truman. for today's journey we have a special conductor. it's me. in addition to hosting whistles stops for the truman library institute i was project lead for the nationally recognized truman library permanent exhibition and i am honored to be your conductor today. i'll take your tickets and we will be's locomotive rolling. although truman was the last non-us presidents to not have a college degree and the only one in the 20th century he was far from uneducated but in an early age truman was an avid reader wand would be proper rest ofhis life on the bible to the history to fiction and poetry . truman himself was a great student of history which was extremely important to understand as if one wants to understand him . in the gallery many photos of young truman you'll see his classes like this one him at age 13 . by the time truman's eyesight limited his abilities he was enjoying many outdoor activities s. instead truman fill his time with reading and playingthe piano . in the galleries when y

truman as formative years. after watching truman abrupt ascreens to the presidency and the museum introduction film brilliantly detailed in the first episode in our whistle stop series by aj beam. available for trueing on the truman institute library website if you missed it we'll stop in the next gallery, plow to politics. so explore the origins of the 33rd president and discover the first thing or things in his past that prepared him for the presidency. the art facts, documents and hand drawn interactive in the first room of politics. in the first room of the politics galli will guise are guide you through the construction of the strong foundation that truman laid on to succeed in the presidency, his american background, valueses is and close personal relationships and life experiences. this includes the lasting kregss or where you explore the things that left a lasting impression on truman. now for today's journey we have a very special conductor. it's me. in addition to hosting whistle stops and leaning str

truman understood that. interest value. >> the first real test of common sense of character and leadership is the subject of our next stop. on october 14 find out what happened i wouldn't be left out of the greatest history making efforts the world has ever seen and all there is to live for. you can find information about future installments >> how did your life change our guest, 1974? >> [laughter] drastically. first of all i grew up in alexandria in the same house

truman understood that. interest value. >> the first real test of common sense of character and leadership is the subject of our next stop. on october 14 find out what happened i wouldn't be left out of the greatest history making efforts the world has ever seen and all there is to live for. you can find information about future installments of this series as well as other interesting programs signing up for our newsletter. >> so what was the reaction from them to being there quick. >> we are so glad you're here. thank you for coming. give me some money. give me something. gimme gimme gimme. that got to the point of giving you my time right now. because collateral damage will occur and it's our way to say sorry was to give money. so if you talked to them to their face they would love having you there. and then you can catch the same guy a couple nights later or a couple days later trying to kill you. but the consistent thing is the kids. you can trust the kids and that's about it. you cannot trust anybody el

truman. i want to mention two things. if at any point you have questions you can drop those in the chat. and if you're interested in purchasing the book, you do so at upress.missouri.edu. if you use the code truman21 you get 20% off of the list price. ron, thank you for joining us tonight. >> thank you for having me. >> so i want to start by asking you. my first reaction was the truman court, huh? so we have stenson, and then i was at a loss to name anyone else that truman appointed. and then when i read the book i started to wonder why no one told this story before. how did you discover this story and when did you discover there was a book to be written about this story? >> yes, good to be with you. i spent some time in kansas city, and first, with kansas city, no one outside of missouri would have heard of harry s. truman. and the local affiliates out there a few years ago, and i hope to be back soon. the truman court -- the idea came to me when i was researching my last book about how wars

truman was aware of that as well. i think it's more of a stylistic comparison and an example of a shock to the system if you take president obama and his harvard education you take franklin roosevelt with his bay nature and harvard education. suddenly it's flipped over its a shock to the system. i think it is an excellent point spent a good amount of time spent thinking about over the last couple of years, how that was a shock to americans reading their newspaper in listening to their radio saying who even is this guy in what is happening here? and he is in charge and we are at war. it kind of came to a head later times some part of what came to a head because the supreme court nominee as he began to nominate his friends. >> was a brings us to tom clark, one of his friends. he nominated tom clark to be attorney general of the president of the united states. tom clark, at the time was a year older than i am now. i am 44 now he was 45 at the time. clark admin and unexceptional law student and came to washington by accid

truman. he provided the political space and good times with the local npr affiliate when i was out there a few years ago and hope to be back soon. the truman court -- the idea came to me when i was researching my last book about the double w, how wars protests and harry truman desegregated america's military. what we now know as the civil rights movement began with the effort to desegregate america's military. and harry truman was the first president in the post civil rights era, including franklin roosevelt, the first president to openly express public empathy to all white audiences about the plight of their fellow american citizens who happened to be african american. who are being denied their rights as african americans. and as i delved into the research about america's military, which now is largest and most diverse institution, i saw this fork on the side which actually kind of began researching my first book "wheat and branch" in their working through the judicial systems. how harry tr

winston churchill comes to america, truman invites him to make the famous iron curtain speech. this is a wake-up call to the world, churchill says stalin can no longer be trusted, these are no longer allies, we got to change foreign-policy. total scandal in america. the idea is to keep working with stalin. churchill put differently, he can't be trusted. one of the soviet sniper clocks working at a soviet embassy in canada defects to the west and defects with a huge bundle of explosive documents that reveal soviets have been spying on the american nuclear program, what is taking place with western allies developing a nuclear warhead. these two events are really important and the third thing, don't know how well known it is, george kennan, the famous diplomat in the american embassy in moscow writes his famous long telegram, in a similar tone to churchill set out the facts that the soviets cannot be trusted. in 1946 these three things happen, with haole continually banging on the drum, this is when truman begins to change his foreign-policy completely and you end up with the trum

winston churchill comes to america, truman invites him to make the famous iron curtain speech. this is a wake-up call to the world, churchill says stalin can no longer be trusted, these are no longer allies, we got to change foreign-policy. total scandal in america. the idea is to keep working with stalin. churchill put differently, he can't be trusted. one of the soviet sniper clocks working at a soviet embassy in canada defects to the west and defects with a huge bundle of explosive documents that reveal soviets have been spying on the american nuclear program, what is taking place with western allies developing a nuclear warhead. these two events are really important and the third thing, don't know how well known it is, george kennan, the famous diplomat in the american embassy in moscow writes his famous long telegram, in a similar tone to churchill set out the facts that the soviets cannot be trusted. in 1946 these three things happen, with haole continually banging on the drum, this is when truman begins to change his foreign-policy completely and you end up with the trum

so truman and churchill, they are really in a back foot there. because stalin has everything he wants. and they are still wanting to work with him. and that's where the real tension comes in, with colonel howley on the ground, saying, hold on a minute, this is ridiculous. this guy cannot be trusted. and it's his persistence, really, that starts to change policy. and it's all happening on a very subtle level, you know? >> -- ready to be firm right away? do you think that other peoples resistance to stalin -- or how eager everyone was, to end the turmoil and fighting? >> well, stalin was an absolutely brilliant -- well, i say, he was a very evil individual. but he was brilliant at getting what he wanted. and you've got to remember that yalta, he was a couple of months away from dying. there are meetings with him in his bedroom with him in bed. maybe he was not in his best form. and with churchill, likewise, i don't think he was in his best form. he was drinking unbelievably heavily at the yalta conference. one of his aides described him as drinking

two presence of god and the other direction was truman and eisenhower and when truman left office he was phenomenally unpopular approaching were nixon was when he left office when he was involved in the potter great quantity scandal and harry truman and the 22 percent in public opinion polls, 22 percent approved the job he was doing as president rated ssn we have come to see that his foreign policy, establishing nato and jeopardizing the marshall plan through congress and they were n as members of additional soviet expansions throughout your bed and at the same time truman's demeanor and his honesty and his plainspoken weight gain greater appreciation for that when he was seen by people like by lyndon johnson who lied to the united states involvement in richard nixon it was not a crook when he actually was a crook. and eisenhower, and the president improved is ranking improved over time and when he left office people thought that he was generally a nice guy but did not really worked hard at the presidency and he spent more time golfing then lady and he was a desire not a president. w

winston churchill comes to america, truman invites him to make his famous speech in fulton, missouri. this is a wake up call to the world. churchill says stalin can no longer be trusted. these are no longer allies. we have to change the foreign policy. his speech caused scandal in america. the idea was to keep working with stalin. churchill puts it very very firmly. he can't be trusted and, there's a second thing that happens, one of the soviet clocks working in the soviet embassy in canada, defects to the west, and he defects with a huge bundle of highly explosive documents that reveal that the soviets had been spying on the american nuclear program, and someone that knows everything about what's taking place with the americans with the western developing a nuclear warhead, so these two events are really important, and the third thing, i don't know how well known it is in america. it's certainly not known at all in my country, in england, the american embassy in moscow. writes his famous long telegram, which in a very similar tone to churchill sets out the fact that the soviets canno

truman came to his funeral. mean, truman who just became vice president came to the funeral of tom pendergast during wartime. on a military plane, a big controversy. and a week later, roosevelt died and truman was president of the united states. truman could never completely distance himself from his background with the machine. and he owned it. he said pendergast always kept his word and he was not going to abandon his friend. and so what we are trying to do is complicate that history. and i have done a little bit of the in this interview but we are building a website that will include -- currently we have about 9500 scans of original documents. we have photographs, letters people have written to one another back then. i mentioned the court cases that unveiled voter fraud and other crime should it is an interactive website that will combine this original document with new scholarship should so -- with new scholarship. we reached out in 2015 to 18 different professors or other museum professionals or historians

our guest tonight is ron james author of the soon to be released truman court, fall in limits

our guest tonight is rawn james, author of the soon to be released the truman

they need to learn about great men like george c marshall and dwight eisenhower and harry truman and ronald reagan come in great women like margaret thatcher. they need to know what it took to prevail over people in the 20th century and what it will take in the 21st. and we must make sure that our children know that it is the brave men and women of the united states armed forces who defend our freedom and secure it for millions of others as well. our children need to know that they are citizens of the most powerful, good, and honorable nation in the history of mankind, the exceptional nation. ordinary americans have been hero of to guarantee her survival -- he wrote things to guarantee her survival. in america's future in the future of freedom for all the world now depends on us. if we do our duty, if we stand for truth, if we put love of country of love partisanship,--about partisanship, if we honor our oath, if we conduct ourselves as public servants in a way that is worthy of the sacrifice of the men and women who wear the uniform of this nation, then we will be able to hand this

truman had to master a memorizing 50 ropes and then to experience the 17th century. only 90 feet long and 25 feet at the widest that mayflower two has only a ships company of 33 the namesake sailed with 125 passengers and crew and then to have the added advantages have perfected system of navigation c and radio the programs headed for virginia the captain knowingly set the course due south. >> in many ways the ships company lived 17th century style even on a small ship it was lime juice and salted beef not a call staples. the solid but monotonous menu a box by the ships doctors fresh greens every day. >> beefing greens all the way without an epidemic of seasickness that's a record right there. for 16 days the mayflower run southwest with a steady wind and sees a high sense of adventure and only saltwater so what better time? growing it is easy. putting on thek deck of the ship looks downright hazardous. >> and then the vessel turns the corner and has the ship rolling sharply. that the wind is there and each day longer and longer logging 164 miles. life on the smooth

truman was the first president to receive a turkey from the national turkey federation.'s no record of a pardon. according to the white house historical association, truman instead quipped that the birds would come in handy for christmas dinner. so, who was the first president to save a turkey? lincoln is the first on record. after the appeal of his young son, tad, the christmas turkey became a pet. president john f. kennedy was the first to spare a thanksgiving bird. in 1963, despite a sign hanging around the turkey's neck that read, “good eating, mr. president,” kennedy sent the gobbler back to the farm. richard nixon followed, retiring his turkeys to a nearby petting zoo. ronald reagan carved out a spot in history by being the first to use the word “pardon” when talking turkey in 1987. the tradition became formalized in 1989, with president george h.w. bush. >> let me assure you, and this fine tom turkey, that he will not end up on anyone's dinner table, not this guy. >> desjardins: the event has become a centerpiece of white house holiday tradition. >> this is the ei

quiet and peaceful as this place was a place to recharge my ron james provided his answer in the truman court, law and the limits of loyalty. >> my name is steven i'm so direction are of program and marketing for the kansas city publib

want to thank you for wonderful talks and engaging with our ron james provided his answer in the trumanourt, law and the limits of loyalty. >> my name is steven i'm so direction are of program and marketing for the kansas city public library. welcome to this special trim and day, three days removed installment in our virtual signature event series. our guest tonight is ron james author of the soon to be released truman court, fall in limits of loyalty. james is a graduate of yale university and duke

busy awesome, i'm heading to our truman now. we're close to where the file has brush. which means that there's a good chance i'm not going to be home tonight. a, i'm sorry i just to start finding out for this plan we're part of it was on the american plan with american for i don't know. i mean, if confirm as promised, but i don't know any of that out there with it. i don't know why. ready i'm actually in exactly so, but i'm, i'm on my way and i'll be there soon as possible. we do. have you guys come up with her about already today. i on we were speaking with the san garza has not time before and i said pretty cool with us to be able to to head down when i was shut down like were with the press. so the total promising fuller crumpton couldn't possibly like hungry dressed, tired giving you the wanted on, are you myron and healing you way? remember already on contact with the air tanker wallet. you know, even our region aircraft had contracted around that american company. he. ready how do i be for him? i'm getting a logo for the pot. tortured. so yeah. i've also found ou

he has someone out of the truman years. he is an old-fashioned democrat of the fair shake. that was sort of the narrative. that was the phrase. with biden it means, i think, when he thinks of government as something, of course, this was not true of the roosevelt truman years because we know the way they left out large numbers of americans, but at least the idea was a national narrative that put the worker and the ordinary person at the center of the narrative rather than putting the business at the narrative. it was not hard for biden to make that shift. i think that he does belong to this. almost before the late 60s and the early 70s. i call that narrative equal america. pretty much what biden is doing. he has no, unfortunately, rhetorical inspiration and that is important. you really need a president to let them know here is where we are going. one of the results, let's just say, is the incredible mess we are looking at right now on capitol hill where the entire agenda is facing demise. >> i am glad you brought that up. i think that this is another interesting data point

harry truman is probably the best.nd then you can give excuses as to why it's not really there. >> if they would have passed that $1.2 trillion infrastructure package, roads, bridges, airports, people understand that potentially could have made a difference. doris, we love having you in the situation room. thanks very much. >> you are very welcome. glad to be here. >> thank you. >>> coming up, the latest effort by president trump's attorneys -- former-president trump, i should say -- to delay the investigation of the january 6th insurrection. i just have to ask. does my aveeno® daily moisturizer really make my dry skin healthier in one day? it's true jen. really?! this nourishing prebiotic oat formula moisturizes to help prevent dry skin. one day? for real! wow! aveeno® healthy. it's our nature.™ i gotta say i'm still impressed. very impressed. new daily moisture for face. everything you love for your body now for your face. trading isn't just a hobby. it's your future. so you don't lose sight of the big picture, even

these things that we delivered with the combat staging areas then we returned them because president truman asked us to do so. we did what we were asked to do and here's one of the saddest things you will ever read. we had the highest count of any. one out of every 26 of us. thousands more came home physically and emotionally scarred for the rest of their lives. those serving on tankers of which i was one and served in the engine room had a particular story. they were for the group that attacked us but sank the ability for the diesels to move, anything that needed fuel, aircraft, jeeps, tanks, whatever. so if the enemy could sink one of those. if you're in the military, you get to pay but if you are in the merchant marines for a loop hold it doesn't go on. we were given one dollar a day. some i know very well spent over three years in a prison camp waiting at home and got a check for slightly under $11 million to pay you for three years of your life service. oversight we were also on the g.i. bill which came out in the early part of the war. it was unfortunate they tried to resurface it but

and he would have had to deal with the things that make harry truman very unpopular. and dealing with the stuff that made grant unpopular. we got a question for you to talk about the connection between the executions. >> booth was, of course, an actor and he left relationship monday just do go witness the execution of john brown. and he looked at john brown obviously he detested everything that he stood for. he was a white supremacist, but he was struck by the moxie of john brown on the scaffold. he was the calmest person there. and so eventually he called him the grandest man of the century. it was ironic this a lot of southerners had more positive things to say, they demonized him, but they admired his coolness under pressure. there is something about southern an nor and so forth. . to be the grandest man of the century, but in the right cause. john brown died for the wrong cause. but he want today be john brown in reverse, in effect. >> it is striking to me in a in some ways, considering what he learned, what he learned from john brown on his way to being executed,

the supreme court was under oral warren's leadership and with truman appointees completing the roster. in a series of decisions worked its way to getting meaning to the equal protection clause. i think it is our finest moment in constitutional history. >> you couldn't draw a clearer division between the congress and the courts at that time . progress was controlled by southerners the seniority system and moral segregationists, powerful committee chairman. people who roosevelt of course and dealt with all through his administrations. and yet here we have a supreme court that stating a radically different approach to equality and the new shape of american society. so if it had been up to congress we never would have desegregated the schools.es >> i find it an interesting book and to the car about suitcase and other japanese incarceration case during the roosevelt administration where thisidea of protection to american citizenship was essentially thrown out the window . i have to wonder what those conversations were like. you point out the dissenting voice and a nonjudicial sense of the

it begins with truman and runs right through george h.w. bush. and of course the cold war is global. there is vietnam, there is korea. but europe is always what really mattered. europe is at the center of it. and we have this long, expensive bipartisan effort. this long struggle as john kennedy called it. and we win. and now 34 years later, europe and the united states are drifting apart. we have a president over there now talking about coming together on climate change. forgive me, i don't want to -- i don't want to become partisan. but, so, -- so the soviet uniwould have fallen anyway and waste a lot of time and money and europeans are europeans. they don't like us, it was artificial. they just clung to us for those decades because we were protecting them against the soviet it was all just disappointing. >> transit atlantic values and maintain the alliance and beyond relations and values and commitments of european and american peoples and the one great strength for that, one great resource for that is that history of working together to beat t

it begins with truman. runs right through george h. w. bush.nd of course, their cold war is global with vietnam, korea. but europe is always what really matters. europe is at the center of it. and we have this long, expensive, bipartisan effort -- long twilight struggles as john f. kennedy calls it. and we win. and now 34 years later europe and the united states are drifting apart. we have a president over there now, talking about coming together on climate change. forgive me, i don't want to become partisan. so, the soviet union would have fallen. we wasted a lot of time and money, the europeans are european, they don't like this artificial. they just clung to us for those decades because we were protecting them against the soviets. and it was all just disappointing. well -- >> i share a lot of the concerns and of course jamie is at the front lines of standing up for transatlantic values and maintaining the atlantic alliance. about the cure values in commitments of european and american people. one great resource for that is that history of wo

he is someone out of the truman years. he's an old fashioned democrat of theem fair shake. that was sort of the phrase, which is a kind of common folksy phrase, but with biden it means, i think, that when he thinks of government asnk something -- of course this wasn't true of the roosevelt/truman years because wese know of the ways the new dl left out large numbers of americans but at least the idea of the new deal was a national narrative that put the worker and the ordinary person at the center ofhe the narrative rathe than putting business at thena center. for me, for all the centrism, it wasn't hardar for biden to make that shift because i think he does belongg to this period almost before the late '60s and the earlyth '70s. and i call that narrative equal america. and0s i think it's pretty much what biden's doing, although he neverha articulates it. he has no, unfortunately, rhetorical u inspiration. and that's important. you really need a president to lett the country know, here's whereta we're going and here's y we're going there. and i think the result is -- one of

million military personnel to combat staging areas, and returned them after the war because president truman, then president, asked us to do so. we did what we were asked to do and here is one of the saddest statistics you will ever read. talking about my brother. we had the highest casualty rate of any branch. one out of every 26 of us died. thousands more came home physically and emotionally scarred for the rest of their lives. those serving on tankers, which i was one, and served in an engine room, of which i was one, had a particular story. if you could sink a tanker, a tankership, but you sank the ability for other tanks to move diesel, to move anything that needed fuel, aircraft, jeeps, tanks, whatever. we needed that fuel. so if the enemy could sink one of those -- now 663 of us were killed. if you're a merchant marine through a loophole, it did not go on. we were getting a dollar a day. so someone spent three years in a prison camp and when he got a check for slightly under $1100 to pay you for nearly three years of your life's service. through an oversight we were also excluded from

we have gone back and looked at a little bit what happened in the truman presidency when president truman nuclear weapons on japan to end world war ii. these weapons, this is the end of the world if it happens. and we danced around that edge. i think when you look at all of this, mcconnell, mccarthy, they are all kind of looking out for their own position. general milley took action and put himself -- he was in this moment where he had practical responsibility. what are the calamiies that can befall the united states. a war particularly with china. the use of nuclear weapons, it's unthinkable he's going over routine procedures, but it's a national security emergency in his eyes around him. >> general milley responded to the book saying everything he did was perfectly within the realm of his responsibility. he did what he had to do to protect the relationships and the country. bob, i want to go back to something that bob woodward touched on a few minutes ago and that's the idea of president trump running again. nobody has looked a the this man more closely than the two of you over the last