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Hope - Boyhood Home Dedication 3/12/99 - Boyhood Homes
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286240701
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Hope - Boyhood Home Dedication 3/12/99 - Boyhood Homes
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Records of the Office of Speechwriting (Clinton Administration)
Jeffrey Shesol's Files
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This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the William J. Clinton
Presidential Library Staff.
Collection/Record Group:
Clinton Presidential Records
Subgroup/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting
Series/Staff Member:
Jeff Shesol
Subseries:
OA/ID Number:
19945
FolderID:
Folder Title:
Hope Boyhood Home Dedication 3/12/99 - Boyhood Homes
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91
6
8
3
Harry S. Truman
igher wages
United Coal
to what the government could do. In September 1950, after the
subjected applicants to loyalty investigations. But Truman also believed Hiss
esident also
Investigation, the Rosenberg Spy Case, and other Cold War incidents, Congress passed
settled after
strict legislation (called the McCarren Internal Security Act) to monitor and control
nt. Truman
Communists in the United States. Truman vetoed the bill, although it was overridden.
Hartley Act
Truman's last years in office were fraught with many problems. The war in Korea
ide his veto
had dragged on for two years with no results, and the country was suffering from another
ca when he
bout with inflation. During 1951 some of Truman's advisors and appointees were involved
cure These
in scandals which grabbed headlines. A freezer given to military aide Harry Vaughn by
d by black
a grateful friend created a stir, and was followed by a tax-fixing scandal in the Revenue
voted down
Department, and another in the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. By 1952, Truman,
thening the
who was personally untouched by the scandals, had had enough of Washington and
decided not to run for another term.
was ratified
Harry Truman retired to his home in Independence, Missouri, where the former
:nt was that
President was a familiar sight around the small town. He wrote his autobiography, which
as the only
was titled Mr. Citizen, and helped establish, fund, and run the Harry S: Truman Library
in Independence: Outspoken to the end, Harry Truman died on December 26, 1972 at
ns and the
the age of 88 in Kansas City, Missouri.
a 1948 re
had bolted
ruman is a
Historical Landmarks
to take his
had clearly
is laborers
Birthplace of Harry S. Truman
Dewey, by a
1009 Truman Avenue
Dewey the
Lamar, Missouri
came to be
in 1949 and
The corner lot, 80 by 150 feet, where the birthplace is located, was/purchased by a Simon
legislation,
Blethrode in October, 1880 for $78.20. When a house was built on the property, he sold
ns.
it to John Anderson Truman, Harry Truman's father for $685.00 on November 14, 1882.
f life. After
After John Truman had married Martha Ellen Young in 1881, they set off on their own
y, he made
and moved to Lamar where John continued farming and dealing in livestock.
e Russians
conducted his, livestock business from a lot located diagonally across the street from his
house which he purchased in March, 1883 for $200.
han's terms
from the
341
Harry S. Truman
The small white frame house, 20-by-28 feet, has 6 rooms, 4 downstairs and two rooms
upstairs. The house had no electricity; basement; running water, storage attic, clothes
closets or bathroom. Beside the house is a woodshed, or smoke house, and the hand-dug
36 foot deep cistern. An outdoor toilet is at the rear.
Harry Truman was born in the downstairs southwest bedroom, May 8, 1884. That
bedroom measures only 6 feet 6 inches by 10 feet 9 inchès. On the day Harry was born,
his father proudly planted an Austrian pine tree at the corner of the house and nailed a
mule shoe over the front door to celebrate his first child's birth.
Harry was named for his uncle, Harrison Young. He was given the middle initial "S" but
no middle name so that both grandfathers, Solomon Young and Anderson Shippe
Truman, could claim that he was named for them.
When Harry was 10 inonths old the Truman family sold the home and stock lot across
the street, March 3,41 885, for $1600 and inoved to Harrisonville, Missouri
The United Auto, Worker of America bought the house for $6,000 in 1957 and donated
it to the state The house has been restored and redecorated with furnishings from the
period of the Frumans occupancy It is now a State Historic Site operated and maintained
by the Division of Parks and Recreation, State of Missouri
Visitor's Information
When Truman was born, the population of Lamar was 800 and the house had no number
on a stréetwithout a name. The street was later named Truman Avenue.
Open Monday-Saturday, -10:00 a m. 4:00 p.m., Sunday, noon-4:00 p.m.; closed January
1, Easter, Thanksgiving, December 25. Telephone: (417) 33.4-2279.
Admission: Free.
Harry S. Truman Birthplace State Historic Site is located two miles east of U.S.71, one
block off Highway 160 in Lamar, Benton County, Missouri.
342
Dwight D. Eisenhower
In an attempt at detente, Eisenhower invited the Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev,
to tour the United States in 1959. The short period of friendliness that developed was
called the "Spirit of Camp David," named for the President's Maryland retreat where some
of his talks with the Soviet leader were held. But tensions returned after an American U-2
spy plane was shot down over Russian territory in 1960. The downing took place while
the two leaders were holding a summit in Paris. Khrushchev immediately terminated
conference and rescinded an invitation for a visit by Eisenhower to Russia.
In 1959 Fidel Castro overthrew the government of Cuba and aligned himself with
Russia and Communist China. To respond to the Cuban threat to export Communism in
the region, Eisenhower had Congress appropriate money for a "Marshall Plan" for Latin
America.
After his two terms were up Ike retired to the Gettysburg home he and Marie had
purchased in 1950. He spent his days writing his memoirs, painting, fishing, and living
to see the completion of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Center and Library at Abilene,
Kansas. Dwight Eisenhower died on March 28, 1969 at Walter Reed Hospital in
Washington, D.C., and was buried at Meditation Chapel, at the Eisenhower Center in
Abilene, Kansas
Historical Landmarks
Birthplace of Dwight David Eisenhower
Eisenhower Birthplace State Historical Park
208 East Day Street
Denison, Texas
Eisenhower's ancestors were German and Swiss immigrants who came to America in the
1730's to seek religious freedom. His parents, David Jacob Eisenhower and Ida Elizabeth
Stover Eisenhower belonged to the River Brethren, or the Church of the Brethren in
Christ. They opposed war or any kind of violence.
Dwight David Eisenhower was born on October 14, 1890 in a modest two-story frame
house in Denison, Texas His parents named him David Dwight but called him Dwight.
By the time he reached high school, he had reversed his names. About two years after his
356
Dwight D. Eisenhower
'ushchev,
birth, the family moved to Abilene, Kansas. He was the only one of seven boys born to
>ped was
the Eisenhowers who was born in Texas. Recognition of his birthplace was late in coming.
ere some
Even Eisenhower was unaware of the house since he listed Tyler, Texas as his birthplace
rican U-2
entering West Point. During World War II, the principal of Lamar Elementary
ice while
upon School in Denison initiated the research which identified his birthplace. Subsequently, the
rminated
house was restored and with the surrounding city block, it was turned into a park.
self with
Although a quilt in the bedroom where the future president was born is the only authentic
unism in
Eisenhower possession in the house, the furnishings were chosen to be representative of
for Latin
the 1890's. The exterior has been restored and a railed upstairs porch which had been
[arie had
part of the house when built circa 1880 was reconstructed.
nd living
Visitor's Information
Abilene,
spital in
Center in
Open daily, 8:00 a.m -5:00 p.m., June-August; 10:00 a.m noon, 1:00 p.m. -5:00 p.m.,
September May; closed January 1 and December 25. Telephone (903) 465-8908.
Admission adults, $1.00; ages 6-11, $.50.
Denison is north of Dallas on U.S. Route 75 and the Birthplace Park is on East Day Street
at the corner of Lamar Avenue
Fort Sam Houston Museum
Building 123
Fort Sam Houston, Texas
Dwight D. Eisenhower lived at Fort Sam Houston twice, 1915-1917, and 1941. The earlier
ca in the
of his two principal residences is designated as the Eisenhower BOQ (building 688), and
Elizabeth
thren in
in June 1941 when he was transferred to Fort Sam Houston as 3d Army Chief of Staff,
Colonel and Mrs. Eisenhower moved into Quarters 179 on Artillery Post Road. Both are
marked on historic tour literature distributed to visitors by the Fort Sam. Houston
Museum. While visitors are welcome on the post, none of these buildings are open to the
ry frame
Dwight.
public. Visitors may drive by and take pictures, however.
after his
357
Lyndon Baines Johnson
in 1964
which claimed that the fall of South Vietnam to Communism would lead to the submission
ts of that
of other nations in the region.
art of the
By 1966 the war had been reduced to a stalemate and Johnson was unable to bring
ons more
North Vietnam to the peace table. He unilaterally stopped the bombing of North Vietnam
post, the
several times as an incentive for talks. By 1968 many Americans had grown weary of the
inted the
conflict and protests against the war were growing. The Tet Offensive, which in January
gave the North Vietnamese a temporary hold on much of South Vietnam, further eroded
erage for
support for U.S. involvement. In an early Democratic primary, Minnesota Senator Eugene
ong other
McCarthy, an anti-war candidate, won a sizable portion of the vote. On March 31, 1968,
The first
Lyndon Johnson appeared on national television to announce that he would not seek or
n control
accept his party's nomination for another term. During that speech he also announced a
de-escalation of the war and a moratorium on bombing above the 20th parallel. This last
prosperity
point eventually led to the beginning of peace talks in Paris in May.
ig to rise
Lyndon Johnson retired from the presidency to the LBJ Ranch in Texas, where he
there was
spent some of his time writing his memoirs. He died on January 22, 1973
victim of
67 a new
Historical Landmarks
d by the
tuation in
left wing
d 22,000
by Latin
Birthplace of Lyndon Baines Johnson
asked for
LBJ Ranch Unit
>s to keep
Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park
i Kosygin
Stonewall, Texas
lations.
inson was
The first child of Rebekah Baines and Sam Ealy Johnson, Jr., Lyndon was born on August
thousand
27, 1908, at a farm on the banks of the Pedernales River near Stonewall, about a mile
ouncéd to
east of the present LBJ Ranch site; in Gillespie County, Texas. Two of his sisters, Rebekah
had been
Lüruth and Josefa Hermine, were also born in this home, a modest two-story structure
gave the
that was the smaller of two on their grandparents' farm. In 1913, when Lyndon was five
American
years old, the family moved to Johnson City, about 13 miles to the east, in Blanco County.
e ground
In 1922, the birthplace home which had been built-by-Lyndon's grandfather about 1899;
10 theory,
was sold by Sam Johnson and after passing through the hands of várious owners, it was
torn down in the 1930's.
381
Lyndon Baines Johnson
In 1964, Johnson family interests repurchased the site and commissioned a reconstruction.
The house is a typical Texas farmhouse of the late 19th century. An open central hallway,
or "dogtrot," runs between two large rooms on the east and west sides. In the outer wall
of each room is a stone fireplace with a wooden mantel. An ell to the rear of the western
room contains a dining room, old kitchen, and a modern kitchen that did not exist in the
original house. Furnishings include Johnson family items or period pieces.
Visitor's Information
See following information on the LBJ Ranch Unit in the Lyndon B. Johnson National
Historical Park which includes his birthplace
Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park
Stonewall, Texas and Johnson City, Texas
The National Historical Park, administered by the National Park Service covers 717 acres
of land and consists of the LB Ranch Unit near Stonewall and, 15 miles-east, the Johnson
City Unit.
The LBJ Ranch Unit contains the Birthplace House; Junction School; Texas White House
and associated structures; the operating ranch with fields and pastures, show barn, cattle
pens, and registered Hereford cattle; and the Johnson Family cemetery
Junction School
Stonewall, Texas
This is the one-room country school where young Lyndon began his formal education in
1912 at the age of four. Fifty-three years later in 1965, Johnson returned to the Junction
School to sign into law the highly significant Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
To witness this special occasion, the President-invited his first teacher, Miss Katy Deadrich,
whom he flew to the site from her home in California: Later he purchased the one-room
school through the National Park Foundation for donation to the National Park Service.
382
Gerald R. Ford
Gerald Ford faced a tough fight for the Republican nomination in 1976, barely
beating Ronald Reagan at the convention that year. While campaigning he survived not
one but two assassination attempts, both by women. In the general election he faced
heretofore unknown Georgia politician named Jimmy Carter. Ford's performance in a
several televised debates, as well as the country's desire, after Watergate, for new faces in
Thi
Washington, cost him the election. He was the first sitting President in 44 years to be
cor
rejected by the electorate.
ina
Since leaving office Ford has served on the board of directors of several corporations,
Bu
wrote his autobiography, and opened a presidential library in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
fro
In 1982 his wife Betty, whose courage after breast cancer helped thousands of women face
ho
their own cancer ordeal, helped found a center for the treatment of alcoholism and drug
pr
abuse.
S){
th
th
Historical Landmarks
se
sh
Birthplace of Gerald R. Ford
3202 Woolworth Ave
st
C:
Omaha, Nebraska
the
u
The ornate Victorian house on Woolworth Avenue was one of the finest homes in Omaha.
J
The 3 stor house reflected the status of itstwealthy occupants; the King family. The
0
King's only son, Leslie, married Dorothy Gardner In the summer of 1913, the young
U
couple lived in this house with the senior Kings awaiting Dorothy's first child, who was
born on July 14; 1913
Shortly after his birth the new mother took her son to live with her parents in Grand
Rapids, Michigan The King marriage ended in divorce and in 1916, Dorothy remarried.
The 3- year old boy was adopted by his stepfather and became Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr.
In 197,1, the birthplace home was razed following a fire. In 1974, following Ford's
succession to the presidency, an Omaha businessinan, James M. Paxson purchased the
property, intending to build a memorial. Based on the winning plan in a design
competition, a gárden scene of walkways and shrubbery mark the original elements of the
former home: An architectural firm added a colonnade modeled after the south portico
402
Gerald R. Ford
1976, barely
of the White House, thereby linking the President's birthplace to his home in Washington,
survived not
D.C. A kiosk, representing the stately turret of the original home, contains birthsite
n he faced a
information as well as presidential mementoes.
formance in
new faces in
Mr. Paxson donated the birthsite and gardens to the City of Omaha in 1977. The
t years to be
following year a Betty Ford Memorial Rose Garden containing 400 rose bushes of many
varieties was added on an adjacent lot to honor the former First Lady and represent
torporations,
another link to the White House:
Is, Michigan
women face
sm and drug
Visitor's Information
Open daily during daylight hours.
Admission: Free
To reach the Birthsite, take I-480 to Woolworth Avenue exit west
Gerald R. Ford Boyhood Home
649 Union Avenue S.E.
:s in Omaha
Grand Rapids, Michigan
family. The
;, the young
ild, who was
Ford lived in this 3 story frame house from 1923 to 1930, through hisjunior year in high
school, with his mother, adoptive father, and three step-brothers The house was built
around 1910 in a prosperous; middle class residential neighborhood. The house
its in Grand
exemplifies middle-class housing of its time in the United States and reflects the economic
if remarried.
and social context of Ford's formative years in a Middle Western city
ph Ford, Jr.
wing Ford's
Visitor's Information
irchased the
in a design
The house ist privately owned and visiting is not permitted.
ments of the
outh portico
403
James Earl Carter
ussia invaded
Historical Landmarks
reaty. He also
being held in
Birthplace of James Earl Carter
ne when, after
Plains Nursing Center, Inc.
1 peace treaty.
225 Hospital Street
tionaries, with
Plains, Georgia
tates Embassy
United States
I to enter the
Jimmy Carter was the first president to be born in a hospital. His birth took place on
October 1, 1924, in the Wise Hospital, a one-story building completed in 1921, with
pts at release
mic sanctions
attractive open columned porches and a Spanish tile roof. Significant changes have
occurred over the years. Grey-black fiberglass shingles have replaced the red tile roof, the
n dragged on
which failed
open porches and columns have been removed to provide a weatherproof area but giving
gned over the
the building a box look, and the Wise Hospital is now used as a nursing home.
Before she died, "Miss Lillian," President Carter's mother; visited the nursing home to
Carter in his
show the staff which room was the 'birthing room. She pointed out a room on the
ard Kennedy
him in 1980
northwest wing which was left in its original condition after that visit. It is the first room
on the left where the hall narrows to its original width. No plaque designates the location
ection as well
and the room is kept locked.
ter was badly
resident since
office, all the
Visitor's Information
1982, began
of the world
Visitors are allowed in the nursing home but not in the birthplace room.
or discussing
n projects for
e poor. The
Jimmy Carter National Historic Site
The former
Plains, Georgia
I
Reagan and
sman on the
The Jimmy Carter National Historic Site, which is operated by the National Park Service,
has been set aside to commemorate the life of the 39th President and to preserve the
town of Plains, Georgia. The rural southern culture of Plains that revolves around
farming, church and school had a large influence in molding the character of Jimmy
Carter which in turn shaped his political policies.
413
Ronald Reagan
cial Security law
of men apparently acting without the knowledge of the President. Eventually, NSC aide
Oliver North and national security advisor John Poindexter were convicted for their roles
people, and was
in the scheme. These convinctions were later reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Iter Mondale of
In 1989, following the election of his Vice-President, George Bush, to the presidency,
Ronald Reagan retired to his home in Bel Air, California. He continues to speak on
ped reduce the
various issues, and is an occasional spokesman for foreign companies. In March of 1991,
W round of tax
ten years after he was shot by a handgun, Reagan made a dramatic appeal for the passage
of the Brady Bill (named after his press secretary), requiring a seven day waiting period
buildup in the
for the purchase of a handgun.
fense Initiative
o eliminate the
orsened.
Historical Landmarks
stance, Ronald
ally signing an
I launched U.S.
Birthplace of Ronald Wilson Reagan
taked out a side
111 Main Street
de the sending
Tampico, Illinois
elated incident
overthrew the
In 1906; John Edward Reagan and Nelle Clyde Wilson moved 26 miles from Fulton,
Illinois to Tampico, Illinois, a small town in the rural northwestern part of the state. They
administration
lived in a five-room apartment; without toilet facilities, above a bakery in a two-story brick
ekeeping force
building There were two bedrooms and one was used by Nèlle as a sewing room. Ronald
August of 1983
W Reagan, the youngest of their two sons was born here on February 6, 1911.
dquarters.
ampant in: the
A few months after Ronald's birth, the family moved to a white-frame residence, called
gyptian airliner
Burden House after its owner, in another part of town: The structure had been built in
Achille Lauro,
the 1870's but it had modern plumbing and an indoor toilet. Burden House is privately
terrorists were
owned and visiting is not permitted.
a nightclub in
Libya.
Visitor's Information
irs of Reagan's
as to Iran were
The birthplace apartment has been restored with furnishings of the period.
was not to sell
help speed the
Open daily; Memorial Day-Labor Day, 10:00 a.m.-Noon and 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.
; with close ties
Telephone: (815) 438-2815.
ade by a group
421
Ronald Reagan
Admission: adults, $1.00, under 16, $.50.
Tampico is about 125 miles west of Chicago and approximately 50 miles east of
Davenport, Iowa, near State Route 172.
Ronald Reagan's Boyhood Home
816 South Hennepin Avenue
Dixon, Illinois
On December 6, 1920, when Ronald was 9 and his brother Neil was 11, the Reagan
family moved to Dixon, Illinois. Ronald and his older brother shared one of the three
upstairs bedrooms. Their parents shared another room, and the third was used as a
sewing room by Nelle Reagan who supplemented the family income by doing alterations
and mending In addition to the kitchen, the downstairs of the house had a sitting room,
a parlor, and a dining room:
The house was conveniently located for the family as the boys attended school just 3.1/2
blocks north on Hennepin Avenue Reagan remained in Dixon for the next eleven years
until he was 21
Visitor's Information
From 1920-1923, Ronald Reagan attended the South Side School, later known as South
Central School: Currently under renovation, the school will be the home of the Dixon
Historical Center, which is scheduled to open in 1992. It will show the way classrooms
appeared in the 1920's, when Ronald Reagan attended there, and contain a museum with
displays on the life of Ronald Reagan.
Reagan's Boyhood Home has been restored to its 1920 condition and contains furniture
typical of the period.
Open December February, Sunday, 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.; Monday and Saturday, 10:00
a.m.-5:00 p.m.; March-November, Sunday, 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.; Monday; Wednesday-
Saturday, 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
422