Harry Truman and his wife Bess and daughter Margaret share some time together during his 1940 senate campaign. It was in 1940, that Truman visited Cuba. Notice the punctuation on the poster in the background.
While Presidents Day, was originally designated to commemorate our first President George Washington’s birthday, it is has become a combination observance of Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthdays and, in some states, other local heroes as well.
On Presidents Day in Missouri we might think of “our” President Harry Truman of Independence, Missouri whose birthday is May 8. Whatever your politics, Truman was known as a feisty, outspoken man, who most citizens of the Show-Me State think of with some pride.
One of his quotes gives an example of how his forthrightness was often perceived.
I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell. –Harry Truman
In 1940,Truman came to Cuba when he was campaigning in the state to win a seat in the U.S. Senate. David McCullough’s book Truman states that in late July, 1940 Truman wrote to his wife Bess about visiting Cuba when he was on the campaign trail.
Harry Truman couldn’t figure out why people wouldn’t stop to listen to his speech when he stood on a Coca-Cola box on the steps of the Methodist Church along Rt. 66. They just kept passing him by while he was electioneering for a senate seat.
He was told by local officials that they were passing him to attend the “Homecoming,” which was what the County Fair was called then. He said that he would attend the fair as well and went to the fair and made his speech. Legend has it that he had to pass the hat for money to continue to the next town.
Viva Cuba chose the wall adjacent to the building that used to be the Methodist Church to paint this scene in a mural. The building has reverted back to its original name of Wallace House, a historical Cuba home. Four-H symbols are used in the mural because the 4-H organization was 100 years old when the mural was painted, and the 4-H organization is important to Crawford County kids.
Today, and every day in Cuba, we honor our Missouri President Harry Truman. And as for the question Is it Harry S. Truman or Harry S Truman, read the answer here.
Viva Cuba placed its Truman mural on the wall next to the one-time Methodist Church, where Truman initially tried to speak to the citizens of Cuba.
For more information on Harry Truman visit the Truman Museum & Library site.
To see more historical photos of Wallace House read “125 years old and still beautiful then and now.”
Read these other Truman quotes.
If you would like to take a quick look at the other Presidents, try this You Tube video. We have reduced the sound, but you may want to mute it.
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