Beschreibung:

TRUMAN, HARRY S., President . Typed letter signed ("Harry Truman") with four-line autograph postscript, as Senator to Nebraska Representative Edward D. McKim, Washington, D.C., 13 February 1935. 2 pages, 4to, on Senate stationery. MR. TRUMAN GOES TO WASHINGTON: "I CALLED ON FDR THIS MORNING...AT HIS SUGGESTION..." A LONG, INFORMATIVE LETTER TO A TRUSTED BUDDY FROM TRUMAN'S ARMY DAYS, NOTEWORTHY FOR ITS HIGHLY INTRIGUING POSTSCRIPT DESCRIBING A PRIVATE MEETING BETWEEN ROOSEVELT AND HIS FUTURE VICE-PRESIDENT. TRUMAN, WHO ARRIVED IN WASHINGTON AS A FRESHMAN SENATOR LESS THAN A MONTH BEFORE, COMMENTS THAT "...COUNTRY POLITICIANS IN NEBRASKA [MEANING MCKIM] AREN'T A BIT DIFFERENT FROM THE COUNTRY POLITICIANS IN MISSOURI," THEN COMPLAINS THAT HE HAS "BEEN HAVING ALL SORTS OF TROUBLE ON THE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE HERE...WE ARE CONSIDERING THE BIGGEST APPROPRIATION BILL IN HISTORY, AND NOBODY, FROM THE PRESIDENT TO THE CHIEF CLERK IN THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT, IS ABLE TO TELL US ANYTHING ABOUT IT...AND WHEN IT COMES OUT OF THE COMMITTEE, THE PRESIDENT, HIMSELF, WON'T KNOW HIS CHILD... LABOR UNIONS, CONTRACTORS, AND JUST COMMON EVERY DAY PEOPLE, HAVE BEEN SENDING ME TELEGRAMS AND WRITING LETTERS BY THE BUSHEL ON THE SPECIAL THINGS THEY WANT TO GET....SITTING HERE AND LOOKING AT IT FROM AN UNBIASED STANDPOINT, IT LOOKS TO ME AS IF THE FINANCIAL PART OF THE COUNTRY IS DUE TO GO HANG BEFORE LONG..." BUT, HE ADDS, "IF YOU MAKE STATEMENTS LIKE THIS OF MINE PUBLIC, YOU AND I WILL BOTH BE RUINED..." TRUMAN URGES MCKIM TO VISIT HIM IN WASHINGTON, AND CONFESSES THAT "FOR MYSELF, I'D RATHER BE BACK IN INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI, ALTHOUGH I HAVE AN IDEA I AM GOING TO GET USED TO IT TOO." IN A TANTALIZING POSTSCRIPT, THE JUNIOR SENATOR FROM MISSOURI ADDS: "I CALLED ON F.D.R. THIS MORNING AT HIS SUGGESTION AND HAD A PLEASANT CONVERSATION ON MOST EVERY SUBJECT. I DON'T KNOW WHAT HE WANTED. MAYBE YOU CAN GUESS[;] I'M DUMB!"