LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 Apr Books, Manuscripts & Autographs #658  / 

25108

Harry S. Truman Superb Autograph Letter Signed

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:1,250.00 USD Estimated At:5,000.00 - 7,000.00 USD
Harry S. Truman Superb Autograph Letter Signed
<B>Harry S. Truman Superb Autograph Letter Signed</B></I>: On his last full day as President, Harry Truman takes his wife's name off his checking account at the Riggs National Bank but gives her power of attorney to sign checks.<BR><BR>Signed: "<I>Harry S Truman</B></I>" as President, one page, 5" x 8". The White House, Washington, January 19, 1953. To Robert V. Fleming, President and Chairman of the Board of The Riggs National Bank. In full: "<I>Dear Mr. Fleming, I want to change our joint account to my name and give Mrs. Truman power of attorney to sign checks. It is a legal procedure that has become necessary now. Sincerely yours.</B></I>" President Truman adds: "<I>Please give Miss Conway the necessary papers & cards.</B></I>" Photographs of Fleming and Conway are included.<BR><BR><B>Robert V. Fleming</B></I> (1890-1967) was President (1925-1955) and Chairman of the Board (1935-1963) of The Riggs National Bank in Washington, D.C. He was also a member of the 1950 National? Capital Sesquicentennial Commission.<BR><BR><B>Rose A. Conway</B></I> (c. 1900-1980) was Harry Truman's personal and confidential secretary from 1945 until his death in 1972, then worked at the Truman Library until 1975. She had served on Truman's staff since March 15, 1945, when he was FDR's Vice President. Truman had once said of her, "No man ever had a more loyal secretary."<BR><BR>The Act of Congress signed by President Washington on April 2, 1792, specified that the term of the President and Vice President shall "commence on the? fourth day of March." Legally, even though presidential inaugurations were held during the daytime, the term began as the clock struck 12 earlier that morning. The 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, effective with the 1937 inauguration, established that "the terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January." This letter was signed on President Truman's last full day in office.<BR><BR>According to the Truman Library, on January 19, 1953, President Truman wrote two letters, one to President-Elect Eisenhower at Washington's Statler Hotel, enclosing the report of the President's Committee on Government Contract Compliance, "Equal Economic Opportunity," and the other to James A. Campbell, President of the American Federation of Government Employees, on the "70th Anniversary of the Merit System." He also wrote a Special Message to the Congress on the Nation's Land and Water Resources.<BR><BR>Rarely does a handwritten letter of Truman appear on the market. An ALS on White House stationery is exceedingly rare. This one, in extra fine condition, would make an outstanding addition to a presidential collection <I>From the Gary Grossman Collection.</B></I><BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Flat Material, Small (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
Sign In to Bookmark Lot