Harry S. Truman to Bess
W. Truman
December 5, 1941
This letter was written by Harry Truman to Bess on
December 5, 1941. It is properly part of the Truman Library's "Dear
Bess" collection of more than 1,300 letters from Harry to Bess. However,
before the collection came to the Library -- following Mrs. Truman's death
in 1982 -- this letter somehow entered the manuscript market. After trading
hands several times -- and belonging for several years to billionaire Malcolm
Forbes -- the letter was donated to the Library by Bruce Gimelson, a dealer
in American historic items from Garrison, New York.
The "Dear Bess" letters are part of the Papers Pertaining to Family, Business and Personal Affairs and span nearly half a century. Truman was throughout his life a prolific letter writer, and his frequent absences from home and family gave him strong reason to write many letters.
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