No, this is not a blog about Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Today’s entry is about what happened on November 8, 1991. After sitting dormant and decaying for years, the Harry S. Truman Little White House was rededicated after a $1.7 million renovation from private funding. Over 200 people attended the ceremony and heard then Secretary of the Navy (and now Senator, D-Virginia) James Webb give the keynote address.

Fast forward 20 years to 2011. With any wooden structure in a sub tropical climate, restoration never ends. Even with all that we have accomplished, we still have a long way to go. There are lots of ways you can get involved. You can join the Key West Harry S. Truman Foundation. Physical items are always appreciated and we have a couple here that we are in search of. Or consider us in your will. If it had not been for the generous donations in 1991 the Little White House might still be sitting in disrepair. But its not. It is alive and well and continues to share the legacy of President Harry S. Truman to visitors of Key West.

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Thomas Jefferson

I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.

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President Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947 on the Sacred Cow, the Air Force One of its day.

It would seem that July 26 is a rather important day in the presidency of Harry S. Truman. He signed two major pieces of legislation on that day, one in 1947 and one in 1948. Both continue to have impacts on our country today.

In 1947, Truman signed the National Security Act, which re organized the intelligence agencies and armed forces. The act created the Department of Defense. Prior to this the United States had the Department of War and the Department of the Navy. With the Department of Defense, all of the armed forces would come under one umbrella including the the newly created Air Force, which had previously been the Army Air Forces. The National Security Act also created the Joints Chiefs of Staff, that was made up of the senior uniformed commanders of the armed forces. The first Joint Chiefs of Staff included Admiral William Leahy, USN; General George Marshall, USA; Admiral Ernest King, USN and General Henry Arnold, who was an Army General and later reappointed as a General of the newly created Air Force.

The 1947 National Security Act created two national security agencies, the National Security Council, which makes sure the players in the defense and security of the United States are synchronized with the one another. Lastly, the act created the Central Intelligence Agency, a non military agency that is responsible for the monitoring and reporting of security of the country and its interests aboard to the president and his team of senior officials. The agency’s first director was Roscoe H. Hillenkkoetter. It is interesting to note before the agency was created, the post of Director of Central Intelligence was created in 1946 by Truman. The second person to hold that position was General Hoyt S. Vandenburg. To those familiar with Key West, we have the USS Hoyt S. Vandenburg, a former missile tracking ship, sunk off the island as an artificial reef. Other directors have included former President George W. Bush, Robert Gates and James Schlesinger. The director designate is General David Patraeus, former commander of U.S. Forces Afghanistan.

In 1948, Truman one of the most important pieces of legislation of his presidency, Executive Order 9981, the desegregation of the military. The military was not quick to accept this order and failure to act on it resulted in Kenneth Royall to retire from his post as Secretary of the Army in 1949 because he would not eliminate segregation in the U.S. Army. Prior to the order, there were separate military training bases for white and black soldiers, all black units, including the Tuskegee Airmen, 11 Tank Destroyer Divisions, 24 Field Artillery Battalions, 7 Field Artillery Regiments, 3 Tank Battalions, 1 Parachute Infantry Battalion, and 8 Calvary and Infantry Regiments. Black military nurses and doctors could not treat white soldiers or and donated blood from blacks could not be used on white sailors and soldiers. In 1989, forty two years after the signing Executive Order 9981, President George H.W. Bush appointed General Colin Powell as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest ranking military person in the country and the first African American to hold that position.

Executive Order 9981 says in its entirety:

Whereas it is essential that there be maintained in the armed services of the United States the highest standards of democracy, with equality of treatment and opportunity for all those who serve in our country’s defense:

Now, therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, and as Commander in Chief of the armed services, it is hereby ordered as follows:

1. It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin. This policy shall be put into effect as rapidly as possible, having due regard to the time required to effectuate any necessary changes without impairing efficiency or morale.

2. There shall be created in the National Military Establishment an advisory committee to be known as the President’s Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services, which shall be composed of seven members to be designated by the President.

3. The Committee is authorized on behalf of the President to examine into the rules, procedures and practices of the armed services in order to determine in what respect such rules, procedures and practices may be altered or improved with a view to carrying out the policy of this order. The Committee shall confer and advise with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Navy, and the Secretary of the Air Force, and shall make such recommendations to the President and to said Secretaries as in the judgment of the Committee will effectuate the policy hereof.

4. All executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government are authorized and directed to cooperate with the Committee in its work, and to furnish the Committee such information or the services of such persons as the Committee may require in the performance of its duties.

5. When requested by the Committee to do so, persons in the armed services or in any of the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall testify before the Committee and shall make available for the use of the Committee such documents and other information as the Committee may require.

6. The Committee shall continue to exist until such time as the President shall terminate its existence by Executive Order.

HARRY S. TRUMAN
The White House
July 26, 1948

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Betty and Gerald Ford

Betty Ford, the outspoken and much admired wife of President Gerald Ford died this past weekend in Palm Springs, California. She was 93. As First Lady (from 1974 to 1977), Ford battled breast cancer, overcame addiction, and helped found one of the best known rehabilitation centers in the United States, The Betty Ford Center. For her work in this field, she was honored with the Congressional Gold Medal, awarded by George H.W. Bush in 1998.

Mrs. Ford was born in Chicago in 1918 and pursued her love of dance before meeting and marrying lawyer and WWII veteran, Gerald Ford. The Fords had four children together: Michael, John, Steven, and Susan. In the past, The New York Times has called her a great impact on American culture and a symbol for new political and cultural ideas. Ford encouraged openness among women and spoke out about her ideas. She spoke understandingly about taboo subjects of the time such as pre-marital sex, abortion, drug and alcohol addiction, the benefits of psychiatric treatment, and brought the issue of breast cancer to light among American women. Ford was also an advocate of the arts and even received an award from Parsons The New School for Design in recognition of her style.

After Ford’s addiction recovery she established the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California in 1978 for the treatment of chemical dependency. Betty delegated the director position to her daughter Susan in 2005. Even after leaving the White House, Betty still played an active role in public American life. She remained active in women’s issues, taking on numerous speaking engagements and lending her name to charities for fundraising. She was the recipient of many prestigious awards such as the Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded by President George H.W. Bush in 1991.

In a statement this past Friday, President Barack Obama said the Betty Ford Center would honor Mrs. Ford’s legacy “by giving countless Americans a new lease on life. As our nation’s First Lady, she was a powerful advocate for women’s health and women’s rights”. Thursday morning, her casket will travel by motorcade to the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for a private burial alongside her husband. Betty Ford’s influence has forever changed the way America thinks and her contributions to our society will always be honored and remembered.

The Ford family in the White House

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Clifton Truman Daniel, Susan Ford Bales, Margaret Hoover and Luci Baines Johnson

If you were unable to join us last Saturday night at the Truman Little White House, you missed quite and evening with four presidential children and grandchildren. Luci Baines Johnson, Susan Ford, Clifton Truman Daniel and Margaret Hoover shared their insights and memories sharing their lives as relatives of United States Presidents. CNN Commentator John Avlon moderated the evening from the lawn of the Little White House.

Not to dispair, CSPAN aired the event live on CSPAN3 and you can watch it here.

We will be doing it again next year on Saturday, February 18, 2012, so mark you calendars now!

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USS Harry S. Truman (CVN75)

I had the great pleasure of flying out yesterday for a visit aboard the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN75), a Nimitz class aircraft carrier named after our 33rd president. The ship is a floating city of 5200 men and women that is 24 stories high, 1092 feet long and 257 feet wide. The Truman is off the coast of Key West for a couple of weeks doing advanced flight training. The ship has a museum dedicated to Truman and inside Commanding Officer Capt. Joe Clarkson’s quarters is a large framed picture of the Harry S. Truman Little White House. I flew out to the ship with a group of folks from Key West, including Historic Tours of America’s President, Ed Swift. It was one amazing experience. Be sure to check out all of the photos from our trip.

-Bob Wolz, Executive Director

Capt. Joe Clarkson, CO of the USS Harry S. Truman and I in front of a picture of the Little White House that hangs in his quarters.

Battle flag for the USS Harry S. Truman

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We are so excited to be hosting an evening with the children and grandchildren of four United States presidents. We’ve got Truman’s grandson Clifton Truman Daniel; Margaret Hoover, great-granddaughter of Herbert Hoover; Luci Baines Johnson, daughter of Lyndon Johnson, and Susan Ford Bales, daughter of Gerald Ford to share personal glimpses into the lives of their famous forebears John Avlon, CNN commentator and political editor for the Daily Beast will be moderating the event. We held a similar event last year and it was a fabulous evening with some really interesting people.

The President’s Day Weekend event takes place from 5-7 p.m. on Saturday, February 19, at the Harry S. Truman Little White House at 111 Front St. Tickets for the unique evening of recollections, priced at $100 per person, are available at www.keystix.com or at the Little White House. Proceeds benefit the restoration fund of the not-for-profit Key West Harry S. Truman Foundation and need to re-carpet the house. So please come out and join us for wonderful evening with wonderful speakers for a really great cause.

We will be featuring each of the participants and their famous relatives in upcoming blogs, so stay tuned!

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Harry's Girls and Auxillary after a night of decorating

We have the most amazing volunteer group, Harry’s Girls and Auxillary.  Not only do they volunteer their time and talents for all of our special events but they help us procure items for our collections, furniture and house restoration and at this time of year, decorating the house for the holidays. Decorating a historic house is no small task.  Harry’s Girls spends two days puffing and fluffing ribbons and bows,  magnificent silk flowers and decorating two trees with delicate ornaments from the 1940’s. The house looks amazing and we cannot thank enough the wonderful women (and men) of Harry’s Girls.

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Air Force one

On this day back in 1969, the Boeing 747 made its debut.  Probably the most famous 747 in the world is Air Force One.  There are two 747’s (or VC-25 as the Air Force calls them) in service.  Actually any fixed wing aircraft carrying the President of the United States is called Air Force One, regardless of the make and model.  When traveling by helicopter, the president travels on Marine One, as the US Marine Corps oversees the fleet of choppers.

Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to use an airplane for travel.  His cousin Franklin Roosevelt was the first president to have a military plane designated for his use when the Army Air Corps became concerned about the security of the president on commercial flights.  President Truman used a C-54 Skymaster named Sacred Cow as his presidential plane.  Sacred Cow had first used by Roosevelt  during the Yalta Conference in 1945.  Truman replaced Sacred Cow in 1947 with a C-118 Liftmaster named Independence, after his hometown in Missouri. The  Independence was also the first presidential plane with distinctive markings painted on it with a bald eagle on the nose.   The term Air Force One was first used in 1953 with President Eisenhower when the plane transporting the president had the same call sign as an Easter Airlines commercial flight while both were using the same airspace. Eisenhower used Lockheed Constallations (C-121) named Columbine I and Columbine II after the state flower of Colorado, which was his wife Mamie’s adopted home state.  Eisenhower was the first president to use jet aircraft, with the addition of a Boeing 707 (VC-137) to the fleet in 1958.  Kennedy also used a modified long haul 707 Stratoliner during his presidency which remained in service until 1998.  In 1990 President George H. W.  Bush took of possession of the first 747 Air Force One in 1990.

Sacred Cow

Independence

Coumbine II

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Today is Veteran’s Day in the United States. For much of the rest of the world and especially in Europe, November 11 is Armistice Day, marking the end of the great war, World War I.  On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11 month in 1918 when the armistice was signed,  over 20 million people had lost their lives. To the members of the British Commonwealth, today is Remembrance Day and is often symbolized by the red poppy immortalized in the poem,  Flanders Fields. These poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their brilliant red color an appropriate symbol for the blood spilt in the war.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

American Cemetery, Flanders Field, Belgium

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