“A woman’s place in public is to sit beside her husband, be silent, and be sure her hat is on straight.”
– Bess Truman
February 13
The role of “First Lady” is certainly different today than it was when Elizabeth “Bess” Truman inhabited the White House with her husband, Harry S. Truman from 1945 to 1953!
The former First Lady was born on this day in 1885 and lived to be 97, the longest life span of any First Lady in U.S. history.
Born Elizabeth Virginia Wallace, “Bessie” met Harry Truman when she was only five years old. They married in 1919, when she was 34, and moved to Washington D.C. when Harry was elected Senator of Missouri in 1934. He was elected Vice President in 1944, and became the country’s 33rd President when Franklin D. Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945.
Although he was the incumbent, Truman upset Republican challenger Thomas Dewey in the 1948 Presidential election, pulling off a surprise which led Bess to say, “It looks like you’re going to have to put up with us for another four years.”
Read more at TrumanLibrary.com, FirstLadies.com, and Biography.com.
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