PRESIDENT HARRY S TRUMAN - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 07/21/1953 - HFSID 4610

HARRY S TRUMAN
Six months after leaving the White House, he signs a typed letter arranging for a controversial former advisor to help a personal friend
Typed Letter signed: "Harry Truman", 1 page, 7¼x3¾. Kansas City, Missouri, 1953 July 21. On personal letterhead to Roy H. Webb, Burbank, California. In full: "I am enclosing you a copy of a letter I have written to Edwin W. Pauley, 717 North Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, 38, California. I am sure he will do everything he can for you. Let me know how you come out and where you are going to be. Sincerely yours". Harry S Truman (1884-1972) had been Vice President for only 82 days when he became the 33rd President of the U.S. (1945-1953) upon Franklin D. Roosevelt's death on April 12, 1945. Faced with the ordeal of ending WWII, Truman oversaw the surrender of Germany (May 7) and ordered the atomic bombings on Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9). He fought the Cold War with the Truman Doctrine, a policy granting Greece and Turkey $400 million in economic and military aid to help them fight Communist aggression. By the end of 1945, Truman had introduced economic measures that would become part of his Fair Deal program. As a result, the minimum wage was increased from 40 to 75 cents an hour through an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and Social Security benefits were extended to include approximately ten million more people. During his second term, Truman ordered U.S. forces into action when North Korean troops invaded American-supported South Korea. Roy Webb, a personal friend of Truman's, visited the President several times in the White House. Edwin W. Pauley (1903-1981) an oil company executive, served in the FDR and Truman administrations, coordinating petroleum sales under Lend Lease and helping to renegotiate reparations agreements after World War II. He was featured on the cover of Time magazine in October 1947. He became a confidante of President Truman, but his close ties to the petroleum industry blocked his proposed appointment as Undersecretary of the Navy. In the 1950s, he engaged in joint oil ventures with Howard Hughes and future President George H. W. Bush, founding Pauley Petroleum. As a Regent of the University of California/Berkeley, he supported Governor Ronald Reagan's efforts to crack down on student protests in the 1960s. Lightly toned at edges. Staple holes at upper left corner. Mailing folds, not at signature. Otherwise, fine condition.