Friday, October 27, 1972
University Daily Kansan
5
Truman A Friendly, Well-Respected Man to KU Prof
By SCOTT EATON Kansan Staff Writer
Former President Harry S. Truman is a very warm, human person, according to Francis Heller, professor of law and political science. He holds an academic award when he matured when of 1954 to 1955 when he aided the former president in writing his memoirs.
"I found him to be an absolutely natural and open person," he said. "I thought to feel that anyone who had been president was an im-
would have required Heller's being in Japan rather than working on Truman's memoirs.
"IHAD BEEN in Japan for two years after the war," Heller said. "While I found the opportunity to go back and see Japan eight years later very intriguing, I told him. Japan will be there tomorrow, and of past presidents who write memoirs is very limited."
"As part of the exposure to the presidency and all its intricacies, one result was that I became
Federal Reserve Bank Building at 10th and Grand, usually in the early morning until midnight. I also kept a small room in a hotel nearby so I wouldn't have to travel back and forth all the time.
Heller said Truman had signed a contract to send a 650,000 word manuscript to the University of Pennsylvania. May 30,1855. He said Life had a contract with Doubleday for publishing his book and had contracted with the New York Times for excerpts
Francis Heller Skims Truman's Memoirs
... He aided HST in writing his memoirs ..
pressive person, and the op-
persive Franklin Rosevelt had only
served to strengthen that con-
tinue of Truman. Truman was
absolutely natural.
"If the role he had played on the world stage had turned his head any, I certainly didn't discover it."
HELLER SAID Truman always treated him and his friends very well, even after their memories the memoirs was completed.
"My friends were his friends," she said, and tell him I had a good friend who would like to see him, and he would say "OK" and ask me
Heller said he also met Truman's wife, and found her to be just as warm.
"During the time in the White House, she had not enjoyed much life. She was a part of her own choice. Photographs tended to show her as rather stern. It was actually pretty funny, but remarkable light blue eyes I have ever seen. They were very exaggerated." She came through in photographs.
being natural comes naturally." HELLER SAI that often the kind treatment and signs of sickness from his time in Truman received surprised the former president. an example of this was when he released the release of the memoirs, when Heller had been finished with him in Kansas City for some months.
"The memories came out in two volumes," Heller said. "This was in November of 1855. There were to be 400 special editions of the book, and many of them sold quality paper, linen bindings, gold emblems and the like. Three of these had been promised for my own use, so I could give one to my parents, one to the library, one to KU and keep one for myself."
HELLER SAID he made an appointment with Truman to have the volumes inscribed, and he had them sent to that his old office had been rearranged, with his desk and chair pushed against one wall, and all the filing cabinets he had used taken out and put in the hall.
"The entirety of the room was full of books," Heller said. "Mr. Tucker told me that Connally, said people had been mailing the books in to have the president inscribe them. She was very excited and enclosed any return postage. There were between six and seven thousand volumes in that library."
"When I went in to see Mr. Truman, he said he was impressed by the 'array of books out there.' he said as far as his outfit was concerned, that surprise that the book was selling as many copies as it was.
"in the spring of 1954, shortly after I had agreed to aid in the writing of President Truman's speech at the Conference of Political Scientists, which met at the University of Iowa." Heller said. "While there, I was approached by an expert at the University of Illinois."
"HE SAID, "I'm not a professional writer, so I'm even more surprised at these pictures, as come here for my autograph."
Heller said that his experiences with Truman were a once in a lifetime opportunity and experience.
Heller said the administrator asked him if he would be inquiring about compiling an exchange program for Japanese universities. This
interested in teaching about the presidency."
Heller said it was during this time that he developed both the habit and ability to work long hours.
Heller said his job with Truman had come about through an appeal for help made by Truman, Mr. Heller thought to be only a summer job.
"MR. TRUMAN had had several false startes on his memoirs, so he turned to the president at the University of Missouri and the Chancellor at for "recommendations." He helped Murphy, who was chancellor at KU at the time, asked me.
"I think the reason he might have chosen me may have been due to the fact that I was a junior faculty member, and not yet set in my ways. I had also published thought. I knew how to write.
"At the time, I assumed I had been a teacher," she summed of summer of 1964 in her project, it turned out, my colleague from MU couldn't remain, so I stayed there.
HELLER SAID he had been on eave for the summer to aid Irwin, but would have fell bad and run off. He teaching duties at KU. He returned to KU in the fall andook on a full teaching load. He arranged he allied his classes so he occurred on three days of the week.
of narratives and gave them to Truman to check. He said Truman would usually give it back the next day, with specific corrections written into the draft. Heller said that as the time he spent with Truman lengthened, he picked up some of Truman's style of writing, so that mistakes were changed in Heller's drafts.
and foreign publishers for translations.
"I spent the other four days in Kansas City," Heller said. "Mr. Truman had an office in the
"I WAS critically important in the completion, and in order to have 850,000 printable words, you need to write much more than that," I said.
Heller said Truman would write some passages for the memoirs, and then pass them to Heller for checking. Heller checked quotes in the manuscript as well, as dates and places.
Occasionally someone would say something that Truman's said. He also said, Heller would then bring the disagreement before the former
"IN FEBRUARY OF 1955, we had the first draft completed," Heller said. "It was about 20 minutes." The team reduced to the required size."
"The number of corrections was minimal." Heller said. "His memory of the events was remarkable."
"His office was down the hall from my home, 'Heller said,' and "I was not ready to speak before they could reach Mr. Truman's office. His door was always open, and if someone was sitting up and talking in bed, I walk in. If someone had written something that disagreed with me, I would write it, writing, I would tell him, and he would say I am writing my memoirs, and is writing his essay."
"I THINK THAT when Johnson entitled his memoirs "Vantage of the West," he appropriate. When he wrote it he could only put down his own memories, and they were the ones who had to make the decisions."
Heller said he wrote long drafts
Many fascinating days were
reviewing members of
Truman's 1950s associates,
Heller said, and this
provided another high point in his
work.
"Mr. Truman would arrange for these men to come to Kansas and travel with me three days with Dean Atchison, and he had the most remarkable mind of anyone I have ever met. I also spent a day with Gen. Omar Umar at the University of Stetzerotype of everything a soldier is not supposed to be. He was modest, 'warm and 'very generous', and members' member these opportunities."
HELLER HAS SERVED on the board of directors for the 1989 album and has been a vice chairman since 1963. This institute is a private organization, which uses its office space at Truman Library, Heller said. It
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also provides support for research into the Truman presidency. Heller said all the money that Truman received from his lectures after his visit went into the library institute.
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they were wrong, people will take other little things and make them look bad."
answer to that could only be told by history.
Heller said that it was still too early to tell whether Truman was a good president, and that the
Heller said Truman had considered what history would think about him.
"I think that is a very sensible assessment. You can tell if he was right or wrong even five or ten or 20 years after the fact."
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there are the half-dozen or so major decisions I have made: the decision to drop the atomic bomb, the decision to send an airlift, the support in Korea, the Marshall Plan, the decision involving Greece and Turkey. If these are in the best interests of us, it is wise to give little attention to other things. If
"I HAD TALKED to him."
Heller said, "and he had thought of how he would go down into the water."
"In the perspective of history,"
Heller said the presidency was not the same now as it was during the Truman administration.
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