Letters of Bess Truman to Harry S. Truman

Clifton Truman Daniel, eldest grandson of former President Harry Truman, talked about the relationship between Harry and Bess Truman as told through their correspondence. He told stories about his grandmother and talked about her desire for privacy that led her to burn her replies to the approximately 1,300 letters Harry Truman wrote to his wife between 1910 and 1959, except for 180 which were latter found scattered throughout the Truman home. Clifton Truman Daniel, who was writing a book about those letters, talked about eight letters written by Bess Truman to her husband in 1923 and 1925 that have never been opened to the public before. He wrote about them in the Fall issue of the National Archives' official magazine, Prologue. There was no time for questions from members of the audience.

This event was held at noon in the National Archives' McGowan Theatre on October 14, 2009. The eight letters were unveiled to the press earlier in the day. close