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Robert B. Landry PapersDates: 1948-1983
The papers of Robert B. Landry document his service as Air Force Aide to President Truman, his personal relationship with Mr. Truman, and other aspects of his life and military career. The collection includes correspondence between Landry and Truman, and correspondence with others pertaining to Truman, mostly dating from the years after the end of the Truman Presidency in 1953. It also contains newspaper clippings, photographs, two versions of a report to the President that Landry prepared on the subject of witch-hunting and political hysteria in America, and other items. See also Oral History and Landry Files.
Size: Less than one linear foot (approximately 1,200 pages).
The papers of Robert B. Landry mostly relate to his service as Air Force Aide to President Harry S. Truman from 1948 to 1953, and his personal relationship with Mr. Truman in the years that followed. The U.S. Air Force was established as a separate branch of the armed forces in 1947, and the following year Landry became the first officer to be designated as the Air Force Aide on the White House staff. His status was equivalent to that of the Military Aide to the President (representing the U.S. Army) and the Naval Aide to the President. Landry held this post for the remainder of the Truman Presidency, and then served in other positions with the Air Force, while keeping in touch with Mr. Truman and other ex-colleagues from the Truman White House. He retired from the Air Force in 1962 with the rank of Major General, and entered private business in Arizona. Landry's papers are arranged in a single Subject File. They include copies of his correspondence with Mr. Truman, and his correspondence with other persons concerning Mr. Truman, from 1951 to 1983. Almost all of this correspondence dates from the years after the end of the Truman Presidency in 1953. It is primarily personal in nature, consisting of birthday and Christmas greetings, acknowledgments of gifts, and messages concerning reunions. Some of the correspondence relates to requests for special consideration for certain Air Force personnel, requests which the former President received from friends and passed on to Landry. Also included in the collection is a report that Landry prepared, at the President's request, on the subject of mass hysteria and "witch-hunting" in American history. Written by Landry with the assistance of other Air Force personnel, the report was submitted to the President on October 31, 1949. Subsequently, the report was revised by Ken Hechler, a Special Assistant in the White House Office; this revised version can also be found in the Landry Papers. According to Hechler, President Truman frequently used historical information from the "witch-hunting" report in his speeches against McCarthyism. The Landry Papers also include the contents of three scrapbooks of newspaper clippings and five albums of photographs. The clippings and photos, covering the period from 1948 to 1955, primarily document the activities of Landry and other members of the Truman White House staff-especially their participation in the President's trips, vacations, and ceremonial functions-as well as matters pertaining to the U.S. Air Force. Another item in the collection is a biographical sketch detailing Landry's military career. The folder titles in this collection were created by the processing archivist, based upon Landry's own arrangement of his papers. Other materials at the Truman Library relating to Robert B. Landry include two oral history interviews with Landry (Truman Library Oral History Interviews No. 479 and No. 482), and the Robert B. Landry Files, which are part of the Staff Member and Office Files of the Harry S. Truman Papers.
Box 1
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