Truman’s birthday is a Missouri state holiday; he implemented the Marshall plan

Former President Harry Truman was inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians in Jefferson City in 1991. His bronze bust is still on display in the Capitol Rotunda (May 7, 2024 photo courtesy of Tim Bommel of Missouri House Communications)

Today is former President Harry Truman’s birthday. President Truman was America’s 33^rd president and was born 140 years ago in southwest Missouri’s Lamar.

Today is one of Missouri’s 13 official state holidays, so most of Jefferson City’s approximately 14,000 state employees have the day off, except for the Missouri State Highway Patrol and corrections officers at state prisons.

President Truman was vice president in 1945 when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died. President Truman was in the White House from 1945 to 1953. He implemented the Marshall plan, started the Truman Doctrine and issued the executive order that integrated the U.S. military.

Truman had many ties to mid-Missouri. He was with Prime Minister Winston Churchill when Churchill deliver the famous “Iron Curtain” speech in Fulton in 1946. President Truman and Churchill also spent time that day in Jefferson City.

Columbia Public Schools (CPS) spokeswoman Michelle Baumstark tells 939 the Eagle that Mr. Truman visited Columbia on several occasions, in 1950, 1954 and in 1957. Baumstark notes CPS gives all district ninth graders the opportunity to go to the White House Decision Center at the Truman Museum in Independence, as part of their grade level field trips. She tells 939 the Eagle that it’s a neat trip for students to experience and learn about how government works and how difficult decisions are made. Ms. Baumstark says her daughter attended when she was a freshman and had an amazing experience.