the oval office re-creation is “The Buck Stops Here” sign, which has its own display just as you enter the Oval Office re-creation area.  If you click on the right picture (above) you can read about the famous desk sign.

Harry S. Truman was born in Lamar Missouri, May 8, 1884.  While the "S" did not stand for any one name, it was chosen as his middle initial to honor both of his grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young.  After fighting in WW1, and after a few shots at running and owning a business, in 1922 he was elected as County Court Judge of Jackson County's eastern district (like a County Administrator), his first shot at politics.  In 1934 he was elected as a US Senator, and in November 1944 elected Vice President, taking office in January 1945, and then taking over as President with the death of Roosevelt just 82 days later.

As with all of the Presidential Libraries I have been in, the Truman Library is full of historical displays, lots of information (one could feel an information overload at times), and on this day…a small crowd.  We took the 45 minutes to watch a movie about Truman’s life, narrated by whom I think is David McCullough, and it was very interesting…and the 45 minutes flew by.  Well worth seeing.

   

In the outer courtyard, the graves of Harry and Bess lay in peace…with an eternal flame, and flags from the 48 states that he was President over (Hawaii and Alaska were granted statehood after his Presidency)  It has been raining off and on here today, and we were able to get out there during a slight break in the drizzly weather.

The Library (museum) is open daily, except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.  It is open from 9-5, except on Sunday when it opens at noon.  There are so many exhibits that I just can’t decide which ones to show…so I will let you, the reader, come to the Library and see it for yourself.  Well worth the $8, $7 if you are over 65, $3 for children between the ages of 6 to 15, and free for children 5 and under.  Their website is also full of information.  They just don’t make politicians like Harry anymore…