"Dear Bess: Love Letters From the President"

Through the U.S. Government's National Archives Web site, I came across an online exhibit of Harry Truman's love letters to his wife, Bess.

The letters were originally in an exhibit titled "Dear Bess: Love Letters From the President," on display at the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum in 1998-1999. Now, the exhibit is closed, but the letters can be viewed online at the library's Web site.

According to the library's introduction to the exhibit, "(The exhibit)highlighted the personal relationship between Harry and Bess Truman as illustrated in almost 50 years of handwritten personal letters. The exhibition included original letters, photographs, and personal objects of the Trumans from the Library's collections. The focus of the exhibition was not only the personal loving relationship between Harry and Bess, but the President's efforts to use his wife as a sounding board for the issues of state also will play as a background theme."

Truman was the 33rd president of the United States. He became Vice President in 1945 and then became President when Franklin D. Roosevelt died 82 days into his fourth term as president.

The collection of letters spans almost 50 years. One of my favorites is dated June 12, 1945, two months after he became president. It is on White House stationery and starts like this:

"Dear Bess, Just two months ago today, I was a reasonably happy and contented Vice-President. Maybe you can remember that far back too. But things have changed so much it hardly seems real.
I sit there in this old house and work on foreign affairs, read reports and work on speeches — all the while listening to the ghosts walk up and down the hallway and even right here in the study. The floors pop and the drapes move back and forth..."

He wraps the letter up with

"Write me when you can – I hope every day, Lots of love, Harry"

Check out the letters! They are a great look at American history.

More presidential letters

Last week, my family and I traveled to Little Rock, Arkansas, and while we were there, we visited the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum.

It was a very interesting place with complete replicas of the the Oval Office and the Cabinet Room. According to the statistics, the library and museum houses about 76.8 million pages of paper documents from Bill Clinton's administration.

Included in the museum were large displays with a timeline showing key events and highlights of Mr. Clinton's eight years in office. His daily schedules were located in binders below the timeline, and on the back of each timeline display were glass cases filled with letters he sent and received during his presidency.

There were letters from Fred Rogers (of "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" TV fame), Tony Danza, Sheryl Crow and many others. In some cases, there were copies of Mr. Clinton's replies to the letter writers. There were also letters to Hillary Clinton when she was First Lady. She received letters from Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama and others.

Reports that came out last week indicate that President Barack Obama may be the first U.S. President to use e-mail while in the White House. I hope that won't diminish the number of letters he sends or receives. A glass case full of printed-out e-mails just won't be the same as the handwritten and hand-signed letters that are in Mr. Clinton's library.

To me, that part of the Clinton Library was just one more celebration of the importance of letters in our lives.