PRESIDENT HARRY S TRUMAN - DOCUMENT SIGNED - HFSID 100848

HARRY TRUMAN
He signs a certificate honoring the younger brother of one of his chief Republican foes.
Document Signed: "Harry Truman" probably as President, 1 page, 7½x10¾. No date, no place. Headed: "CITATION TO ACCOMPANY THE AWARD OF THE MEDAL FOR MERIT TO CHARLES P. TAFT". In full: "CHARLES P. TAFT, for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the United States.Mr. Taft, as Director of the Office of Community War Services, helped immeasurably in bringing about an awareness on the part of Congress, and Federal, State, and local officials of the human needs of the twenty million people who were uprooted from their homes to become either members of the armed services or war workers in distant and crowded communities. Through his efforts recreation services were developed and expanded in several thousand communities; schools were built and school facilities and services were expanded for greater community use; health and sanitation facilities were provided in war areas; the cooperation of local law enforcement, health, and welfare officials was secured for a program of social protection which controlled prostitution and reduced the ravages of venereal disease among the armed forces. He gave of his talents as a member of the Joint Army and Navy Committee on Recreation and Welfare; he served as Vice-Chairman of the President's War Relief Control Board, stimulating and helping the private, social, and philanthropic agencies to gear to the expanded wartime task without overlapping or waste of effort. He brought to bear upon these tasks the personal qualities of great perseverance, wise foresight, and a singular devotion to the common wealth and the public good." Charles Phelps Taft (1897-1983) was the son of President William Howard Taft. He was also the younger brother of Robert Alphonso Taft (1889-1953), one of Truman's chief critics in the US Senate and a 3-time contender for the Republican Presidential nomination. Although he hated war, Truman served in the US Army in France during World War I and served as President during World War II and the Korean conflict. At his direction, the first atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, hastening the end of World War II but ushering in another frightening chapter in human history: the Cold War. Shaded at margin from prior framing and signature has lightened (although it's still strong) from exposure to light, else fine condition.