Description: Harry Truman was a would-be college graduate turned Missouri farm boy, the last person to become president without a college degree. A protégé of Kansas City Democratic boss Tom Pendergast, his rise from Jackson County politics to the Senate and the White House could hardly have been anticipated, but his success left him unaffected. He lived most of his life as a resident of Independence, this small but proud community on the northeastern edge of Kansas City.

That’s the message of the Truman Home Historic Site, one of several locations in west Central Missouri connected with the 33rd President. Despite the low approval rating with which he ended his term (only recently exceeded by an outgoing President), he was enthusiastically welcomed home to Independence, where he tried to live the life of an ordinary retiree, subsisting on his $104/month pension from his World War I service. What’s now called the Truman Home sits at the southeast corner of Truman Road and Delaware Street, just northwest of downtown Independence. But neither the road nor the home began their existence with those names: the house belonged to his wife’s family, built in 1867 by her grandfather, and the newlyweds Harry and Bess moved in here among the rest of the extended Gates family. Bess’s mother lived with them for the remainder of her life, joining them in the White House as well, and grudgingly giving Harry only the bottom shelf in the China cabinet to display his sole gift from the U.S. in recognition of his service: a setting of the White House china.

The home is a beautiful Victorian structure, willed to the Park Service by Bess Truman after her death in 1982. The interior was arranged by Margaret Truman Daniel to look as it did during her parent’s lives, and the home remains that way both inside and out. The wrought iron fence was a post-presidency addition erected to give the Trumans the privacy they coveted, protecting their home and gardens from aggressive souvenir seekers who uprooted Bess’ tulips one too many times for Harry’s comfort. As a farm boy, Harry hated cutting gardening and cutting the grass, and the Park Ranger indicated that NPS is happy to oblige in keeping the home’s yard as it was during the last 20 year’s of Truman’s life.

Inside, it reminded me of being back in my grandmother’s house, and would easily pass for one of her friend’s homes. Pleasant and not fancy, it bears little indications that the leader of the free world called it home for nearly half a century. The excellent tour highlighted features that demonstrated Truman’s practical, farm-bred approach to life: the busy red, white and blue wallpaper that Truman loved enough to apply on the ceiling as well; the 25-foot long light pull that was just as good as installing a switch, the gash in the linoleum fixed by a half-dozen roofing nails either side of the tear. The front two rooms are where obligatory guests were met; only family and intimates made it through the door into the formal dining room, where Bess’ mother ruled over the straitlaced 6pm daily dinner.

Adjoining the dining room is the small library, with a well-worn, comfortable arm chair, and a wide-ranging collection of books that occupied Harry and Bess for hours. A voracious reader, I spied volumes of popular 1950s fiction, biography, history, and politics. In the parlor that sits between this room and the entry way stands the baby grand piano given to a disappointed 9-year-old Margaret. Although she hoped for an electric train, she grew to share her parents’ love of music, enjoying a career as a vocalist that was better received by the public than the press, prompting Truman’s famous angry father defense of his daughter’s abilities.

Life in Independence didn’t quite espite Bess and Harry’s desire to evade the spotlight. They spent summers on the back porch, which prompted crowds to line Truman Road and the new alley on the opposite side, clamoring for Harry’s attention. As the first person covered by new legislation providing Secret Service protection (enacted after Kennedy’s assassination), Truman scoured the bill for any pretext to send his new houseguests home. When he found that accepting this security detail was option, the agents were on the next train back to D.C. Only a phone call from L.B.J. forced Truman to acquiese, and only after he banished them to the small brick house across the street. From there, those assigned to guard him found it hard to track his movements, discovering too late that he’d driven out to run errands or enjoy the surrounding countryside. Truman coped with their presence by having them mow the lawn and tend the yard.

Only a few nods are given to Truman’s long life in politics, and his nearly two full terms as President (he spent only 82 days as Vice-President before Roosevelt’s death in April 1945). Several items in the formal front portion of the house are gifts from governments and others during his White House days (Presidents were then allowed to keep such items). The tour finished with a brief but impressive reminder of how much Truman dealt with during his years in office: ending both halves of World War II, starting the U.N., establishing the C.I.A., integrating the Armed Forces, rebuilding Europe and Japan, and fighting the Korean War. Through all of it, he stubbornly insisted on doing the right thing regardless of the consequences: ‘if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog’ was his philosophy. This place, still amid the neighborhood he briskly walked each morning at 6 am in coat and tie, helps give provide a little more understanding of how that was possible.

Tours, Tickets, and other Truman Sites
The Truman Home is at Delaware and Truman Road, and is accessible only through a 30-minute tour. Tickets are $4, and must be purchased at the Park Visitor Center, five blocks east on the southeast corner of Truman Road and Main Street in the old Fire Station. There are a number of tours each day, but each tour has a eight-person limit. Bess Truman’s will restricted tours to the first floor while Margaret was still alive. Margaret passed away in January 2008, and the Park Service will continue to keep the second floor closed to visitors. However, a photographic tour of the upstairs is available at the Park Service website.

The Visitor Center has a 12-minute film on Truman’s life in Independence, a small number of exhibits, and a nice variety of Truman-related items and books for sale. It’s a 10-minute walk from the Visitor Center to the Home. Only on-street parking is available at the Home; a small parking lot is across Main Street from the Visitor Center.

The Truman Farm is 30 minutes south in Grandview, MO, where city boy Truman turned farmer on 600 acres, assisted only by mule (and by his father and brother). Further south in Lamar is the Truman Birthplace, a Missouri State Historic Site.Close