legion. -- he owed them his best judgment not his obedience. and he convinced them. when the party primaries were held in california in 1948, richard nixon did not just win the republican nomination he won the democratic nomination. he won unopposed. traveling the country to explore the american story, the c-span cities tour has visited 24 cities in the last 12 months. next, one of the highlights from our stop in independence, missouri. exhibition about harry truman in world war i. harry truman was the only president to serve in combat in world war i.

lifeis the story of his leading up to the war, why he went to the war, what he did in the war and what lessons he learned from the war. there were other president who is did -- had important roles, for example, herbert hoover, did relief programs. franklin roosevelt was the assistant secretary of the navy. and dwight eisenhower, of course, became the commander during world war ii. he was running a base on the home front. so he did not get into combat in the war. so truman's experiences are pretty unique since he was the only president to serve in combat. we've selected this title "heroes are corpses" for this show. it's taken from a memoir that he wrote about his experiences as he was leaving new york harbor on the ship on the way to france in 1918. he wrote in that he was wondering if hay would come back heroes a corpses. harry truman's interest in the military started at very

early age because he loved to read and he was reading books about history and biography and he read about great military leaders. but in decision that, harry truman was very much a fraternity type person. hi needed the camaraderie of other men. he would be a joiner of organizations he join this may sons. and one of the things he did was he joined the missouri national guard. and he did that in 1905. and this roughly cords to the time that his -- correspondents to the time that he was called back to help his father run the family farm in grand view. while he was on the farm, he was working very hard but he also needed to get away. he needed to have the company of other young men his age. interesting story is his national missouri national guard uniform was this gorgeous blue uniform with right hand piping on it and he told the story of

going home and showing the uniform to his grandfather at the farm. and he had survived the civil war, lived through civil war and he had the entire family had been southern sympathizers. and they remembered the jacquers from kansas coming -- jayhawkers and when she saw the blue uniform, she said don't ever come back here wearing a blue uniform and truman says i never did. his grandmother got to have his national guard uniform just once. in june of 1914, world war i started with the assassination of france ferdinand. so truman came responsible of the primary person responsible for running the farm. so even though the war was starting in europe, but the united states and harry truman were not involved it in. truman would read the news but there was nothing he could do. but meanwhile, he had a girlfriend

that he lived in independence, bess truman. and he decides the best way he could get from the farm to bess's home in independence was to buy a car. so he bought a 1911 model stafford automobile built in kansas city. and here's a photo of him and bess is sitting in the front seat with him and he's out for a little spin. but he's running the farm doing hard work on the farm while the war is unfolding in europe. he gives up his stint in the missouri national guard because he was needed so much at the farm. but that's where things were as the united states started heading towards war which they finally entered the 1917. when the united states finally does enter

the war, harry truman rejoined the national guard. he was 33 years old. so he's older than most soldiers and that became a minor issue. the other main issue was his eyesight. and according to him, he memorized

this eye chart before he had to take the eye test so he could pass the eye test. because his eyes were very bad for his entire life. and there because chance that he wouldn't be accepted had he had to pass the eye test legitimately. harry truman was shipped out in the spring of 1918 to had had off to europe but oh thoin way there, he was sent to new york city. and just before he left, his girlfriend bess truman gave him this little oval photograph and with it a little note that asked him to bring it home safely, to come home safely. he kept this in his shirt pocket throughout the war and then after the war he put it in a little frame and he kept it on one of his desks that he had throughout his entire political career. wally was waiting to get shipped

oversays and he found an eye doctor that would make new glasses for him. he wrote to bess who said in the process of making the new glasses, the he chipped one of the lenses. and he told bess that he kept the lens and we actually have found that lens in our collection. it's displayed right here. and it was found in truman's little sewing kit which was also displayed here. it's a nice example of being able to compare a letter that he wrote to his girlfriend, bess truman along with an artifact we have in our cliques. so truman is shipped out in the spring-of-1918 and he heads off to europe. when truman left for france, he is lieutenant truman. he received a promotion to captain and didn't find out about it for months. so when he left for europe, he had his tack box where he kept his equipment for his horse and on it, he had written in black print "lieutenant harry s. truman." once he found out he had been promoted to captain he wrote over the top of that. so it shows both the before and after his promotion in the service. the first thing truman did when he went to france was he was assigned to special advanced artillery training school at a small village in france. and these are some of the tools he would use and equipment that for his artillery training, includes slide rules

and compasses and other things like that. he had his advanced training. and then he was sent and put in command of a battery. it was battery d of the 129th field artillery. they called them for battery d. these were mostly irish catholics, some german catholics from the kansas city area. and there were no one to be feisty. they had been under several commanders before truman. but truman, this is where he really displayed his sense of leadership. so eventually they became to respect him as a fairly quiet but confident of their battery. this portable barber's chair. there was a barber for battery d. his name was frank spina and he took it to europe and used it in the field to cut the battery's hair and frank became a friend of truman's and when frank returned to kansas city, he opened a barbershop and truman became his regular customer for the rest of his life. truman was sent to france, along the front lines in france, mostly in the argonne valley. truman faced a challenge in the war once given command of battery d, and what has become known as the battle of who hoorun. they had moved the field pieces into position and had fired off a volley, the germans fired back, and there are shells firing all around. most of the men broke and run b ut truman did not. that is where he showed his first test of having courage

in battle. he served in the mountains. when the arm assist -- armistice was reached, heated didn't have to fight anymore. he wanted to use some sightseeing. he took men from his unit and they traveled around mostly southern france to see various sites. he would write to beth from various locations, once from monte carlo. he wrote, dear beth, it is a gaudy place. just what you would expect from a place whose sole income is made

from gamblers. the fleecing isn't done at the casinos but the cafes. truman was able to return to the united states in the spring of 1919. on the way back, his battery members gathered together and made donations to raise money to give

truman a loving cup, inscribed to harry truman from his battery d associates. truman was very proud of this. after the war when he set up his haberdashery business, he displayed this. other people from his unit would come in and it would be a place where they could gather and gab about the war. there was a nice photograph of part of battery d and the officers of the field artillery front and center in that photo. in june of 1919, harry truman won is greatest battle when he married beth wallace, his longtime girlfriend. their wedding was june 20 8, 1919, exactly five years -- june 28, 1919, exactly five years to the day from when archduke france ferdinand was

assassinated and the war began. it was a very important day for truman on many accounts. truman was a woodrow wilson democrat. after world war ii could a -- after world war ii, truman was determined to make the united nations work. after the war, truman went into the haberdashery business which failed because of the depression. after world war ii, the economy switch from a military to consumer mode. there was the depression after world war ii. truman also believed in

justice for more. finally, truman, getting back to his sense of justice, after world war ii, they set up the nuremberg trials to mead out legal justice to the leaders of nazi germany because he felt that it wasn't right just to have vengeance after the war, the rule of law was very important. these are some of the lessons he drew from his experience in world war experience in world war i.

as we explore the american story. our travels with visits to cities in wyoming, ohio, michigan, south dakota, colorado, indiana, and many more. you can watch videos from any of our stops by going to ispan.org/cities tour area >> live in a country where there is no public transportation. a woman to leave the house she needs a car. to drive this car, she needs a man. andunday night saudi arabia women's activist talks about her book daring to drive. about her decision to challenge the saudi governments ban on women drivers. drive is an act of civil disobedience because a woman is not supposed to drive. ofshow that we are capable

driving and being in the driver our own destiny by doing this act of civil disobedience. history,n lectures in a representative from east tennessee state university teaches a class. he compares how both presidents have either upheld or disregarded the constitution. here's a preview. >> in the last couple of therations, andrew johnson defender of the constitution is a historic site to portray him and defend him. lincoln if you read popular history while he might be a great president, he had issues

with the constitution. habeas corpus and the like. bothu take a look at how talked about the constitution and the actions throughout their lincoln iss, actually the one who was more of a defender of the constitution and doesn't want to amend it. he is being forced to do things he doesn't want to do because of the constitution like forcing fremont to repeal his proclamation. who says he johnson is a strict constructionist but he is often doing things or not doing things the constitution says he should be doing like executing the laws asked -- passed by congress. learn more about abraham lincoln, andrew johnson and the constitution tonight on lectures

in history. you're watching american history tv where we bring the classroom to you. the presidency, we learn how presidents and first ladies develop and use the white house gardens during their administrations. this program was part of a daylong symposium hosted by the white house historical association. -- panelnal pattern the white house gardens today, features speakers with lived experiences working in and around the gardens of the white house. we will hear from dr. susan, programs manager for the u.s. botanic garden, jim adams, horticultural manager from the united states botanic garden, and jim mcdaniel, board of directors, like our previous panel, we will hear three short presentations and then our panelists will have a short conversation moderateddr