Rainy day with Truman

Pictures in order- exterior of Truman Library, eternal flame in recognition of American lives saved by the use of the A bomb, the tomb of Truman (Just like Elvis, as K said!) and the representation of the Berlin Air Lift.

Today was a great day from start to finish. We rolled out of bed with minutes to spare before breakfast closed at 10. We hopped in the car and headed out to Independence, MO home of Harry S. Truman. Truman was our last president without a college degree. It is easy to overlook Truman because he was overshadowed by the longevity of FDR, the military record of Eisenhower and the dazzle of the Kennedy's, but when you see all that happened in his brief 7.75 years in office, he is simply amazing. First he gets shoehorned into the VP job at the last minute of the primary, wins the election and only three months later is President. Yikes. Then he has to end WWII by dropping not one, but two bombs on Japan. Overnight he has to come up with the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, the Berlin Airlift, deal with about a million suddenly unemployed WWII vets and defense workers. All the while combating the spread of communism, crazy McCarthy and the "Red Scare", plus fire MacArthur- the most famous general in America. Quite a bit of multi-tasking for the Senator Farmer!