Truman Day: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|State holiday in Missouri}}

|type = secular

|significance = the birthday of the only U.S. president to come from Missouri

}}

'''Truman Day''' is a commemorative holiday to celebrate the birth of [[Harry S. Truman]], the 33rd President of the [[United States]]. It is celebratedon May 8 in [[Missouri]] as a state holiday<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/C000-099/0090000035.HTM |title=Section 9-035 May 8, Truman Day |publisher=Moga.mo.gov |date=2009-08-28 |access-date=2010-05-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140422233233/http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/C000-099/0090000035.HTM |archive-date=2014-04-22 }}</ref> and nationally by the [[United States Democratic Party]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/truman-day |title=Holidays: Truman Day in United States |publisher=Timeanddate.com |access-date=2010-05-13}}</ref> Truman is the only U.S. President to come from Missouri, hence the significance to the state.<ref>{{cite web|last=Levitt |first=Aimee |url=http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2010/05/will_the_buck_stop_here_for_truman_day.php |title=Will the Buck Stop Here For Truman Day? - St. Louis News - Daily RFT |publisher=Blogs.riverfronttimes.com |date=2010-05-04 |access-date=2010-05-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.firedupmissouri.com/content/headlines-friday-may-7 |title=Headlines: Truman Day, May 7 |publisher=Fired Up! Missouri |date=2010-05-07 |access-date=2010-05-13}}</ref> For Missouri state employees, this is a paid holiday.<ref name="stltoday1">{{cite web|last=Messenger |first=Tony |url=http://interact.stltoday.com/blogzone/political-fix/political-fix/2010/05/state-employees-still-get-truman-day-off-this-year-at-least/ |title=State employees still get Truman Day off — this year at least &#124; Political Fix &#124; STLtoday |publisher=Interact.stltoday.com |access-date=2010-05-13}}</ref>

{{Harry S. Truman series}}

Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884{{spaced ndash}}December 26, 1972) was the [[List of Presidents of the United States|33rd]] [[President of the United States]] (1945–1953), an American politician of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]. He served as a [[United States senator]] from Missouri (1935–1945) and briefly as [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] (1945) before he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, upon the death of [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]. He was president during the final months of [[World War II]], making the decision to drop the atomic bomb on [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|Hiroshima and Nagasaki]]. Truman was [[1948 United States Presidential Election|elected in his own right in 1948]]. He presided over an uncertain domestic scene as America sought its path after the war, and tensions with the [[Soviet Union]] increased, marking the start of the [[Cold War]].

Post-presidency, Truman was a popular figure in Missouri, with Truman Day rallies having been held in [[Poplar Bluff, Missouri]] since at least 1966.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 22, 1966 |title='Truman Day' Rally Planned Saturday |url=https://shsmo.newspapers.com/image/20692334/?match=1&terms=%22truman%20day%22%20 |access-date=2024-05-08 |work=Jefferson City Post-Tribune |pages=12}}</ref> However, May 8 was not officially designated a state holiday until June 1967 with the passage of House Bill 154.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Missouri Session Laws |url=https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/molaws/id/33963 |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=mdh.contentdm.oclc.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=9.035 |url=https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=9.035&bid=267 |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=revisor.mo.gov |language=en}}</ref> Governor [[Warren E. Hearnes]] celebrated the first Truman Day by unveiling a statue of Truman at [[Culver–Stockton College|Culver-Stockton College]] in [[Canton, Missouri]] in 1968.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Governor Warren E. Hearnes at Unveiling of Statue of Former President Harry S. Truman {{!}} Harry S. Truman |url=https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/photograph-records/2002-486 |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=www.trumanlibrary.gov}}</ref>

In 2010, Missouri Governor [[Jay Nixon]] proposed abolishing the holiday in an effort to reduce the state's budget;<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-03-12 |title=Nixon proposes eliminating Truman Day, 2 other state holidays |url=https://www.stlpr.org/delete1/2010-03-11/nixon-proposes-eliminating-truman-day-2-other-state-holidays |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=STLPR |language=en}}</ref> however, the effort was unsuccessful.<ref name="bizjournals1">{{cite news |last=Volkmann |first=Kelsey |date=2010-05-03 |title=Truman Day stays as Missouri state holiday this year - St. Louis Business Journal |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2010/05/03/daily13.html |access-date=2010-05-13 |publisher=Bizjournals.com}}</ref>

{{Portal|United States}}

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140422233233/http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/C000-099/0090000035.HTM Section 9-035 May 8, Truman Day.]

[[Category:Missouri culture]]