Today is the 64th birthday of our 42 president, William Jefferson Clinton. Clinton was born in Hope, Arkansas. Clinton is a graduate of Georgetown University, Yale Law School and is a Rhodes Scholar. He is married to Hillary Rodham Clinton, the current United States Secretary of State. Their only child, Chelsea, was married on July 31 of this year to Marc Mezvinsky.

Clinton was elected president in 1992 beating incumbent George H.W. Bush. At the time of his election he was the third youngest man ever elected to the office. Prior to being elected president, he was Arkansas Attorney General (1976-1978) and twice elected Governor of Arkansas (1979-1981, 1983-1992).

During his the inauguration speech in 1993 Clinton said, “Our democracy must be not only the envy of the world but the engine of our own renewal. There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.” While in office, Clinton signed the Family Medical Leave Act of 1983, the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Brady Bill.

Clinton appointed two United States Supreme Court Justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 1993 and Stephen Beyer in 1994.

Clinton’s job approval rating ranged from the mid 30’s to the high 60’s to a high of 73% when in 1999. His overall rating for his two terms averaged about 68% which matched those of Regan and FDR.

Since leaving office, Clinton has devoted himself to working towards humanitarian causes such as HIV/AIDS, worked with former President George H.W. Bush on the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund and Bush Clinton Tusnami Fund and worked as a tireless campaigner on his wife Hillary’s senate and presidential campaigns. It was during the Hillary Clinton’s senate campaign that the Little White House had the good fortune to host the Clintons.

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65 years ago today the first atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, Japan.  Named, Little Boy, the bomb was developed by the Manhattan Project. The Manhattan Project was led by the United States along with the Great Britain and Canada under the scientific direction of Dr. Robert Oppenheimer and came about due to rising fears that Nazi Germany was developing nuclear weapons.

This decision drop the bomb was made by President Harry Truman. Truman had only assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin Roosevelt in April. On July 26, 1945, the Postdam Declaration was issued by President Truman, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Chinese leader Chang Kai-Shek calling for the surrender of Japan as outline by the Potsdam Conference. The declaration stated that if Japan did not surrender, it would face “prompt and utter destruction.”  Japan ignored the ultimatum.

Truman wrote about the atomic bomb, “We have discovered the most terrible bomb in the history of the world. It may be the fire destruction prophesied in the Euphrates Valley Era, after Noah and his fabulous Ark.”

Paul Tibbets, who by reputation, was considered the best flyer in the Army Air Corps was selected as the commander of the mission. On the morning of August 5, Tibbets formally named the B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay, after his mother. The Enola Gay was one of 15 B-29 designed specifically for the transport atomic bombs. On the morning of August 6, Tibbets and his crew of 12 took off from Tinian in the Mariana Islands in the Pacific and headed for Hiroshima. At 8:15 am (JST) the bomb was dropped. The initial blast killed 80,000 people and the final death toll has been estimated between 90,000-100,000. Today the Enola Gay is a permanent exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum.

Truman said following the attack, “”Sixteen hours ago an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima…The force from which the sun draws its powers has been loosed against those who brought the war in the Far East.” He later said, “The atom bomb was no “great decision.” It was merely another powerful weapon in the arsenal of righteousness.” Truman’s presidency is most often defined by his decision to drop the atomic bomb to end World War II that ultimately saved both Allied and Japanese lives.

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This week on July 26, 1948 President Harry Truman issued two of his most important Executive Orders 9980 and 9981 desegregating the federal work force and desegregating the armed forces.  Although Truman was born in Jim Crow Missouri and clearly a racists in his youth , he emerged one of the greatest champions of civil rights to ever live. It could not be to get votes as there were not that many registered black voters , but it was simply the right thing to do. The world is a different place and clearly a better place because of Harry S Truman

When Colin Powell led peace talks at the Little White House in 2001, he reminded all of us that had it not been for President Truman he would have been a cook !

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Gerald Ford has a couple of unique bits of trivia tied to him. He is the longest lived president in the US history (he was 93 years old). He is also the only President of the United States to have never been elected to that position (or vice president for that matter).

Born on July 14, 1913, Ford was born Leslie Lynch King, Jr in Omaha, Nebraska. His parents divorced shortly after his birth. His mother remarried, Gerald Rudolff Ford, and raised him and his three half siblings in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Leslie was renamed Gerald Rudolff Ford, Jr, althought his stepfather never legally adopted him. However, Ford had his named legally changed (with a slight variation on the spelling of his middle name) in 1935. Ford did not meet his biological father until he was 17 and maintained a cordial, if sporadic, relationship until Mr. Lynch’s death.

Ford was an Eagle Scout and remained involved in scouting throughout his life. Ford was an outstanding athlete in high school and captain of the football team. Ford was a star linebacker and center at the University of Michigan winning national titles with the team in 1932 and 1933. A dedicated Wolverine throughout his life, prior to state visits, Ford would often have the Navy Band play the University of Michigan Fight Song, The Victors, instead of Hail to the Chief. Following college Ford was drafted by both the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers, declining both because he wanted to attend law school. He went to Yale working as a football, boxing and cheerleading coach while trying to get admitted to Yale Law School. In 1941 he graduated from Yale Law in the top 25% of his class.

In 1942, Ford was commissioned an ensign in the United States Navy and served on the USS Monterey during World War II. In 1946 he left the Navy with the rank of Lt. Commander.

1948 was a big year for Ford. He ran for the first of his 13 terms in the US House of Representatives and got married. On October 15, 1948 he married former model, dancer and divorcee Elizabeth Bloomer Warren. The would go on to have four children. Mrs. Ford was an ardent feminist, which often times did not sit with the conservative Republican Party and was never afraid to speak up on the controversial issues of the 70’s including drugs, ERA and abortion. Mrs. Ford became quite famous in her own right for her not only for her very very public struggles with breast cancer and alcoholism, but for opening of the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California in 1982 that treats people with chemical dependency. Until 2005 she was chairman of the board of the center. Time Magazine called Betty Ford the most politically active First Lady since Eleanor Roosevelt.

Ford served nearly 25 years in the House of Representatives and was minority leader for eight of them. After his service in the war, he called himself an internationalist in his view of the world. Ford was known to his colleagues in the House as a “Congressman’s Congressman.”1 In 1973 following the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew, President Richard M. Nixon tapped Ford to be replace Agnew as vice president. Less than a year later, on August 9, 1974, President Nixon resigned and Gerald Ford became the 38th President of the United States. On September 8th during a televised broadcast to the nation, Ford gave Nixon a full pardon. The pardon was extremely controversial at the time. However, in 2001, Ford was awarded the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award from the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation for his pardon of Nixon.

Ford’s cabinet contained many folks held over from the Nixon administration who would go on to serve the presidencies of Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush: Dick Cheney, Alexander Haig, Donald Rumsfeld, Henry Kissinger and Brent Scrowcroft, who was a speaker at the 2003 Harry S. Truman Legacy Symposium. George H. W. Bush served as the Director of the CIA under Ford.

1976 was an election year and Ford reluctantly agreed to run. First he had to face a challenger in his own party, former actor and California Governor, Ronald Reagan. The Democratic nominee was another fellow Navy man (and frequent Little White House visitor) Jimmy Carter, the former Governor of Georgia. Ford lost in one of the closest presidential elections ever 50.1% vs. 48%.

Following his departure from the White House, Ford created Gerald R. Ford Institute of Public Policy at Albion College in Albion, Michigan. He also worked on the Gerald R. Ford Library at his beloved alma mater, the University of Michigan, and the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids. Always the athlete, Ford also indulged in his passion for golf and often participated in pro-am tournaments with his good friend comedian Bob Hope.

On December 26, 2005, Gerald Ford died at his home in Rancho Mirage, California. He had surpassed Ronald Reagan as the longest-lived president by 45 days. He is one of two presidents to have died on December 26, the other being our own Harry S. Truman. Ford is interned at his presidential museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

1. Celebrating the life of President Gerald R. Ford on what would have been his 96th birthday, H.R. 409, 111st Congress, 1st Session (2009).

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We just got word from CSPAN3 that more of the 8th Annual Truman Legacy Symposium will be airing this weekend on CSPAN3. More of the Symposium is airing this weekend on C-SPAN3 and will be streamed live on the web. On Saturday, June 26 Truman and Japan will air at 12:25 pm, 6:35pm and on Sunday, June 27 at 12:35 am and 6:35 am. Also on Sunday, June 27 will be Truman and Korea at 12:50pm, 6:50pm and on Monday, June 28 at 12:50 am and 6:50 am. Truman and China will be coming soon!

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As part of the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean War, The Little White House held its 8th educational conference on Truman’s Legacy in East Asia on May 14-15. C-Span 3 American History has tentatively scheduled the first broadcast of an interview between Dr. Ken Hechler of President Truman’s staff and Dr Robert Watson of Lynn University on the firing of Gen. MacArthur THIS Sunday, June 6 at 3 pm, 8 pm and 3 am. The balance of the symposium sessions are tentatively scheduled for June 26-27 on C-Span 3.

Please note next year’s symposium is scheduled for May 13 & 14 on the very important topic of Truman’s Legacy on Civil Liberties and will address Truman’s handling of the loyalty oath, McCarthyism, the Patriot Act of George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

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The property now known as Harry S. Truman Little White House was completed 120 years ago today. On May 24, 1890 the keys to Officers Quarters A and B in Key West were handed to Commander Winn who had overseen its construction begun only four months earlier. It was originally designed as a duplex for the Commandant and the Paymaster, but in 1911 the building was modified into the 8,700 square foot single family home that remains today. The total building cost was $7,489.

It is most well known as the retreat for President Harry Truman who visited the house 11 times for 175 days between 1946 and 1953. Presidents who have used the house in addition to Truman were William Howard Taft in 1912, Franklin Roosevelt in 1926, Dwight Eisenhower in 1955 and 1956, John Kennedy in 1961 and 1962, Jimmy Carter in 1996 and 2007 and Bill Clinton in 2005. Other notable guests include: Thomas Edison in 1918, King Hussein I of Jordan in 1972, the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1948 and again in 2000 and Secretary of State Colin Powell in 2001.

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With just two weeks until the 8th Annual Truman Legacy Symposium we wanted to continue to introduce you to the folks who will presenting on this year’s theme, The Legacy of Harry S. Truman in East Asia: Japan, China and the Two Koreas.

William Stueck is Distinguished Research Professor of History, University of Georgia. His books include The Korean War: An International History (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1995) and Rethinking the Korean War (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2002).

Tickets are now available for the symposium by call us at 305/294-9911.

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This last Friday (April 16) the Harry S. Truman Little White House hosted Florida Governor Charlie Crist. It was the governor’s first visit to the Little White House. The event was private but not without a notable figure or two including former Miami Dolphins Head Coach and Pro Football Hall of Fame member Don Shula.

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On this day, April 12. 1945, President Franklin Roosevelt died in Warm Springs, Georgia and Vice President Harry S Truman was sworn into office as our 33rd US President. Over the next eight years Truman would end World War II, alter forever our position as a world power and bring racial and religious equality to untold Americans.

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