Dear Bess: November 22, 1946
Transcript
Welcome to the Dear Bess/ Dear Harry podcast for November 22, 2021, a service of Harry S Truman National Historic Site, a unit of the National Park Service.
We wanted to share with you a charming letter that President Harry S Truman wrote to his wife, Bess, while the President was resting in Key West, Florida, on this date in 1946. Harry Truman and his family loved Key West. It was a place for the President, his family, and his staff to escape the stress of Washington, if but for a few days. This was Truman’s first visit to Key West, and it began a tradition that he continued for most of the rest of his life.
Key West, Fla. November 22, 1946
Dear Bess:
It was nice to get your good long letter in the pouch at lunch time yesterday. I am sorry about Margie's not getting back for any of the W.H. functions. Looks as if we've lost her for good and it's a wrench - but we'll have to stand it I guess. Glad the teas turned out not to be so bad as usual. Thanks for telling George about the turkey.
Adm. Leahy & I went fishing yesterday - unannounced. They do it differently here. We sat on the back end of a crash boat in two easy chairs and had a navy captain bait our hook and take the fish off. It was a trolling job entirely. I caught three and the Adm. three and Foskett one. They were nice fish but I don't know why we caught them except that this is Friday and we can furnish some of our Catholic friends something they can eat today. We had a nice ride in the afternoon sun.
Yesterday morning we went down in a new German sub. There was no sensation to it and nothing could be seen except the inside of the ship and the team work of the crew which was excellent. We went down 450 feet. Charlie went down in an American ship the day before and claimed a record for himself having gone down 300 ft. one day and 450 the next he said 750 was his record. We go to Ft. Jefferson today for a day of fishing and sight seeing. The fort is located on the Dry Tortugas where Capt. Kidd, Sir Francis Drake and other equally famous pirates worked.
Tomorrow we go back to slavery. Only one consolation, I'll see my sweetheart.
Lots of love Harry.
In this letter, President Harry S Truman writes of some of the fun he is experiencing during his first trip to Key West, Florida, a place he came to deeply love. Fishing, going in submarines, what's not to love?
A copy of the original can be seen here: https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/truman-papers/correspondence-harry-s-truman-bess-wallace-truman-1921-1959/november-22-1946