Midwest in the Making: Harry S. Truman

There are many individuals that have helped to define the Midwest, through their own personal endeavors. One of these figures is former President Harry S. Truman, whom my school was named after in 1996.

Harry Truman was born in the great state of Missouri in 1884. Harry’s father, John, made a living as both a farmer and livestock dealer. When Harry was six, his family moved to Independence, Mo., right outside Kansas City. After Truman graduated high school, he would join the Missouri Army National Guard, where he would serve into World War I, where he would fight combat missions in Europe. After the war, Harry returned to Independence and formulated a string of unsuccessful businesses. He would later hear his calling in politics, by first becoming a county judge, and then followed that up by becoming a U.S. Senator for the state of Missouri.

Photo from: http://baltimoresun.image2.trb.com/balnews/media/photo/2009-01/44496447

He would then be asked by then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to be on his ticket for the 1944 Presidential election. He, of course, accepted it, and after the untimely death of FDR in 1945, would become the President of the United States for the next eight years.

Harry Truman is also a great model because he portrays a traditional Midwesterner in the early half of the twentieth century. He grew up on a farm, never went to college, and somehow stumbled into the political arena. Being a native Missourian, I’m proud of the fact that a U.S. President was born and raised in my state. Granted, he never really was incredibly popular while in office, but his legacy has been redeemed significantly since that time period. Missouri has never been a political, cultural, or historical hot bed, but the fact that the President at the end of the World War I and the beginning of the Cold War was a Missourian is quite impressive.