Truman Day
{{Short description|State holiday in Missouri}}
{{Infobox holiday
| holiday_name = Truman Day
| type = Secular
| image = Harry-truman.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| caption = Harry S. Truman
| nickname =
| observedby = United States, Missouri
| duration = 1 day
| frequency = annual
| significance = Birthday of the only U.S. president to come from Missouri
| scheduling = same day each year
| date = May 8
| mdy = yes
}}
Truman Day is a commemorative holiday to celebrate the birth of Harry S. Truman, the 33rd President of the United States. It is celebrated on May 8 in Missouri as a state holiday{{cite web |url=http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/C000-099/0090000035.HTM |title=Section 9-035 May 8, Truman Day |publisher=Moga.mo.gov |date=2009-08-28 |access-date=2010-05-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140422233233/http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/C000-099/0090000035.HTM |archive-date=2014-04-22 }} and nationally by the United States Democratic Party.{{cite web|url=http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/truman-day |title=Holidays: Truman Day in United States |publisher=Timeanddate.com |access-date=2010-05-13}} Truman is the only U.S. President to come from Missouri, hence the significance to the state.{{cite web|last=Levitt |first=Aimee |url=http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2010/05/will_the_buck_stop_here_for_truman_day.php |title=Will the Buck Stop Here For Truman Day? - St. Louis News - Daily RFT |publisher=Blogs.riverfronttimes.com |date=2010-05-04 |access-date=2010-05-13}}{{cite web|url=http://www.firedupmissouri.com/content/headlines-friday-may-7 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613162317/http://www.firedupmissouri.com/content/headlines-friday-may-7 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=June 13, 2011 |title=Headlines: Truman Day, May 7 |publisher=Fired Up! Missouri |date=2010-05-07 |access-date=2010-05-13}} For Missouri state employees, this is a paid holiday.{{cite web|last=Messenger |first=Tony |url=http://interact.stltoday.com/blogzone/political-fix/political-fix/2010/05/state-employees-still-get-truman-day-off-this-year-at-least/ |title=State employees still get Truman Day off — this year at least | Political Fix | STLtoday |publisher=Interact.stltoday.com |access-date=2010-05-13}}
Origins
{{Main|Harry S. Truman}}
{{Harry S. Truman series}}
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884{{spaced ndash}}December 26, 1972) was the 33rd President of the United States (1945–1953), an American politician of the Democratic Party. He served as a United States senator from Missouri (1935–1945) and briefly as Vice President (1945) before he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was president during the final months of World War II, making the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Truman was unexpectedly elected in his own right in 1948. He presided over an uncertain domestic scene as America sought its path after the war, and tensions with the Soviet Union increased, marking the start of the Cold War.
Post-presidency, Truman was a popular figure in Missouri, with Truman Day rallies having been held in Poplar Bluff, Missouri since at least 1966.{{Cite news |date=September 22, 1966 |title='Truman Day' Rally Planned Saturday |url=https://shsmo.newspapers.com/image/20692334/?match=1&terms=%22truman%20day%22%20 |access-date=2024-05-08 |work=Jefferson City Post-Tribune |pages=12}} However, May 8 was not officially designated a state holiday until June 1967 with the passage of House Bill 154.{{Cite web |title=Missouri Session Laws |url=https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/molaws/id/33963 |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=mdh.contentdm.oclc.org |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=9.035 |url=https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=9.035&bid=267 |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=revisor.mo.gov |language=en}} Governor Warren E. Hearnes celebrated the first Truman Day by unveiling a statue of Truman at Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Missouri in 1968.{{Cite web |title=Governor Warren E. Hearnes at Unveiling of Statue of Former President Harry S. Truman {{!}} Harry S. Truman |url=https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/photograph-records/2002-486 |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=www.trumanlibrary.gov}}
In 2010, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon proposed abolishing the holiday in an effort to reduce the state's budget;{{Cite web |date=2010-03-12 |title=Nixon proposes eliminating Truman Day, 2 other state holidays |url=https://www.stlpr.org/delete1/2010-03-11/nixon-proposes-eliminating-truman-day-2-other-state-holidays |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=STLPR |language=en}} however, the effort was unsuccessful.{{cite news |last=Volkmann |first=Kelsey |date=2010-05-03 |title=Truman Day stays as Missouri state holiday this year - St. Louis Business Journal |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2010/05/03/daily13.html |access-date=2010-05-13 |publisher=Bizjournals.com}}
See also
{{Portal|United States}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://interact.stltoday.com/blogzone/political-fix/political-fix/2010/05/state-employees-still-get-truman-day-off-this-year-at-least/ State employees still get Truman Day off — this year at least ...]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20140422233233/http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/C000-099/0090000035.HTM Section 9-035 May 8, Truman Day.]
- [http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/truman-day Holidays: Truman Day in the United States]
{{Harry S. Truman}}
{{US Holidays}}
Category:State holidays in the United States