Harry S. Truman Presidential Museum and Library

When I found out I was coming to the Kansas City, Missouri area, I looked to my National Parks Passport book to look for entertainment. Much to my happiness, there was a Presidential Historical Sight, and these are generally my favorite! But the story doesn't start there. I looked up the address, put it in my GPS, and then saw signs. To save battery on my phone, I started following the signs. To note, these signs WILL NOT take you to the NPS sight but my accident was a good one. The museum was a $12 entry and upon getting in, the docent directed me to the introduction video. I was told it was twelve minutes long and not knowing much about Truman, I figured it couldn't be the wrong thing to do. Twenty minutes into the video and just starting on his second term I decided it was cutting into my day too much. What was learned in that video was good to know over the course of the museum. As with most Presidential Libraries, there was a replica of his Oval Office. Unlike most libraries, Truman voiced over what was in the office and it was like he was tugging my arm like someone truly excited to show me all of his cool stuff. This Oval Office was the first time I spent more than a few seconds admiring the contents. To put you in the museum, there was the Oval Office in one part, a gallery on Truman as a president, and a gallery on Truman as a man. This was something I had not seen really done before and although I lost some element on Truman's life before Washington, DC, I was able to remain focused on his job, then gain focus on him as a man. Plus, sitting through the first bit of that introductory video helped a lot. Going into the main floor exhibit, you're hit with FDRs death, and Truman taking the Oath of Office. The first room took me through his first four months using front pages of newspapers. One of the first things Truman did remains to be his memorable moment for many Americans: dropping the Bomb. This is touched on in the right chronological moment and is indicative of the weight of the event but doesn't stress on it. After all, this is a Truman Museum, not an Atomic Science Museum (a little plug for an earlier blog). The next exhibit nicely ties in how the "Happy Days" image of the 1940s-1950s weren't quite that, before leading into the Cold War. Next shows Truman's decision in recognizing the sovereign state of Israel, and at first I was thinking "This stuff is pretty cool and interesting, but why here?" Then I remembered, in the video, Truman almost lost the election on two tenets; integration of the troops and recognition of Israel. The curators wisely decided that before the election of 1948, all sides of these arguments had to be represented. Downstairs there is an exhibit showing Truman as a man as he grew up in Independence. There is a lot of ephemera in the exhibit, and later I read that Truman found it most important that all gifts he received as President belonged to the American people and had a place in his museum and archives. All in all this was probably the best done Presidential Library I've been in. I love that they separated the man from the office because it made Truman truly human to me. Obviously there were tons of things I learned about Truman too, but kudos to the curators for their arrangement. Finally back to my little screw up. If I would have left the GPS on, I would have never made it to the Library. The GPS was taking me to the NPS visitors center, where tickets can be bought for a tour of the Truman home. However here is also where I was able to get my Passport Stamps, so it's a good thing I got there, but still, I doubt my satisfaction would have been half as present if I had only gone to the NPS site. Very rarely do I walk away from a museum or exhibit exclusively about someone and am just in awe of their personality. This is one of those exhibits. Understanding that the museum is made to make the person look awesome, Truman appears to be a man of true American Values. I can imagine him, Franklin, and I sitting around having a beer talking about baseball.