Learning and playing in Missouri

After Nebraska, we stopped on the other side of Missouri to visit Kansas City. Like St. Louis, they too had interesting sculptures- giant badminton shuttlecocks, spiders, books outside the library and even what once was the world’s largest ball of string.

In Independence we stopped to learn about Truman growing up in the area, meeting his wife and retiring there after his term as our 33rd president. He met his future wife when he was a young lad as his aunt lived right across the street.

This is the view of Bess' house from his aunt's home. He asked Bess to marry him in 1911 and she turned him down, but she accepted his proposal eight years later.

His mom said he’d read all the books in the Independence public library by age 14. He’d planned on going to college, but his father's risky investment with the family’s savings lead Harry to work instead. He worked at a bank, on the family farm, joined the national guard, owned a clothing store and finally entered politics.

He faced tough decisions as president: bombing Japan in WWII, entering the Korean War, desegregating the military. World War II ended during his term. I recalled the words of my Grampa as we left town, “Truman was from Missouri so the peace treaty was signed on the Missouri instead of the South Dakota” (which was the most decorated ship in the navy and where my grandfather was stationed). History came to life for me.

We learned that after his presidency he just had his military pension of $100 a month to live off. A few years later they passed a law so the presidents would receive a pension. Years later, after Kennedy was shot, the presidents also received secret service agents to protect them. The house across from Truman’s was not occupied so the secret service stayed there. Many of his secret service agents received their masters degrees studying in their free time. Truman did go on a daily walk each morning at 7. He died in 1972 and Bess died ten years later, leaving the house to the national park system in her will. Bess was the longest living first lady dying at the age of 97. The home is decorated minimally and the décor looks like the 1950’s. They had a rotary phone and you could make out their phone number on the center dial. We couldn’t take pictures inside, but it was a beautiful house built by Bess’ grandfather.