Historical handwritten manuscript, completely in Truman’s hand and signed as president, “H. S. T.,” one page, 5 x 8, White House letterhead, dated April 6, 1952. Truman writes out his quote given at the conclusion of a lively speech at the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner on March 29, 1952, where he announced that he will not seek another term of office and will not accept the Democratic nomination in the 1952 Presidential election. Truman writes: “To Dave Morgan, Copy of Original:—’I shall not be a candidate for re-election. I have served my country long, and I think efficiently and honestly. I shall not accept a renomination. I do not feel that it is my duty to spend another 4 years in the White House.’ H.S.T. Mar. 29, ‘52 [the date of the original statement].”
Accompanied by a one-page TLS, signed as president, one page, April 7, 1952, on pale green White House letterhead. Truman writes to David Morgan: “I am enclosing you a copy of the handwritten statement I made on march twenty-ninth. I am glad you are in agreement with me that it is the proper thing for me to do. I came to that conclusion some two or three years ago but, of course, couldn’t make the proper announcement until now. I hope everything is going well with you.” In fine condition. Accompanied by the original White House mailing envelope, with “I shall not be a candidate etc,” written in another hand in the top left.
With World War II a memory, Axis forces defeated, and American troops engaged in a different conflict in Korea, Truman decided that 1952 was the time for him to do “the proper thing” and decline any offer to seek a third term in office. Exhausted from the stress and tribulations of the conclusion of WWII, the Soviet Union’s establishment of the Iron Curtin, the stalemate in Korea, with his Fair Deal and Civil Rights programs widely crushed, Truman knew it was time to go. His announcement at the 1952 was made almost matter-of-factly, those in attendance that night recalled, but for the president the choice was clear. Ironically, although historians later viewed Truman as one of America’s greatest leaders, he left the White House with an approval rating even lower that the one held by President Richard Nixon following his resignation in the wake of the Watergate scandal.
Truly an historic piece of US history: a president who helped bring peace to a world at war admits admitting that “I do not feel that it is my duty to spend another 4 years in the White House.” Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
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