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TRUMAN, Harry S. Autograph letter signed ("Harry S. Truman"), as former President, to Edward D. McKim, Independence, Mo., 24 January 1959. 1 page, 4to, personal stationery, with original autograph envelope and printed free frank.
"WE'VE NO CANDIDATE YET BUT STU [SYMINGTON] RIGHT NOW IS THE BEST BET...I CAN'T ENDORSE ANYONE..."
A fine Truman ALS to his old Army buddy and life-long friend, in which he picks an early favorite for the Democratic nomination for President in 1960. "...We've no candidate yet but Stu right now is the best bet. I can't endorse anyone. It would hurt. Give my best to Mary and all the family and the grandchildren..." Truman, as the elder statesman of the party, could not take sides in a nomination fight, but he clearly preferred fellow Missourian, Stuart Symington (1901-1988), who served under Truman as Secretary of the Air Force and head of the R. F. C. before becoming a four-term Senator. When the Primary season got underway, however, the garrulous Truman could not heed his own counsel and told any reporter who asked that Symington was "without doubt" the best qualified. Yet Symington never clicked with the voters, and Kennedy's likely success left Truman cold. "He's a fine young man," Truman said of JFK. "The only thing is, he lives in Massachusetts." Kennedy backer and former Secretary of State Dean Acheson, gently urged his old chief to button it up. "Free speech is a restraint on government; not an incitement to the citizen" (McCullough, Truman, 971, 972). Yet Truman continued to snipe at Kennedy, calling him "immature" and grumpily avoiding the Los Angeles convention. He did, however, stump for the nomineee in the fall. "Nixon is impossible. So there we are" (McCullough, 974).
"WE'VE NO CANDIDATE YET BUT STU [SYMINGTON] RIGHT NOW IS THE BEST BET...I CAN'T ENDORSE ANYONE..."
A fine Truman ALS to his old Army buddy and life-long friend, in which he picks an early favorite for the Democratic nomination for President in 1960. "...We've no candidate yet but Stu right now is the best bet. I can't endorse anyone. It would hurt. Give my best to Mary and all the family and the grandchildren..." Truman, as the elder statesman of the party, could not take sides in a nomination fight, but he clearly preferred fellow Missourian, Stuart Symington (1901-1988), who served under Truman as Secretary of the Air Force and head of the R. F. C. before becoming a four-term Senator. When the Primary season got underway, however, the garrulous Truman could not heed his own counsel and told any reporter who asked that Symington was "without doubt" the best qualified. Yet Symington never clicked with the voters, and Kennedy's likely success left Truman cold. "He's a fine young man," Truman said of JFK. "The only thing is, he lives in Massachusetts." Kennedy backer and former Secretary of State Dean Acheson, gently urged his old chief to button it up. "Free speech is a restraint on government; not an incitement to the citizen" (McCullough, Truman, 971, 972). Yet Truman continued to snipe at Kennedy, calling him "immature" and grumpily avoiding the Los Angeles convention. He did, however, stump for the nomineee in the fall. "Nixon is impossible. So there we are" (McCullough, 974).