Harry Truman Typed Letter Signed as Vice President (or President) - April 12, 1945 - The Very Day FDR Died and Truman Became President

** DATED THE VERY DAY FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT DIED AND TRUMAN BECAME PRESIDENT - ON VICE PRESIDENTIAL STATIONERY **

33rd President. Typed letter signed “Harry S. Truman” on “Office of The Vice President / Washington” stationery, 8x10.5, April 12, 1945. Letter to Roy. H. Webb of Kansas City, Missouri, in full:

Appreciate very much your letter of April Ninth and if you have an opportunity to be Chief of Police, go to it. I think you would make a good one. Good luck to you!

If I can say a word where it will do the most good, I will be glad to do it.

I will be looking forward to seeing you when I get to Kansas City this summer.

Folds with slight separation at edges, edge bites and even toning from previous matting, some soiling, still very good.

An absolute historical rarity - from one of the most important days of 20th-century Presidential history.

A simple letter to an old friend back home, most likely dictated before 5 p.m. on 12 April (and more likely by 11:30 when he finished his morning mail) as it’s known that Truman headed off to Sam Rayburn's office for a whiskey with his old Congressional cronies at the end of the day on the 12th. Just after reaching Rayburn's office he received a call from the White House that changed the his life, and the course of American history. Press secretary Steve Early told Truman in urgent tones to come to the White House immediately. He didn't say why. "Jesus Christ and General Jackson," Truman muttered as he put down the phone. After running to his office to get his hat, and making the short drive from the Capitol, he walked into the family quarters on the second floor of the White House where Mrs. Roosevelt met him along with her daughter Anna, son-in-law John Boettiger, and Early. "Harry," said Mrs. Roosevelt, "the President is dead." The White House press agency sent out an official bulletin at 5:47 p.m., that President Roosevelt had died two hours earlier from a cerebral stroke. Chief Justice Harlan Stone was then called to the White House to issue Truman’s presidential oath of office in the Cabinet Room. By 7 p.m., all the Cabinet and Congressional leaders, along with Bess and Margaret Truman, were assembled and Chief Justice Stone administered the oath of office to a still stunned Harry Truman.

Truman had only a high school degree and limited political experience and many questioned his ability to lead the nation. Apparently, Truman questioned it as well. The following morning, the new President made his way to the White House with Tony Vaccaro of the Associated Press. During the ride, Truman confided his doubts to Vaccaro: "There have been few men in all history the equal of the man into whose shoes I am stepping...I pray God I can measure up to the task" (McCullough, Truman, p. 352). Later in the day, speaking to a group of reporters, Truman captured the full essence of his concern: "I don't know whether you fellows ever had a load of hay fall on you, but when they told me yesterday what had happened, I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me" (McCullough, p. 353).

Only two other letters of Truman dated April 12, 1945 have come to auction in the last 25 years - both part of the Forbes Collection:

Christie's, 9 October 2002, lot 198, $89,625

Christie’s, 2 November 2006, lot 154, $33,600

One other letter of the same date is located in the Shapell Foundation collection.

All three of these letters were simply signed “Harry” - but contained handwritten postscripts connecting the transition of Truman from VP to President. Our letter does not contain a postscript but is the only one signed with his last name included and also shows the simplicity of the earlier hours of April 12, compared to the world-changing events that would occur later in the day. While we are not certain of when Truman signed this letter, the other 3 letters were surely dictated at the same time as this so it potentially is another letter dictated as VP but signed as President.