Part I. Hoover offers and Truman accepts
his help
The
following activity includes several letters, diary
entries, and speeches documenting the friendship between
Herbert Hoover and Harry S. Truman. Read through the
documents and answer the questions, which follow after
some of the documents. The document titles that are
highlighted link to the original copy of the document.
1. Herbert
Hoover to Harry S. Truman April 12, 1945
The
first communication between the thirty-first president
and the thirty-third president was a brief telegram
extending best wishes and support to the new president.
Knowing little of Truman or his political philosophy,
Hoover had no expectation that the new president would
accept his veiled offer of service. But he could hope.
Writing that month to a friend, Hoover noted that
"now that there has been a change in Washington,
I may be on the move often."
The
President of the United States
Harry S. Truman
Washington, D.C.
All Americans will wish you strength for your gigantic
task. You have the right to call for any service in
aid of the country
HERBERT
HOOVER
2.
Truman
to Hoover, April 19,1945
President
Truman responded to the former president's telegram
with a brief, but significant note. Although the text
is perfunctory, Truman added a hand written comment
accepting Hoover's offer of assistance. Little did
either man realize that this would be the beginning
of a long collaboration.
Dear
Mr. Hoover:
Please accept my thanks for your message of the twelfth.
I need not assure you that your good wishes are deeply
appreciated.
Very
sincerely yours,
/s/ HARRY S. TRUMAN
/s/
I assure you I shall feel free to call upon you. Thanks
for the offer
HST
3. Truman
to Hoover, May 24, 1945
Then
came the letter that ended Hoover's twelve-year isolation
from the White House. Because Truman was interested
in meeting Hoover, who was not willing to come to
the White House without an invitation, the president
was willing to take the first step.
The
White House
Washington
May 24, '45
/s/
My dear Mr. President:
If
you should be in Washington, I would be most happy
to talk over the European food situation with you.
Also it would be a pleasure to me to become acquainted
with you.
Most
sincerely,
HARRY S. TRUMAN
Questions
Use the three letters and information you know about
the letters to answer the following questions.
1.
When were the letters written?
2. Who wrote the first letter?
3. What were the intentions of the first letter?
4. What does the second letter tell you about Truman's
intentions?
5. Why is Truman interested in talking to Hoover?
6. How long was Hoover away from the White House?
7. What are possible reasons Hoover was not invited
to the White House?
8. Can you consider Hoover and Truman to be friends
at this point?
9. What obstacles could prevent Hoover and Truman
from becoming friends?
10. Many times it can be difficult to make new friends.
Sometimes it just happens without any planning,
but other times you really have to work at being
friends with someone. Describe how you became friends
with one of your close friends.
Part II : The Gridiron Club Dinner
Hoover
returned to the annual Gridiron Club dinner on May
10, 1947, after an absence of fifteen years. The club
was made up of prominent journalists working in the
nation's capital and its annual dinner included a
satiric look at the people and events in the news
over the previous year. In line with the tradition
of the Club's dinners, Hoover delivered rather light-hearted
remarks that sympathized with the president. In response,
the president penned an endorsement on Hoover's address:
"With high esteem and keen appreciation to a
great man, Harry S. Truman".
…I
am not on your operating table tonight. But I can
sympathize with Mr. Truman's difficulties in this
matter as can no other man. I am fully aware of the
skill and earnestness with which you cut up his ideology,
his domestic and foreign policies. I can tell him,
from long experience, not to look forward to much
use of anesthetics…
And
I wish to take the opportunity to say to you that
President Truman has given high service to our county
in repairing these dikes of safety which guard our
national ideals. Moreover, amid the thousand crises
which sweep upon us from abroad, he has stood firm
with his feet rooted in the American soil…
Questions
Answer the following questions about the speech above.
1.
When did Hoover's address take place?
2. Where did the address take place?
3. Who was invited to the dinner?
4. Why is former President Hoover the only man who
could sympathize with Mr. Truman?
5. What does Hoover mean by this phrase: "amid
the thousand crises which sweep upon us from abroad,
he has stood firm with his feet rooted in the American
soil…"?
6. By this time in his presidency, what crisis situations
had Truman had to deal with?
(hint see: www.trumanlibrary.org/truman-2.htm)
7. If you had the opportunity to publicly express
how you feel about one of your friends, what would
you say?
8. How can talking about a friendship publicly strengthen
the friendship?
9. Describe someone you work well with but do not
consider a friend. Explain why you work well with
this person, but would prefer not to be friends
with them.
Part III. Hoover turns down the
offer to be the keynote speaker at the Republican
Convention
As
the chairman of a non-partisan commission on government
reorganization, Hoover vowed not to take any substantive
part in the presidential campaign of 1948. When he
agreed to appear at the Republican National Convention
in June, he made it clear that he would not deliver
the keynote speech or attack the president. Hoover
passed this message on to Truman through presidential
press secretary Charles Ross. Based on this entry
in the diary of Eben Ayers, at least some of the president's
aides would have preferred that Hoover take a leading
role in the campaign.
March
24, [1948] Wednesday
Charlie Ross told the president at our staff meeting
this morning that he had lunch with former President
Herbert Hoover yesterday, at Hoover's invitation.
He said Hoover sent word to the president that the
Republicans wanted him to deliver the keynote speech
at their national convention this summer but that
he had refused. He said he had great respect for the
president and would not attack him. He said he probably
would speak at the convention, but it would be on
some abstract subject such as human rights.
[Clark] Clifford and some of the others laughingly
expressed regret that he was not going to be the Republican
keynoter as they felt it would be a help to the Democrats.
This led the president to comment that sometimes you
can be too nice to a person….
Questions
Use Ayer's Diary entry to answer the following questions.
1. When and where did this event take place?
2. Why did Hoover refuse to give the keynote speech?
3. Why would it be a help to the Democrats if Hoover
spoke at the Republican National Convention?
4. Why did President Truman comment "that sometimes
you can be too nice to a person…"
5. How has being too nice affected one of your friendships?
6. If you were in Truman's position, how would you
respond to this information?
Part IV. The Campaign of 1948:
Truman Blames Hoover
Truman, fighting for his political life in the fall
of 1948, seemed to face insurmountable odds. The Republican
nominee, Thomas E. Dewey, was far ahead in the polls
and Truman's Democratic Party was badly divided. To
rally voters, Truman attacked and ridiculed all things
Republican- including his new "friend",
Herbert Hoover.
Truman made a stinging attack on Hoover in a speech
delivered at the North Carolina State fair grounds
in Raleigh. Destined to be known as the "Hoover
cart speech" for its reference to old automobiles
being pulled by mules because their owners couldn't
afford to buy gas.
"…Nowhere
in the United States this year have I seen a single
exhibit of that famous North Carolina farm invention-that
product of ingenuity and hard time, of personal despair
and political mockery-the Hoover cart.
You
remember the Hoover cart-I didn't find that in Iowa,
or anywhere else-The remains of the old tin lizzie
being pulled by a mule, because you couldn't afford
to buy a new car, you couldn't afford to buy gas for
the old one.
You
remember. First you had the Hoovercrats, and then
you had the Hoover carts. One always follows the other.
Bear that in mind now, carefully.
I
know that you good people of North Carolina are not
responsible for the Republicans in the 80th Congress.
But we can all learn a lesson from them. They have
given us a sharp warning of what the Republican Party
stands for today. And their record shows that the
Republican Party stands for the same thing today that
it did under Herbert Hoover.
That
is the record on which the Republican Presidential
candidate wants to be elected that is the one on which
he wants to be unified… I don't think you want
to take another chance on the Hoover brand of Republicanism."
Little
more than a week after he attacked Hoover in Raleigh,
Truman mounted the stage at Mechanics Hall in Boston
and repeated the exercise. Although he made no references
to Hoover carts, the speech pulled no punches. Truman
referred to Hoover as an engineer who "backed
the train all the way into the waiting room and brought
us to panic, depression, and despair." It was
the ridicule in such remarks that stung Hoover. As
Rickard noted, Hoover thought Truman to be "unpredictable,
recalling that after his nice personal notes to H.H.,
he slammed him in Boston speech." What was politics
for Truman was treachery to Hoover.
"…Here
in Boston, you still stand among the Nation's foremost
fighters for freedom and against intolerance.
Now, many of you recall that campaign of 1928, when
Al Smith ran for President against that well-known
engineer-Herbert Hoover. He was one engineer who really
did a job of running things backward.
That campaign of 1928 was one of the most shameful
political campaigns in our history…
The leaders of the Republican Party served notice
on America then and there that they would stop at
nothing in order to gain power.
Don't think that the elephant has changed his habits
in the last 20 years. This Republican elephant is
not that kind of elephant. They're trying to make
you believe he has that new look, but he hasn't…
I have often thought what a different and better world
we would have had if Al Smith had been elected President.
But that didn't happen. And the great engineer we
elected backed the train all the way into the waiting
room and brought us to panic, depression and despair…
I say to you people of Boston that if Al Smith-and
not Herbert Hoover-had been chosen President in 1928,
we and the world would have been spared untold misery
and suffering…
After the Republicans had made such a mess of our
domestic welfare and world security, we brought to
the Presidency, Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Under Roosevelt's leadership, we licked the Hoover
depression, we rebuilt a strong America, and we won
the greatest war in all history."
Questions
Answer the following question about Truman's Oct 19th
and Oct 27th address.
1. When and where did the first and second address
take place?
2. What was the purpose of both addresses?
3. What is a Hoover cart?
4. What happened during Hoover's presidency that
Truman is making a reference to?
5. Who ran against Hoover in 1928?
6. After hearing Truman talk, what do you think
the status of their friendship is? Why?
7. Considering what you know from the Ayer's dairy
entry, how do you think Hoover will respond to Truman's
attacks?
8. If you were Hoover, how would you respond to
this situation?
9. If you were a friend of Hoover, what would you
say to Truman about the public attacks?
Part
V. Personal letters between Hoover and Truman
On
December 19, 1962, Herbert Hoover wrote one of the
most personal letters of his long life. In a few short
paragraphs, Hoover captured the essence of his productive
friendship with Truman. It is an extraordinary letter,
especially from a man as private and formal as Hoover.
The
Waldorf-Astoria Towers
New York 22, New York
December 19, 1962
Dear
Mr. President:
I
have received your book. It is a real contribution
to the American people, and I greatly treasure its
inscription. Indeed, it goes into the file of most
treasured documents.
This
is an occasion when I should like to add something
more, because yours has been a friendship, which has
reached deeper into my life than you know.
I
gave up a successful profession in 1914 to enter public
service. I served through the First World War and
after for a total of about 18 years.
When
the attack on Pearl Harbor came, I at once supported
the President and offered to serve in any useful capacity.
Because of my varied experiences during the First
World War, I thought my services might again be useful,
however there was no response. My activities in the
Second World War were limited to frequent requests
from Congressional committees.
When
you came to the White House within a month you opened
the door to me to the only profession I knew, public
service, and you undid some disgraceful action that
had been taken in the prior years. For all of this
and your friendship, I am deeply grateful.
Yours
faithfully,
/s/HERBERT HOOVER
Hoover's
letter overwhelmed Truman. In fact, he was so proud
of Hoover's comments that he had the letter framed
and placed on a credenza behind his desk at the Library.
In a brief, handwritten note, he wrote of his appreciation.
Independence, Missouri
Jan. 5, 1963
/s/Dear
Mr. President:
You'll
never know how much I appreciated your letter of Dec.
19, '62. In fact I was overcome, because you state
the situation much better than I could.
I'll
quote you, "For . . . your friendship, I am deeply
grateful."
Most
sincerely,
HARRY S. TRUMAN
Questions
1.
When were these two letters written?
2. What do we learn about Truman and Hoover's relationship?
3. What did Truman and Hoover gain from this friendship?
4. How do we know that this letter meant so much
to Truman?
5. Describe a friendship were you have different
views on a topic.
6. How do different ideas or philosophies affect
your friendships?
7. What are the benefits of having a friend who
hold views that differ from your own?
8. How can two people remain friends if they do
not agree on topics that they feel are very important?
9. What topics/issues do you agree with your friends
on and what topics do you disagree on?
Part
VI. Truman's Eulogy
Truman
Eulogy, June 1965
Eight
months after the death of his friend, Truman published
the following eulogy as the preface to a pictorial
biography entitled Herbert Hoover's Challenge to America,
His Life and Words (Waukesha, Wisc., 1965). It was
a personal and moving tribute to an extraordinary
partnership and friendship.
My
warm and close friendship with President Herbert Hoover
dates back to the day he visited Washington, shortly
after I succeeded to the Presidency. I was never among
those who held President Hoover accountable for the
economic disaster of the late 20s. And, while I did
not see eye to eye with him on many of the basic domestic
and foreign issues, I have held him in high respect
as a devoted public servant and a great humanitarian.
It
was in this higher calling that I was moved to invite
him back into public service in the hope that he might
resume the task of again feeding the hungry, in the
wake of the frightful devastation visited on so many
human beings in many parts of the world. I wanted
to help restore as quickly as possible friend and
foe alike to their normal lives and to peaceful pursuits.
President
Hoover did not hesitate, nor did he weigh the matter
of personal convenience and even hardships. He accepted
at once. The meeting between him and me at the White
House is now history. His work in feeding the hungry
expressed the care and generosity of all Americans,
regardless of political differences.
President
Hoover and I have visited each other frequently and
whenever either of us happened in the neighborhood
of the other, we felt free to just drop in.
President Hoover helped in the dedication of the Library
in Independence, Missouri, and I was glad to take
part in the dedication of his Library at West Branch,
Iowa. Briefly put, he was my friend and I was his.
HARRY
S. TRUMAN
Independence, Missouri
June 1965
Activity
Write
a letter of reference for a friend describing their
character, achievements, qualities, and activities
that you enjoy doing together. Explain why this
person is a "good" friend and why you
would recommend this person as a friend to anyone
else. Also, be honest about challenges in the friendship.
The
Hoover-Truman educational activities were created
by Lindsay Peacock as part of the Truman
Library internship program.
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