Public Papers
The Public Papers of Harry S. Truman contain most of President Truman's public messages, statements, speeches, and news conference remarks. Documents such as Proclamations, Executive Orders, and similar documents that are published in the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations, as required by law, are usually not included. The documents within the Public Papers are arranged in chronological order. President Truman delivered the remarks or addresses from Washington, D. C., unless otherwise indicated. The White House in Washington issued statements, messages, and letters unless noted otherwise. (Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, Harry S. Truman, 1945-1953. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1966)
The Public Papers contain items such as the Statement by the President Announcing the Use of the A-Bomb at Hiroshima (August 6, 1945), the Special Message to the Congress on Greece and Turkey: The Truman Doctrine (March 12, 1947), the White House Statement Announcing Recognition of the Government of Israel (January 31, 1949), the Statement and Order by the President on Relieving General MacArthur of His Commands (April 11, 1951), and The President's Farewell Address to the American People (January 15, 1953).
February 25, 1946
IN THE TRIAL of war criminals at Nureraberg the fact has been established that 5,700,000 Jews perished under the murderous reign of Hitlerism. That crime will be answered in justice.
There are left in Europe 1,500,000 Jews, men,…
February 26, 1947
My dear_____________:
On January 17, 1947, I informed you that representatives of my office and of the armed services were engaged in drafting a bill to be submitted to the Congress for its consideration concerning a plan…
February 20, 1952
IT IS a pleasure to welcome you here on the White House lawn today. I hope the next time you come the building will be all finished so that you can take a look at the inside of it. They have been working on it for about 3 1/2 years now…
May 31, 1945
Dear Steve:
I am very loath to see June first come around because, as you state in your very kind letter
of the twenty-eighth, it means that you are definitely leaving your official post at the White House.
You know that it…
February 27, 1947
THE AMERICAN people during and following World War I developed a tradition of help to the war afflicted through public and private support. Throughout World War II, and now in this trying postwar period, we are maintaining this…
March 2, 1948
Dear Mr. President:
I recommend that the Congress enact legislation to exempt the civilian member of the permanent Joint Board on Defense, U.S.-Canada, from certain statutory restrictions on the prosecution of claims against…
February 26, 1946
THE PRESIDENT. [1.] I have an announcement or two to make, one of which you seem to have gotten from the Senate. I am making Charles R. Denny, Jr., Acting Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.
[2.] And I want to issue a…
March 2, 1949
THE 100th anniversary of the Department of the Interior is an appropriate occasion to examine the status of our natural resources and to renew our efforts to protect, develop, and maintain these as a continuing stabilizing force in the…
February 22, 1950
CYRUS S. CHING, Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, has reported to me the status of the disputes between communications workers of America, CIO, and important units of the Ball System which operate our…
February 20, 1952
WELL, I congratulate you again. You are really making a contribution to the cause of democracy, because you not only educate yourselves but you educate some other people when you are doing this, and that is the most important thing in…
February 24, 1951
I AM most happy to again hand out these first prizes for these historic pictures.
You know I have, I guess, about as great a collection as anybody of pictures and cartoons, particularly the pictures that win these prizes, and it…
June 1, 1945
THE PRESIDENT. Well, I have got two short statements I want to read to you to start things off
with.
[1.] [Reading, not literally]: "Secretary Morgenthau has told me about the shocking cases of tax
evasion his men have discovered, and I…
March 3, 1949
IT IS always a pleasure to meet those at the top in anything, and I understand that you won these honors by being at the top in the scientific essays which you wrote for this contest. I am sincerely hoping that all of you will go ahead…
March 3, 1948
To the Congress of the United States:
I am transmitting herewith the annual report of the United States Civil Service Commission.
This report deals with the men and women who, as Federal employees, are serving the people of…
February 23, 1950
THE PRESIDENT. I have no special announcements to make. I will try to answer questions.
[1.] Q. Mr. President, is the FEPC bill which the House passed today satisfactory to you?1
THE PRESIDENT. I haven't seen the bill. I haven't…
February 26, 1951
Memorandum for the Secretary of the Treasury, the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Director of Defense Mobilization, the Chairman of Council of Economic Advisers:
I have been much…
February 26, 1946
I WANT to express my satisfaction with the conclusion of an Air Transport Agreement with the United Kingdom at Bermuda on February eleventh. It is now clear that very difficult problems in specialized technical areas in the relations…
February 20, 1952
THE PRESIDENT. Please be seated.
I have no special announcements to make. I will try to answer questions, however.
[1.] Q. Mr. President, I wonder if you heard that the House has just passed a resolution1 demanding that…
February 28, 1947
To the Congress of the United States:
A significant contribution to the amount of rental housing so direly needed by veterans and their families at rentals they can afford has been made during the past year by the…
February 21, 1952
Mr. Chairman, distinguished guests, and Mr. Speaker:
I am going to make an exception in the Speaker. The people that have been introduced to you this morning are the "Missouri gang." There is not a man at this table or…
February 28, 1950
[Broadcast from the White House at 10:54 p.m.]
General Marshall, my fellow Americans:
Tonight many of you have heard from the lips of individuals what the Red Cross has meant to them and to their loved ones.
These…
February 27, 1951
To the Congress of the United States:
For the last several years, the United States postal service has been incurring very large deficits. The rapidly rising costs of delivering the mail have been substantially larger…
June 1, 1945
To the Congress of the United States:
The primary task facing the Nation today is to win the war in Japan to win it completely and to win it as quickly as possible. For every day by which it is shortened means a saving of…
February 27, 1946
[ Released February 27, 1946. Dated February 26, 1946 ]
I AM SURE you are familiar with the acute need for foodstuffs in the war-torn countries of Europe and Asia. Our national self-respect and our duties as human beings demands that…
March 4, 1948
[ Released March 4, 1948. Dated March 3, 1948 ]
My dear General Fleming:
Thank you for your timely letter pointing out the danger that the Disaster Surplus Property Program may not provide adequate relief to stricken…