From the Churchill Society’s Truman bio: With the support of Pendergast’s political machine and of World War I veterans, Truman won a seat as county judge in 1922. But despite excellent work, non-Pendergast Democrats combined with the Ku Klux Klan to defeat him.
Truman biographer David McCullough also makes short work of the rumor that Truman was a Klan member, reporting that Truman flirted with joining for political reasons early in the ’20s but didn’t because of the KKK’s anti-Catholicism. Truman had commanded a largely Catholic regiment in the war.
The Klan rumor was put about by Truman’s political enemies, and apparently still is circulated by those opposed to or dissatisfied with Truman’s achievements on Civil Rights.
Thanks for the clarification, Mark. I think the other points made in the piece are worth noting, in that African-American individuals actually gain more real power under the Republicans than they do under the Democrats.
President Truman was most decidedly NOT a KKK member. As Mr. Sullivan stated, it was more because of its anti-Catholicism, and Truman did have southern leanings on race, but he did support the equality under the law of the races.
I think Harry Truman was a man shaped by his times, and segregation and lack of equality for minorities were the world he lived in. It wasn’t looked at through the same lens that we tend to today. I personally do not think he was a member of the KKK, but I don’t think he was adamantly against them either. Like many of his day, he probably held views that would be labeled as prejudiced today. This is expecially evident in the recent release of some records of private comments he made on his perception of the Jews as greedy people.
My W.A.S.P. great-grandparents (whom I never met) were contemporaries of Truman, and according to what my grandfather told me late in his life, their views were far from being what we would consider “tolerant”, though they were not “haters” or activists against minorities. Their views were, to quote the song on racism by Bruce Hornsby and the Range, “Just the way it is” or in this case WAS for many in the first two -thirds of the 20th century.
No matter what Truman’s personal views, the fact they were kept private and that there is no evidence that impacted his work as a public servant whatsoever is what should matter.
For the record, I am saying this as a white, Catholic, card-carrying, right-leaning Republican. We’ve still got a long way to go on race issues in America, but things like this should give us reason to look back on how far we’ve come. Thanks be to God in Heaven for the progress we’ve made!
Sorry, folks. Truman was a card-carrying Klansman.
From the Churchill Society’s Truman bio:
With the support of Pendergast’s political machine and of World War I veterans, Truman won a seat as county judge in 1922. But despite excellent work, non-Pendergast Democrats combined with the Ku Klux Klan to defeat him.
Truman biographer David McCullough also makes short work of the rumor that Truman was a Klan member, reporting that Truman flirted with joining for political reasons early in the ’20s but didn’t because of the KKK’s anti-Catholicism. Truman had commanded a largely Catholic regiment in the war.
The Klan rumor was put about by Truman’s political enemies, and apparently still is circulated by those opposed to or dissatisfied with Truman’s achievements on Civil Rights.
Thanks for the clarification, Mark. I think the other points made in the piece are worth noting, in that African-American individuals actually gain more real power under the Republicans than they do under the Democrats.
President Truman was most decidedly NOT a KKK member. As Mr. Sullivan stated, it was more because of its anti-Catholicism, and Truman did have southern leanings on race, but he did support the equality under the law of the races.
I think Harry Truman was a man shaped by his times, and segregation and lack of equality for minorities were the world he lived in. It wasn’t looked at through the same lens that we tend to today. I personally do not think he was a member of the KKK, but I don’t think he was adamantly against them either. Like many of his day, he probably held views that would be labeled as prejudiced today. This is expecially evident in the recent release of some records of private comments he made on his perception of the Jews as greedy people.
My W.A.S.P. great-grandparents (whom I never met) were contemporaries of Truman, and according to what my grandfather told me late in his life, their views were far from being what we would consider “tolerant”, though they were not “haters” or activists against minorities. Their views were, to quote the song on racism by Bruce Hornsby and the Range, “Just the way it is” or in this case WAS for many in the first two -thirds of the 20th century.
No matter what Truman’s personal views, the fact they were kept private and that there is no evidence that impacted his work as a public servant whatsoever is what should matter.
For the record, I am saying this as a white, Catholic, card-carrying, right-leaning Republican. We’ve still got a long way to go on race issues in America, but things like this should give us reason to look back on how far we’ve come. Thanks be to God in Heaven for the progress we’ve made!
Sorry, folks. Truman was a card-carrying Klansman.