Thursday, December 2, 2010
GENEALOGY AND ANCESTRY OF HARRY S. TRUMAN, 33RD PRESIDENT
Harry S. Truman became President upon the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Upon hearing of Roosevelt's death he rushed to the White House where he asked Eleanor Roosevelt if there was anything he could do to help her. She replied that the question was whether there was anything she could now do to help Truman. At the time, the U.S. was still fighting World War II. Truman made the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan to help speed the end of the war and later was the first President to deal with the Cold War with the Soviet Union. His Truman Doctrine advocated a policy of containment of the spread of Communism. During his presidency, he had the White House interior gutted and replaced with a modern interior with steel girders and several basements. He also installed what is known as the Truman Balcony on the South Portico of the White House. Harry Truman was born on May 8, 1884 in Lamar, Missouri. His parents were John Anderson Truman and Martha Ellen Young. His father's ancestors were originally from Kentucky but moved to Westport Landing (now Kansas City), Missouri. On his mother's side, Truman is descended from Jacob Young, Jr. and Rachel Goodnight of Mecklenburg County, Virginia. President Truman shares a common descent from Michael Gutknecht with President Barack Obama (they are 7th cousins). For a detailed family tree, see http://www.hull.ac.uk/php/cssbct/cgi-bin/gedlkup.php/n=presidents?presidents1763