The Boss

When Harry Truman was 6, he walked into a Sunday School class in Independence, Missouri, and his entire life changed. Across the room, he saw a little girl with golden curls and the most beautiful blue eyes. From that moment, he knew she was the only one for him.

Elizabeth Virginia Wallace, born on this date in 1885, captured his heart that day. She and Harry grew up together as schoolmates. As a young woman, she was considered to be a tomboy, reputed to excel at whistling through her teeth and playing baseball. After her graduation from high school, her life changed dramatically with the death of her father. This traumatic event along with Harry’s desire to properly provide for her monetarily delayed the natural progression of their relationship.

She finally accepted his proposal in 1917. He delayed the wedding ceremony until his return from World War I. He did not want to leave her either a widow or a caretaker. They finally married on June 28, 1919. On February 17, 1924, their only child, Mary Margaret, was born.

For the entirety of their lives together, Bess was Harry’s partner in every sense of the word. She worked alongside him in both paid and unpaid positions as he rose through the political ranks. He turned to her for advice in virtually every major decision he made. He teasingly began to call her “The Boss” and Margaret “The Boss’s Boss”. As such a close family, the three of them were known by some as the “Three Musketeers”.

While Bess fully supported Harry in all that he did, she greatly disliked the spotlight it brought upon her. She believed in the old custom of a woman’s name appearing in public print only three times in her life: when she was born, when she married, and when she died. In spite of this, she admirably fulfilled her duties as First Lady while still maintaining a strong private life with her family and closest friends.

She gracefully dealt with criticism in her role as First Lady. Following Eleanor Roosevelt in the job led to numerous comparisons and expectations, but Bess quickly made the world realize that she would and could not be another Eleanor. As with too many other First Ladies, she dealt with criticism over a change in her hair style. Harry defended her by saying she looked exactly as she should look. She even received criticism related to Harry. According to the story, someone approached her to complain about Harry’s colorful use of language, specifically, the use of the word “manure”. Bess calmly replied, “Do you know how long it took me to get him to say ‘manure’?”

During her time in the White House, the House literally began falling down around her family. Harry, an avid reader and historian, insisted upon saving as much of the original House as possible. During the reconstruction period, the Trumans moved across Pennsylvania Avenue to a much smaller home, Blair House. Due to the lack of space in this temporary residence, Bess had an easier time maintaining her privacy while still fulfilling her duties in her public role.

After the Presidency, Bess and Harry returned to their home and private life in Independence, Missouri. Margaret married and started her own family. They traveled. They spent time with family and friends. They spent time together. They enjoyed life.

One day, Harry walked in on Bess burning all of the letters that they had sent to each other through the years. He tried to stop her by telling her to “think of history!” She replied, “I am.” Much as Martha Washington many years earlier, Bess felt that she had shared enough of her life with her husband with the public and did not need to share it all. (Some of the letters she missed were later published by her grandson, Clifton Truman Daniel.)

Bess lost Harry on December 26, 1972. In keeping with the simplicity of their lives, he did not have a State Funeral with ceremonies in DC. Instead, he had opted for a simpler ceremony in his hometown with burial on the grounds of his Library.

Bess spent the remainder of her life continuing to do what she enjoyed most: spending time with family and friends and voraciously reading.

She died in her home on October 18, 1982, at the age of 97. To date, she is the longest lived First Lady.