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It was a sunny, bright spring day, May, 8 1884, when Martha Ellen Truman had her first child, a boy. She and John A. Truman decided to call him Harry S. Truman. The S. in his name had no exact meaning, since it was a compromise between his grandparents names, Solomon Young and John Shipp Truman.
Harry's parents where farmers in Grandview, a Town close to Independence in Missouri. They lived in the golden age of American agriculture, in which a farmer could achieve respectable prosperity, and so did they. John Truman worked very hard as farmer but also took part in various speculations, since he always had the dream of becoming rich.
So Harry grew up on a prospering American farm, with a lot of people around like his brother Vivian, his sister Mary-Jane, his Grandfather Solomon and farm-labourers. As he himself later would describe, he had "the happiest childhood imaginable". There were a lot of things to discover for a curious young boy like Harry, such as the various animals or the huge fields and forests. The strongest influence on him was undoubtedly his mother, who educated him strict but fair (he was sometimes punished but never beaten) and taught him reading before he was 5 years old. She also taught him her ideals, like never giving up and faith in the future.
It was her too, who noticed his visual defect and bought him quiet expensive glasses when he was 6. One year later, the family moved to Independence, where Harry could go to school. His teachers would remembered him as a polite, highly gifted boy, who always curious and in a good mood. "He always smiled his way along", his 1st grade teacher Mira Erwin would say. Indeed, Harry liked school, liked his teachers, he liked almost everything in his life. He was known to be able to get along with everyone, and he almost never had any enemies. Very soon Harry became a "book worm" and read everything he could get his hands on. By the time he was 12, he had read twice the bible, Plutarch's "lies", Mark Twains autobiography and more than 20 books of Shakespeare. In the age of 13, he fell in love with "Bessie" Wallace, a very sympathetic, intelligent girl, who belonged to one of the richest families in Independence. She remained the love of his life and would become his wife in 1919.
When Harry was at the High School he also became more independent and started working at a drug store. He also regularly went to the town library and was known for reading 5 books a week.
The solid Democrat Town Independence was growing and prospering so were the Trumans. They could afford more and more luxuries like books, paintings, even a piano. But this suddenly changed in 1901, when John Truman lost his luck and more than 40,000 $ in a year. They had to move away from Independence back to Grandview and to work again as farmers, John also had to accept the job at the Santa Fe Railroad to pay back his debts.
In 1903 Harry accepted a job at the National Bank of Commerce in Kansas city, where he made a good performance. The first report ever made of him, was full of praise. "He is a willing worker, almost always here and tries hard to please everybody. We never had a boy in the vault like him before. He watches everything very closely and by his watchfulness, detects many errors which a careless boy would let slip through. His appearance is good and his habits and character are of the best.
His wage increased steadily and he was expected to have a good carrier as banker. He found new friends, and his relation to "Bessie" became more and more promising.
But things turned worse again and in 1906: after floods had destroyed the entire crops, he was asked by his father to return to the farm where his help was needed. Although this had to be a shock for Harry Truman, no complain was recorded. He was not the kind of person who complained. Like his father he often worried about situations (later, as President he had quiet a lot to worry about) but he was a man of decisions. So he became farmer.
His work was extraordinary hard, he had to wake up at 5:30 and hardy ever could finish before 10 in the evening, but he never complained. As the years passed by, Harry Truman become more and more useful to the farm, since he read a lot about agriculture and used his knowledge. Through his helping hand, the farm prospered again, and in 1914 his mother could afford buying him a car. He had written his girlfriend Bess a letter every day, now he also could visit her more often. Their relationship became more and more serious. Besides the hard work as farmer he also joined the National guard, the Freemasons and the Democratic Party, which left him hardly any time to sleep. But Truman enjoyed himself in those days as farmer and if someone would have asked him then, he would have never given up the job. He was interested in politics but he never thought of being a politician himself.
When on Nov. 2, 1914 his father died of a heart-attack, Harry had to run the farm alone and like his father, Harry tried to get some money by speculations, but these financial adventures only lead to debts. So he went on working as a farmer.
But then suddenly in 1917 he decided to join the army and to fight in WW1. As child, it had always been his dream to be a famous army general and so he left the farm to his younger sister Mary Jane and joined the American forces.
One interesting detail is, that he could only pass the eye examination by cheating - he memorised the whole chart. In the army, the 33-years-old soldier turned out once more being highly gifted and effective and so he was allowed to lead a Battery. It was the Battery D of the 2nd battalion , 129th regiment of the Fourth army, 205 men and some heavy artillery-cannons. After the landing in 1918 in Brest, Truman\'s Battery quickly travelled through France and took part in the last big American attack at the Argonne. Truman was a wise and fair commander, the soldiers respected him as much as he treated them well. Although he was afraid of war himself, he never showed it to his men. In the battle of the Argonne he had to face hidden German Artillery units but by disregarding orders he could manage to capture the enemy without losing a single men. This manoeuvre made him extremely popular, and showed his ability of good leadership.
Soon the war was over, but he kept contact to his men, who would remain in his memory as the "Battery D boys". He would meet them several times in his life, and they also would take part in his inauguration ceremony in 1948.
After 6 month desperate waiting (the American government failed to organise the fast return of his soldiers) he could return to the US. Immediately after his arrival he married Elisabeth Wallace just the same day, the treaty of Versailles was signed.
The War was the turning point in Truman's life and he changed his attitude towards his work. He didn't want to become a farmer again, he wanted to make more of his life. He had seen, that he had far more abilities and skills than he had thought before, and he wanted to make the best of his ability. He could be more than a farmer, if he wanted. It had taken him 36 years to realize that.
As his cousin Ethan Noland alter remarked :
"Harry has always been a late-bloomer".
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