First ladies

From left to right: Vice President-elect Alben Barkley; Mrs. Marian Barkley Truitt; Margaret Truman; First Lady Bess W. Truman; and President Harry S. Truman on the steps of the White House the day after President Truman won the 1948 presidential election. Standing behind Mr. Barkley and Ms. Truitt, partly obscured, are Admiral William D. Leahy and General Harry Vaughan. Standing behind President Truman, partly obscured, is Captain Robert Dennison. Standing in the background between Mrs. Truman and President Truman is Irving Geist. All others are unidentified. From: Oscar Chapman Scrapbook

A choir sings to a group of people on a balcony of the White House. Pictured on balcony: Lady Bird Johnson (second from left); West German Chancellor Ludwig Erhard (fourth from left); and President Lyndon B. Johnson (third from right). All others unidentified. The guests were in attendance for a dinner in honor of Chancellor Erhard.

President Lyndon B. Johnson (right), West German Chancellor Ludwig Erhard (second from right); and Lady Bird Johnson (third from right) at a dinner at the White House in honor of Chancellor Erhard. All others unidentified.

On balcony, left to right: Lady Bird Johnson; West German Chancellor Ludwig Erhard; and President Lyndon B. Johnson listen to a choir sing from a balcony at the White House. All others unidentified.

Left to right: Ann (Mrs. Oscar) Chapman, Women's Day Chairman; Katie Louchheim, Vice Chairwoman, Democratic National Committee; former First Lady Bess W. Truman; Corinne "Lindy" Boggs, President, Womens' National Democratic Committee; and an unidentified woman on Democratic Women's Day.

On their way to Italy and France, former President Harry S. Truman, Bess Truman, and Mrs. Samuel Rosenman on the bridge of the ocean liner U.S.S. Independence taking a look at the volcano on the Azores Islands, Portugal. Left to right are: Former President Truman, Mrs. Samuel Rosenman, Bess Truman, the Captain, and an unidentified photographer. (From original slide SL2616.) From: Truman Home.

Former President Harry S. Truman (at left), Mrs. Samuel Rosenman, and Bess Truman (blue dress, partially obscured) on the bridge of the liner S.S. Independence looking at the volcano on the Azores Islands, Portugal. Left to right are: Mr. Truman, Mrs. Rosenman, an unidentified photographer, Captain of the Independence, and Bess Truman. (From original slide SL2609). From: Truman Home.

A guide (center) points out the ruins of Herculaneum, an ancient city near Naples which was destroyed by lava from Mt. Vesuvius, to former President Harry S. Truman and Bess Truman, standing behind Mr. Truman. On their left is Dorothy Rosenman. The Trumans and Rosenmans vacationed together in Europe. (From original slide SL2613.) From: Truman Home.

Snapshot of Bess Truman sits in an easy chair, book in hand, beside a fireplace at Blair House, Washington, D.C. From: Truman Home.

Bess Truman sits in an easy chair, book in hand, beside a fireplace at Blair House, Washington, D.C. From: Truman Home.