Words of Harry S. Truman: What Do They Tell Us?
“This Library will belong to the people of the United States. My papers will be the property of
the people and will be accessible to them. And this is as it should be. The papers of the
Presidents are among the most valuable sources of material for history. They ought to be
preserved, and they ought to be used.”
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Words of Harry S. Truman: What Do They Tell Us?
President Truman could always be counted on to express his thoughts on almost any subject. His
colleagues, and biographers, the public and reporters, had no doubt where Truman stood on any
issue. Some people felt that his speaking style was too homespun for the chief executive of the
world’s most powerful nation; yet, others found Truman’s syntax to be refreshingly down to
earth and honest. In recent years, politicians from both major political parties have laid claim to
the Truman quality of bluntly and plainly speaking one’s mind.
History does, and will continue, to use Truman’s own words to assess his character, presidency
and legacy. See what you can surmise about President Truman and the events of his White
House years by analyzing his quoted remarks and connecting his words to what you learned as
you toured the exhibit.
Student Directions:
1. Read each quote.
2. Reflect about what you read, heard and viewed as you toured the Galleries.
3. Write complete sentence answers to follow-up questions.
4. Share your thoughts in discussion with others in the class.
Quote 1:
1945
“Boys, if you ever pray, pray for me now. I don’t know whether you fellows ever had a load of
hay fall on you. But when they told me yesterday what had happened I felt like the moon, the
stars, and all the planets had fallen on me. I’ve been given the most terribly responsible job a
man ever had.”
Questions:
1. Under what circumstances do you think Harry S. Truman spoke these words?
2. What evidence in the quote helps you to know why it was written?
Quote from the document.
3. Make a list of all of the reasons why you think Truman felt over-whelmed.
4. What does this quote tell you about Truman as a person? Give evidence from the
quote.
Quote 2:
1940, Sedalia, Missouri
“I believe in the brotherhood of man, not merely the brotherhood of white men, but the
brotherhood of all men before the law.”
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Questions:
1. What elected office did Harry S. Truman hold when he made this statement?
2. What evidence did you see in the “Presidential Years” Exhibit that would support Truman’s
statement?
3. What assumptions about the character of Harry S. Truman can be made from this quote?
4. What question or issue is not addressed by Truman’s remark?
Quote 3:
1950 Private Papers of Harry S. Truman
TO JOSEPH R. McCARTHY (This note to Senator McCarthy was never mailed)
My Dear Senator:
I read your telegram of February eleventh from Reno, Nevada, with a great deal of interest
and this is the first time in my experience, and I was ten years in the Senate, that I ever heard of a
Senator trying to discredit his own Government before the world. You know that isn’t done by
honest public officials. Your telegram is not only not true and an insolent approach to a situation
that should have been worked out between man and man but it shows conclusively that you are
not even fit to have a hand in the operation of the Government of the United States.
I am very sure that the people of Wisconsin are extremely sorry that they are represented by a
person who has as little sense of responsibility as you have.
Questions:
1. Why do you think this letter was written?
2. What reason(s) would President Truman have for writing a letter but not sending it?
3. List two things that President Truman said that are important.
4. Write a question to the President that is left unanswered by his letter.
Quote 4:
1960 Columbia University (a post-presidential interview)
Professor Graff: Mr. President, are there any decisions that you made while you
were in the White House that you have regrets about, do you think, seeing them in retrospect?
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President Truman: The great decisions, I think, in no way need to be changed. There are a lot of
small things that might have been done better, but the bigger decisions are standing up. That is
the best you can go by. Nobody can make a final judgment as to whether a program of an
administration has been right or wrong until the results of those decisions have been worked out,
and that takes fifty years...
Questions:
1. Make a list of the five most important decisions made by President Truman in your
opinion and explain your rationale.
2. What does this statement reveal about Truman’s assessment of his administration?
Quote from the statement.
3. Why would Truman say that it takes “fifty years” to pass final judgment on the decisions and
programs of a presidential administration?
4. Do you agree with President Truman that his choice of action on “the bigger decisions are
standing up?” Explain your answer with evidence.
Quote 5:
1948 Special Message to the Congress on Civil Rights
“If we wish to inspire the peoples of the world whose freedom is in jeopardy, if we wish to
restore hope to those who have already lost their civil liberties, if we wish to fulfill the promise
that is ours, we must correct the remaining imperfections in our practice of democracy. We know
the way. We need only the will.”
Questions:
1. Who do you think President Truman was referring to when he spoke of “peoples…whose
freedom is in jeopardy…”?
2. What groups had “already lost their civil liberties” as of 1948?
3. What “imperfections” existed in American society in 1948?
4. What did President Truman do to advance the cause of civil rights?
5. In your opinion, what should the “promise” be for all Americans?
6. What do Americans still need to do to achieve full justice for all?
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