Beschreibung:

TRUMAN, Harry S. (1884-1972), President . Autograph letter signed ("Harry Truman") as President, to Paul Patterson (1878-1952) editor of the Baltimore Sun ; Washington, D.C., 16 August 1945. 1 full page, 4to , BOLDLY PENNED on White House stationery , WITH ORIGINAL STAMPED ENVELOPE ADDRESSED BY TRUMAN and marked "Personal," very light rectangular browning. TWO DAYS AFTER THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE SURRENDER OF JAPAN, TRUMAN DOWNPLAYS HIS OWN ROLE IN THE ALLIED VICTORY A moving editorial in the morning edition of the Sun had praised the President in for his contribution to the Allied success, in terms too extravagant for Harry Truman. While his elation is palpable, Truman takes pains to see that credit is equitably apportioned: "Dear Mr. Patterson, I don't know who wrote the editorial in this morning's [Baltimore] Sun giving me so much credit on the decision for peace, but I surely would like to thank him. There is only one thing - it gave me too much credit. It takes a team to get things done, and there is a good team working with me, Thanks again very much." On August 6 and 9, 1945, three months after the surrender of Germany, the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed by the first atomic bombs used in warfare. While many in the cabinet and most in the military were convinced Japan should continue the war, at noon on August 14, Emperor Hirohita broadcast an unprecedented pre-recorded statement of his determination to accept the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, which called for Japan's unconditional surrender. Hostilities ceased. Truman learned of the broadcast and held a news conference at 7:00 p.m. that day. The signing of the formal surrender documents would not take place until some weeks later, on September 2, 1945, on board the US.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Truman, in his Presidential Proclamation 2660, issued the same day, extolled the Allied victory in the Pacific, and, echoing his letter to Patterson, noted that "Our global victory has come from the courage and stamina and spirit of free men and women united in determination to fight...from the massive strength of arms and materials created by peace-loving peoples who knew that unless they won decency in the world would end...from millions of peaceful citizens all over the world--turned soldiers almost overnight--who showed a ruthless enemy that they were not afraid to fight and to die, and that they knew how to win." Truman was an inveterate early riser and read the morning newspapers with close attention. His usual daily papers included the Washington Post , the Washington Times-Herald , the Baltimore Sun and the New York Times . On rare occasions, Truman would be strongly elated or outraged by what he read on the editorial pages, and, without bothering to submit a draft to a secretary for typing, would quickly pen a comment, correction, expression of gratitude or a scathing indictment, fold the letter, address the envelope and affix a stamp himself. On some occasions, these impromptu handwritten missives managed to escape the careful scrutiny of his long-time press secretary, Charlie Ross. In fact, many of his most strongly-worded personal letters as President were never mailed; some 140 unmailed letters are in the Truman Presidential Library (for samples, see Strictly Personal and Confidential: The Letters Harry Truman Never Mailed , ed. N. Poen, 1982). Truman's most famous handwritten letter as President, is the bitter invective of his famous letter of 6 December 1950 to music critic Paul Hume of the Washington Post in response to a negative review of Margaret Truman's voice recital (part of the Forbes Collection, sold here 27 March 2002, lot 177, $193,000). In general, President Truman's handwritten letters from the White House are quite uncommon, especially when they allude to events of such significance as the end of the Pacific War. Provenance : Anonymous owner (sale, Sotheby's, 3 October 1978, lot 202, $7,500 (a longstanding record for a Trum