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Militaria and Political Auction
Lot 1316:
Harry S. Truman
TLS 8" x 10.5" 1 pp. January 11, 1939
Washington, D.C. File Presidents
Thirty-third President (1945-1953). Truman was a Senator from Missouri and chairman of the Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program during World War II. In 1914 Roosevelt selected Truman as his running mate and served only two months before Roosevelt died. He ordered the atomic bombings and helped create the United Nations. He also approved of the Marshall Plan for war-torn Europe, created the Truman Doctrine which assisted countries threatened by Communism, and backed the Korean War. At home, his Fair Deal extended some of the domestic reforms Roosevelt had started.
With nine-word handwritten postscript! "Outside of the President, I think [V.P.] Garner is the most popular man in Washington . there are a great many people who are scared to death of the labor policy and of that national defense red herring … National defense can berenad, the penst some lax ta bilions o country, but it is not necesary, for an adequate DESCRIPTION:
Typed Letter Signed "Harry" as U.S. Senator, one page, 8" × 10.5". United States Senator, Washington, January 11,
1939. To John W. Snyder, Manager, Reconstruction Finance Corporation, Saint Louis, Missouri. Snyder and Truman served together in the U.S. Army Reserves after World War I. Lightly creased at lower right. Two file holes in the blank upper margin and two staple holes in the upper left corner. Fine condition. Included is an unsigned carbon of Snyder’s January 14th reply.
In part, "The situation here is rather peculiar. Neither the ultra-conservatives nor the President want to come to a permanent break. From all indications the President is still highly popular in the country, but there are a great many people who are scared to death of the labor policy and of that national defense red herring which is now being pulled across the trail.
National defense, as you know, can be made the most popular thing in the country, but it is not necessary, for an adequate defense, to spend some extra billions of dollars, which I think is what the object is. I have some ideas of my own on national defense which I hope will be of use at the proper time.
"Outside of the President, I think [Vice President John N.] Garner is the most popular man in Washington at the present time, and I think he is liberal enough to please all the liberals, and conservative enough so that fellows like [Virginia Sen. Harry Flood] Byrd and [N.C. Sen. Josiah W.] Bailey could swallow him. I hope you have business in Washington so that I can see you before you go to Hot Springs for that check-up. I think we have that matter just about straightened out."
In a handwritten postscript, Truman adds "Say hello to / Mrs. Snyder & [daughter] Drucie for me."
Truman’s observation that, other than FDR, Vice President "Garner is the most popular man in Washington" was confirmed in the Gallup Poll released on March 26, 1939. Gallup asked a cross-section of Democrats across the country whom they would favor for the Democratic presidential nomination n 1940 if FDR did not run. Gallup also stated that "Garner has become symbol of conservative sentiment." In 1940, FDR was renominated and Garner, who had announced he was a candidate for the presidential nomination in late 1939, was dropped from the ticket, and replaced by Henry A. Wallace for Vice President.
The "labor policy" that "a great many people are scared to death of most probably refered to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) signed into law by FDR on June 25, 1938. It established a national minimum wage of 25¢ per hour (then equal to 40% of the average wage in manufacturing), set a full-time standard work week of 40 hours with "time and a half" payment required for additional hours, and prohibited child labor in activities involving interstate commerce. On December 13, 1938, just four weeks before Truman wrote this letter, Elmer Andrews, U.S.
Wage and Hour Administrator, disclosed that special attention was being given to complaints of serious violations of the FLSA by establishments in eight states including Missouri. Truman’s favoring an "adequate defense" was the topic of a speech he delivered ten months earlier.
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