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136

Harry S. Truman

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:800.00 - 1,000.00 USD
Harry S. Truman

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Auction Date:2011 Aug 10 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
TLS, one page, 8 x 10.5, United States Senate letterhead, July 29, 1937. Truman writes John W. Snyder, manager of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and later his Secretary of the Treasury. In part: “Appreciate most highly yours of the Twenty Seventh, sending me the clippings from the Star-Times about O’Malley and the Fort Myer Horse Troop. I am glad a compromise was reached between the Governor and Mr. Pendergast because I didn’t want to see them fall out. I think you are right that the Governor could very easily review the Command and Staff Course on Tactics. There is no doubt in my mind but what he is using Navy tactics all the way through. I thought yesterday we were going to get an early adjournment, but Barkley, Sam Rayburn and Bankhead called on the President yesterday, and Barkley told the Press we were going to stay here until we were through. Of course I think we are going to have a new Court fight and it looks now as if we will be here all the rest of the summer. However, if I can get away I had hoped that you and Eddie McKim could call on Harry Vaughn at Fort Riley one of the week-ends while there and probably do a little studying in probabilities. That is absolutely essential you know for a Field Artilleryman’s education.” In fine condition, with wrinkling, tiny staple holes in upper left corner, and four file holes at top edge. Accompanied by Snyder’s retained unsigned carbon copy, on lightweight pink paper, of his August 2, 1937, letter to Senator Truman.

Short in content, this correspondence is rich in context as Truman mentions various events: the rift between Missouri Governor Lloyd Stark and Kansas City Democratic Boss, and Truman’s mentor, Tom Pendergast; President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s court-packing plan; and setting up a poker game (“a little studying in probabilities”). One of his first references is to Missouri’s new Democratic Governor Lloyd Stark, who had had the support of Kansas City Boss Tom Pendergast when he ran for governor in 1936. As investigations into corrupt Missouri state politics began, Stark turned against Pendergast, leading to a domino-effect of state and federal decisions that led to Pendergast’s fall from power. Although Truman tells Snyder “I am glad a compromise was reached between the Governor and Mr. Pendergast because I didn’t want to see them fall out,” such a deal was short-lived as Pendergast was convicted of income tax evasion in 1939.

More noteworthy, of course, is Truman’s prediction of “a new Court fight”...referencing FDR’s proposed Judiciary Reorganization Bill of 1937. Commonly referred to as FDR’s Court-Packing plan, it was designed to load the high court with justices favorable to his New Deal policies—but the president’s failure to consult leaders in the House of Representatives first led to prolonged political wrangling. On August 26, 1937, an amended version of the Judiciary Reorganization Bill which, among other items, did not include a provision to increase the number of Supreme Court members was reluctantly signed into law by President Roosevelt. Perhaps the most delightful part of the correspondence was Truman’s longing to enlist some old army buddies in a “little studying in probabilities … absolutely essential … for a Field Artilleryman’s education”— Truman’s code word for playing poker, a game he enjoyed partaking with friends even after he moved to the White House.
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