   Harry S. Truman
The Foremost Freemason of the Twentieth Century
by Allen E. Roberts    

    "I wish that it might be possible for my long-deceased father, a
59-year Mason at his death to be able to read this remarkable
biography," reads a letter I recently received concerning Brother
Truman.
    The letter continued: "My Dad, always a staunch Republican,
never could imagine anything good about Harry S. Truman.
Dad always said that Truman proved that even a 'common' man
could be President, and Truman was the most common. At the
risk of being struck down by the apparition of my late father,
after reading your book, I consider that statement as a compli-
ment, rather than the derision in which it was originally meant."
    Truman was really an uncommon man and he was an uncom-
mon youngster. While children his age were playing games, he
was studying. He believed that before he reached the age of
twelve he had read every book in the public library of In-
dependence, Missouri.
    He was particularly interested in biographies and history, all
which helped him in later years. Referring to Andrew Johnson,
the Mason from Tennessee, and his being thrust into the
Presidency of the United States, Truman said: "When the same
thing happened to me, I knew just how Johnson had coped with
his problems, and I did not make the mistakes he made."
    And Truman didn't. From the moment he took the oath of or-
fice as President of the United States he assumed the full respon-
and authority of the position. In doing so he shocked
of politicians, businessmen, detractors, and especially
media. The latter, for the most part, never forgave him for
proving it was wrong.
    Actually, there should have been no surprise about the leader-
ship abilities of Truman. It began with his service in the National
Guard and continued during his tour of duty in France during
World War I. There he took over a battery of mostly Irish-
Catholics that had destroyed the careers of four former command-
ing officers. Captain Truman turned it into the best battery in
France. He continually bragged about its accomplishments, and
the men raved about their commander. They never forgot him
and supported him throughout his political career.
    Truman's leadership ability continued after his election as a
judge in 1922, although the media and his detractors would con-
tinually claim falsely he was a bankrupt haberdasher from
Missouri. During his term as judge he traveled throughout his
county at his own expense becoming familiar with every road,
building and institution in it. After he was elected presiding
judge he again traveled, at his own expense, throughout the
country to find ways to improve his county. He found poor
roads, public buildings and a huge debt.
    So well did Truman do his job he was reelected in 1930 by an
overwhelming majority for another term. When he left, office
buildings, institutions and roads had been rebuilt and the debt
had been dissolved. His county was one of the few in the state
that was solvent.
    Yet, while he was doing a monumental job in public office he
always found time to work for Freemasonry. In 1924 he was ap-
pointed District Deputy Grand Master and District Lecturer. He
had been an excellent ritualist almost from the day he became a
Master Mason on March 18, 1909, in Belton Lodge No. 540. In
1910 he was appointed Charter Master of Grandview Lodge,
later to become No. 618. While he courted the "girl with the
golden curls" he kept her fully informed about what he was do-
ing as a Master Mason.
    In 1930, the year he was reelected presiding judge, the in-
coming Grand Master, a Republican, considered Harry Truman
for appointment to the bottom of the Grand Lodge line. He con-
sulted two other Republicans, one of them Ray V. Denslow, the
in-coming Deputy Grand Master. They were unanimous in the
decision to appoint Harry S.  Truman,  a Democrat. The
Pendergast machine was discarded as a factor; they knew
Truman was his own man and had proven conclusively that he
lived by the principles of Freemasonry that he taught others.
    Ironically, Truman almost didn't become Grand Master of
Masons in Missouri. In the same year, 1940, he had to fight two
battles, one for the United States Senate, to which he had first
been elected in 1933, the other to become Grand Master. To his
credit, he did not use either to benefit the other.
    On election to his first term as a Senator, the lies of Truman's
opponents were apparent. He had no money--he never would
have--but he was accused of lining his pockets with graft. As
William R. Denslow noted, Truman "was not only poor, but in
debt. Before he left for Washington, a number of his friends,
both political and fraternal, bought him a new Buick."
    His first term earned Truman the respect of the members of
the upper house. So much so that after he had won his hard-
fought battle for reelection, his colleagues gave him a standing
ovation when he entered the chamber.
    Throughout his first term as Senator, Truman continued to
work for Freemasonry, and not only in Missouri. Yet, the opposi-
tion to him for the first elective office in the line, that of Junior
Grand Warden, was so strong he won by only 53 votes. He con-
sidered quitting the line because he thought too highly of
Freemasonry to let the opposition experienced destroy it. His
friends, fortunately, stopped that notion. Then, because the
Deputy Grand Master resigned in 1939, Truman had two major
battles in 1940, for the Senate and Grand Master. He won them
both.
    As Senator and Chairman of the Special Services Committee
Truman had argued for, he was responsible for saving the lives of
countless numbers of servicemen and women. The committee
found graft, incompetence, and cheating throughout business
and labor unions. This was stopped wherever it was found. The
little businessman and the people were the beneficiaries of the
committee's "watchdog" tactics.
    In spite of his back-breaking schedule in the Senate, the Grand
Master from Missouri found time to work with and for
Freemasonry. He added credence to the almost defunct Masonic
Service Association with speeches for and about it, and by travel-
ing to open service centers for the Armed Forces. And he did not
let down the Freemasons of Missouri who had given him "the
highest honor that has ever come to me, or that can ever come to
me in my life, is to be Grand Master of the State of Missouri."
That statement he would make many times, even after he
became President of the United States.
    Truman didn't want to be Vice President of the United States,
but he reluctantly agreed to run when Franklin Roosevelt, the
Mason from New York, said he would be breaking up the
Democratic Party if he didn't. After his election to a job he con-
sidered "as useless as the fifth teat on a cow," he planned on
changing the image. There wasn't time. Eighty-three days later
Roosevelt died and Truman was sworn in as President of the
United States.
    It was typical of the man that in spite of his sorrow and the
decisions he knew he had to make on that April 12, 1945, he
remembered his Masonic obligations. The son of a Past Master of
Grandview Lodge was to be balloted on in Alexandria-
Washington Lodge that evening; Truman had planned to speak
for him. Truman's new national obligations prevented him from
going to the lodge. But he sent three members of Congress to do it
for him.    
    Roosevelt had not confided in his Vice President, so Truman
found his childhood habits of study came in handy. He surround-
ed himself with the best men he could find, and informed them
he wanted no "yes men." It wasn't easy, but he brought the war
in Europe to a successful conclusion. Then he concentrated on
the Pacific. When the Japanese Empire gave no signs of sur-
rendering, he gambled and ordered an atom bomb dropped on a
likely target. When this didn't work, the second and only other
such bomb in existence, was ordered to be dropped.
    Each year the controversy over this action grows more bitter.
For those of us fighting that war, Truman was a hero. Dropping
the bomb worked. Millions of Japanese and American lives, and
those of America's allies were saved. Perhaps Truman's most im-
portant achievements was in keeping the Soviet vultures from
feasting on the remains.
    The American citizens were better off economically and many
other ways than ever before in 1948, but the man in the White
House had to fight for his political life. The Democratic Party
was severely split; the Republican candidate, Thomas E. Dewey,
a Freemason from New York, was a ten to one favorite to win the
Presidency. The odds would remain the same until the voters had
spoken.
    Truman, the candidate, the Freemason, did many remarkable
things during that trying campaign. Among them was proving
again what an uncommon man he was. Although he didn't have
the time, he took it to attend little Beech Grove Lodge No. 694 in
Indiana. Why? Because he learned one of the sailors aboard the
Presidential Yacht Williamsburg was going to be raised to the
sublime degree of Master Mason on October 15, 1948. The sailor
was Donald Earl Bauermeister. And the man who insisted on be-
ing received not as President of the United States, but as a Past
Grand Master of Masons in Missouri, witnessed the degree. He
then presented the candidate with a Masonic ring from his
parents.
    Mary Conclave of the Red Cross of Constantine held a recep-
tion for its most famous member on November 1, 1948. Truman
told its members that he wasn't a wagering man, but if they
wanted to make some easy money to bet on him to win the elec-
tion. Then, after making a non-political radio address the even-
ing of the election he went to bed while reporters, supporters,
and opponents stayed up all night expecting him to lose.
    At 6 a.m. on November 3, Truman joined the weary and
bleary-eyed folks at the Muehlebach Hotel in Kansas City,
Missouri. At 10:14 Dewey conceded. The whistles blew and the
bells rang for the home town boy who had pulled off the upset of
the century!
    As he had during his first term, the President continued to
work for his country and its people. And he continued to work
for Freemasonry and its principles.
    His one major goal after he had returned to private life was to
build a library and museum. He wanted this in Grandview, but
Independence was the more likely place. His efforts, his writings,
his speeches were all aimed at that one goal. The money he
received went into that project. He could have obtained it easily
by exploiting the office of the Presidency, but that he refused to
prostitute.
    The Harry S. Truman Library and Museum was built. And
Truman repeated as he had many times before: "This library will
belong to the people of the United States. My papers will be the
property of the people and be accessible to them. And this is as it
should be. The papers of the Presidents are among the most
valuable sources of material for history. They ought to be
preserved and they ought to be used."
    In my book Brother Truman, I ended by asking: "How much
of an influence did Freemasonry have on the life of Harry S.
Truman?" He answered this on many occasions, even after his
election as President of the United States:
    "The greatest honor that has ever come to me, and that can
ever come to me in my life, is to be Grand Master of Masons in
Missouri."


