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FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE CONTACT Truman
Library to Open the Edwin Pauley Papers for Research Also included in the opening are new films and sound recordings of Harry S. Truman's candid reflections on his life and years as chief executive and new documents from the George Elsey Papers INDEPENDENCE, MO-On
Monday, December 3, 2007, the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum will
open for research the Edwin Pauley Papers, additional films from the Screen
Gems Collection, and new documents from the papers of George Elsey. These
materials provide valuable new insights into the Korean conflict, the
1948 Whistle Stop campaign, and other historical topics relating to Truman's
years in the White House. "The Truman
Library is pleased to add these important new materials to the documentation
of the life and presidency of Harry S. Truman," Truman Library director,
Michael Devine, said. "These new documents and recordings remind
us that we still have much to learn about Harry Truman and his remarkable
achievements and leadership." Edwin Pauley Papers Edwin W. Pauley (1903-1981),
a California businessman, oil industry entrepreneur, and Democratic Party
leader, was a longtime friend and associate of President Harry S. Truman.
In 1944, Pauley helped bring about Truman's nomination for Vice President
on the Democratic ticket, replacing the incumbent Vice President, Henry
A. Wallace. When Truman became President in April 1945, he named Pauley
as his personal representative on the Allied Commission on Reparations,
with the rank of Ambassador. Over the next two years, Pauley traveled
through Europe and Asia, assessing German and Japanese assets and determining
how much the defeated Axis powers should pay in reparations after World
War II. One of his inspection trips was to the Northern part of Korea,
an area occupied by the Soviet Union. Pauley's dealings with the Soviets
convinced him that they were determined to establish a Communist regime
in North Korea, and he became an early advocate of firm resistance to
aggressive Soviet policies. Early in 1946, Truman
nominated Pauley for the post of Under Secretary of the Navy. The nomination
was opposed by Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, who resigned from
the Cabinet and publicly accused Pauley of improper lobbying in behalf
of oil interests. This triggered a major political controversy and weeks
of testimony by Pauley, Ickes, and others before the Senate Naval Affairs
Committee. Pauley vigorously defended himself against the charges, while
his critics insisted that it would be a conflict of interest for an oil
industry executive to serve in a high position with the Navy Department.
Although the Senate Committee absolved him of wrongdoing, Pauley ultimately
asked the President to withdraw his nomination. He later served in the
Truman administration as Special Adviser to the Secretary of State on
Reparations and as Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Army. In 1953, Pauley and
his family hosted former President Truman, Mrs. Truman, and their daughter,
Margaret, at the Pauley vacation home on Coconut Island in Hawaii. Pauley
served as Vice President of the Harry S. Truman Library, Inc., and was
instrumental in raising funds to build the Truman Library. He also was
a member of the University of California Board of Regents for many years;
Pauley Pavilion, the home of the UCLA Bruins basketball team, is named
in his honor. A finding aid to
the Pauley Papers will be available on the Truman Library's website at
www.trumanlibrary.org. Research Room hours and location may be found at
the end of this news release. Screen Gems Films The new outtakes,
all film, total about forty-five minutes of running time. They show former
President Truman talking about World War I, Truman's experience in the
U.S. Senate, the atomic bomb, the Japanese Emperor, the founding of Israel,
the role of the President, the Middle East, Truman's loyalty program,
and other topics. In one outtake, he talks about the White House breakfast
that Mrs. Truman prepared for incoming President Eisenhower on Inauguration
Day, 1953: "Mr. Eisenhower was supposed to come to that breakfast,
which he didn't do." In another segment, Truman says of the atomic
bomb, "I wanted to make that bomb the last great weapon of the war,
and end it if it could possibly be done that way." In another, he
says of Displaced Persons after World War II, "It was my opinion
that the American government couldn't stand idly by while the people who
had been displaced by Hitler were allowed to starve to death somewhere
else." These new films will
be added to the Screen Gems Collection, available for research in the
Truman Library's audiovisual research room. Some of the outtakes of the
Screen Gems Collection
are accessible via the Internet at www.trumanlibrary.org/decision/screengems.htm.
An updated finding aid to the Screen Gems Collection will be available
on the Truman Library's website at www.trumanlibrary.org. George Elsey Papers These new documents will be added to the Elsey Papers currently available for research at the Truman Library. An updated finding aid will be available on the Truman Library's website at www.trumanlibrary.org/hstpaper/elseygm.htm. The research room
at the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum is located at 500 W. U.S. Highway
24, Independence, Mo., and is open Monday - Friday, 8:45 a.m. - 4:45 p.m.,
and on Saturday by appointment only by calling 816.268.8272. Much of the
archival collection is available via the Internet, including the online
photo database, at www.trumanlibrary.org. The Harry S. Truman
Library and Museum is one of 12 presidential libraries administered by
the National Archives and Records Administration and is supported, in
part, by its not-for-profit partner, the Harry S. Truman Library Institute.
To learn more, please visit www.trumanlibrary.org.
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