PRESIDENT HARRY S TRUMAN - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 06/22/1948 - HFSID 4676

HARRY TRUMAN
Three weeks before he was nominated for a second term, Truman signed this letter "H.S.T.", and penned a postscript asking the recipient to call him.
Typed Letter signed: "H.S.T." as President, 1 page, 7x8¾. Washington, D.C. 1948 June 22. On White House stationery to Roy H. Webb, Justice Department Building, Washington, D.C. In full: "I am enclosing you the pen you asked for. I hope you are having a successful career training the Deputy Marshals. Sincerely yours". Autograph note in ink at bottom: "Call when you return." Three weeks after he signed this letter (as "H.S.T." instead of his more usual "Harry Truman," the 33rd President was re-nominated at a dispirited Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, setting the stage for the greatest upset in the history of US Presidential elections. Polls - still in their infancy but widely believed at the time - showed Republican candidate Thomas E. Dewey of New York with double digit leads over the incumbent President. Truman's Democratic Party had lost control of the House and Senate in the mid-term elections. To make matters worse, both the left and right wings of the Democratic Party bolted from Truman and ran their own candidates: "Dixiecrat" Strom Thurmond and Progressive Henry Wallace would each receive over a million votes in the November tally. Undaunted, Truman waged an aggressive campaign against the "do-nothing Congress" and secured re-election by a margin of over 2 million votes. He won 303-189 over Dewey in the Electoral College, with Thurmond gaining the votes of 39 southern Electors. Irregular left edge. Mailing fold crosses "T" of signature. Otherwise, fine condition.