Bess Wallace and Harry Truman met as children in Sunday school in Independence, Missouri. For Harry it was love at first sight, but Bess was not so smitten. Many years would pass before she wed her ardent suitor at age 34, years in which she enjoyed a privileged upbringing, excelled at tennis, attended finishing school, and, after her father’s suicide, helped run her mother’s house. By the time Bess wed Harry in 1919, her independence was well established. It didn’t help that Harry, who’d been a farmer, had no head for business. When he briefly operated a haberdashery (it went under), she was his bookkeeper. She held the purse strings throughout their marriage, and was always one of his most influential advisors.

Elected to the Senate in 1934, Harry hired Bess as his office assistant. She advised him on speeches and campaign strategy, but preferred Independence to Washington. Upset when Harry became the Vice-Presidential nominee in 1944, she was stunned when FDR’s death made him President. A reluctant First lady, the antithesis of her predecessor, Bess abhorred publicity. Though she fulfilled her hostessing duties, her larger role was behind the scenes, advising Harry on everything from cultural exchange programs to the atom bomb. During his 1948 whistlestop campaign across America, Harry would jokingly introduce his wife and daughter as “the Boss” and “the Boss’s Boss.” It must have struck a chord.

Thirty-Third President
Harry S. Truman

Missourian Harry Truman was a gutsy and straight-talking politician who suffered chiefly from having to fill the shoes of a giant, FDR. Truman ran the family farm until World War I sent him to the French front. After the war he married and launched an unsuccessful clothing store. Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1934, he gained national recognition through his unflinching investigation of war contracts. Chosen as FDR’s running mate in 1944, Truman became President when Roosevelt died four months after the election.

Noted for his candor and wit, Truman originated the line, “The buck stops here.” Indeed, President Truman faced up to difficult decisions. When Japan vowed to continue fighting after Germany surrendered, he authorized the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, bringing the war to an end. In the Cold War that followed, he stood firm against the Soviets. In Greece, Turkey, West Berlin and South Korea, Truman carried out a policy of “containment.” In domestic affairs, his Fair Deal proposals included civil rights legislation and a national health program. He won a surprise victory over Thomas Dewey in the 1948 election, living up to his campaign cheer, “Give ‘em hell, Harry!” He retired at the end of his term.

Thirty-Third President
Democrat