RICK PARKS - ORIGINAL ART SIGNED - HFSID 28236

[HARRY S TRUMAN]: RICK PARKS
Original oil portrait of Truman, signed by artist Parks, framed to an overall size of 42x47
Original Art signed: "Rick Parks". Color, 36x40. Original oil portrait of Harry S Truman by Nevada artist Rick Parks. Two inset portraits at lower margin depict the explosion of the first atomic bomb, ordered by President Truman to hasten the end of WWII, and the famous image of Truman holding up a newspaper with the premature (and erroneous) headline: "Dewey Defeats Truman". Harry S Truman (1884-1972) became the 33rd U.S. President upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt on April 12, 1945. The nation was already embroiled in WWII at the time, and, as President, Truman made the decision to drop atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to hasten the end of the war. He had begun his national political career as a U.S. Senator from Missouri (1934-1945), creating a reputation for himself as a member of a committee that investigated waste and corruption during the war. Tapped to be FDR's running mate for his unprecedented fourth term, Truman served as Vice President for only 82 days. When Truman ran for the presidency in his own right in 1948, polls had predicted that New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey would defeat the incumbent President. In the November 1, 1948 issue of "Life" magazine, there was a photograph of Dewey identified in the caption as the "next President", and movie filmed in Hollywood had a line "From McKinley to Dewey". Truman was at his home in Independence, Missouri, on Election Day, November 2, 1948. Early returns showed Dewey leading but as the results were coming in, Dewey's lead lessened and the final count showed Truman had won. Truman left Independence on the Ferdinand Magellan, the presidential train (before there was an Air Force One), to return to Washington, D.C. When he stopped at the St. Louis train station to make a speech, he was handed a copy of the November 3, 1948 edition of the "Chicago Tribune", which proclaimed in a large headline: "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN". Truman couldn't resist the opportunity to have a little fun at the expense of one of his least favorite newspapers. He smiled widely as he held the paper aloft for the large crowd to see. The issue went on the streets about 9:00 PM on Tuesday, November 2nd, and was pulled from the newsstands shortly before midnight. Declining to run again in 1952, Truman retired to Independence, Missouri, where he died at age 88. Fine condition. Framed to an overall size of 42x47.