I have always loved history, especially presidential history. Therefore, I could not miss the chance to visit the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Kansas during our trip to Kansas City this week.
I have been to only two other presidential libraries: the LBJ library in Austin and the George W. Bush Library in Dallas. The former is a remarkable place, while the latter was quite underwhelming - just like its namesake.
The Truman Library sits somewhere in between. However, I certainly found my visit to this museum to be the most illuminating since I was unaware of President Truman's origins and many of his signature accomplishments. We were fortunate to have a wonderful tour guide during our visit named Bill. He helped to put Truman's life and his administration in context, providing a much clearer picture of how transformative his presidency was.
During many moments of the tour, I found myself drawing parallels to today: anti-democratic and authoritarian movements, racism, and a nation divided. These issues are not unique to our age, and I took comfort in knowing that Truman was able to meet these challenges in his time. I hope we are able to do the same this election year.
At end of the tour, I asked our guide Bill, what can we do to not repeat the same mistakes as bygone era. He said, "you start by making a visit to a place like this and learning from the past." Learn, I did - on that day!
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