The papers of Ted J. Sanders include personal correspondence with the Truman family, other correspondence from White House personnel, invitations to political events, and other material.

See also Ted J. Sanders oral history.

Size: Less than one linear foot (about 100 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: The donor gave to the U.S. government his copyrights in this material and in any other papers received by the U.S. government and maintained in a depository administered by the National Archives and Records Administration. Documents created by U.S. government officials in the course of their official duties are in the public domain. Copyright interest in other documents presumably belongs to the creators of those documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: Niel M. Johnson (1982).
Updated by: Austin Trantham (2007) as part of the Truman Library Internship Program.
Supervising Archivists: Randy Sowell and David Clark.

Ted J. Sanders was born on September 10, 1893 in Sheridan, Missouri. Mr. Sanders grew up on a farm; he and his brother were raised by his grandparents, due to his parents dying at young ages. He attended high school in Sheridan and then spent two years at Northwest Missouri State University.

After leaving college, Sanders married Bessie Stoner in 1917. He became interested in politics in 1934, when Truman first ran for the U.S. Senate. Sanders served as the local administrator of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in Cameron County. He continued his political involvement in the 1940 campaign by placing signs in his yard. He also attended the 1944 Democratic National Convention and Truman’s 1949 Inaugural. Sanders lived in Cameron for over seventy years and remained a farmer and Hereford cattle rancher throughout his adult life. He died on July 14, 1989, at the age of 95.

The papers of Ted J. Sanders include letters to Sanders from the Truman family over a period of four decades. These letters are mainly personal notes of thanks from either Harry or Bess Truman for an annual Christmas turkey that Sanders would provide them. In one letter, Harry Truman thanks Sanders for a newspaper clipping he had sent him.

The collection also includes correspondence from the President’s sister, Mary Jane Truman; Rose Conway and Matthew Connelly of the White House staff; and Bill Boyle, chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Invitations to Democratic Party functions, newspaper clippings, and a 1949 Inaugural program are included in the collection.

More information about Ted J. Sanders can be found at the Truman Library in his oral history interview and in the papers of Harry S. Truman (President’s Personal File 2285 and Post-Presidential Papers: General Correspondence File).

Container Nos.		Series
1		SUBJECT FILE, 1934-1982
		Contains correspondence with the Truman family and other White House staff members, as well as political invitations and a program from Truman’s 1949 Inauguration. Arranged alphabetically.

SUBJECT FILE, 1934-1982

• Correspondence, 1945-1953
• Correspondence with the Truman Family, 1934-1977
• Printed Materials, 1934-1982

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