University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law

The urban public law school with a small liberal arts feel

The Inns of UMKC Harry S. Truman (1884-1972)    Harry Truman was born in Lamar, Missouri in 1884. Truman graduated from high school in 1901 and went on to work as a time keeper for a railroad construction contractor. He clerked for two Kansas City banks and helped run the family farm for 10 years. From 1905 to 1911, Truman served in the Missouri National Guard and helped organize the Second Regiment of the Missouri Field Artillery. He joined the reserves after the war and quickly earned the rank of colonel. In 1922 he was elected to be one of three judges of the Jackson County Courthouse, where he built a reputation for honesty and efficiency. It was after he was appointed judge that he attended the Kansas City School of Law in 1923 at the age of 39. He attended for two years and left without graduating in 1925. In 1934 he was elected to the U.S. Senate and re-elected in 1940, gaining national prominence as chairman of the Senate's special committee to investigate a National Defense Program. In 1944 he was nominated to run as vice-president with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and became president after Roosevelt's unexpected death in 1945. Truman was the nation's thirty-third president and oversaw the ending of the war in Europe. In 1945 Truman returned to UMKC for the school's 50th Anniversary as a guest lecturer and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws. In his presidency, he saw the founding of the United Nations, several foreign policies and achieved some important civil rights legislation. In 1948 Truman won re-election with his famous “Whistlestop” campaign. He retired in 1953 to Independence, Missouri and became known as "Mr. Citizen." He died at the age of 88 in 1972.