Oral History Interviews
The Truman Library has approximately 500 interviews supplementing the written record of Harry S. Truman's life and times. The interviews are available in transcript form and range in length from fewer than 10 to over 1,000 pages, with most being between 20 and 200 pages. Most of the interviews include a name and subject index attached to the transcript. There is a cumulative index for the entire oral history collection available in the research room at the Library.
The list below gives the name of the person interviewed, his or her principal positions, and the number of pages in the transcript. This list does not include information about specific copyright or donor restrictions. This information is included with the individual interview transcripts. Interviews that were conducted by an oral history program other than the Library's are properly accredited. Interviews with friends, neighbors, and personal associates of Harry S. Truman have been conducted by the National Park Service, and transcripts can be found on their website.
| BABB, RUSSELL, and HOYT WALKUP | Aircraft pilots for Dr. Henry Bennett, president of Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College and Administrator of the Technical Cooperation Administration, 1951. 27 pages. |
| BABCOCK, GAYLON. | Banker and friend of Harry S. Truman. 115 pages. |
| BAKER, GEORGE P. | Director, Office of Transportation and Communications Policy, Department of State, 1945-46; Vice Chairman, President's Air Policy Commission, 1947. 56 pages. |
| BANCROFT, HARDING F. | Chief, Division of U.N. Political Affairs, Department of State, 1945; U.S. Deputy Representative, U.N. Collective Measures Committee, 1950-53. 54 pages. |
| BARNETT, ROBERT W. | U.S. member of the economics and reparations committees, Far Eastern Commission, 1945-49; Officer in Charge of Economic Affairs, Office of Chinese Affairs, Department of State, 1949-51; Officer in Charge of Economic Affairs, Office of Western European Affairs, Department of State, 1951-54. 39 pages. |
| BARRETT, EDWARD W. | Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, 1950-52. 71 pages. |
| BARRIERE, JOHN E. | Staff member, Research Division, Democratic National Committee, 1948. 47 pages. |
| BARRINGER, LEWIS T. | Friend of Harry S. Truman and treasurer of the 1944 Democratic Vice-Presidential campaign. 60 pages. |
| BARROWS, LELAND | Executive Assistant to the U.S. Special Representative in Europe, Economic Cooperation Administration, 1949-53; Director, Mission to Greece, Foreign Operations Agency, 1952-54. 70 pages. |
| BARROWS, ROBERTA. | Secretary to the President's Appointments Secretary, 1933-55. 113 pages. |
| BATT, WILLIAM L., JR. | Director, Research Division, Democratic National Committee, 1948. 64 pages. |
| BATTLE, LUCIUS. | Foreign Affairs Specialist, Department of State, 1946-49; Special Assistant to the Secretary of State, 1949-53. 69 pages. |
| BAUER, GERARD | Counselor of Swiss legation, Paris, in charge of economic affairs, 1945-51; president, Executive Committee, Organization for European Economic Cooperation, 1948-56. 7 pages. |
| BEAM, JACOB D. | Chief, Central European Division, Department of State, 1947-49; counsel general, Jakarta, Indonesia, 1950; Counselor, U.S. Embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 1951-52; Counselor, U.S. Embassy in Moscow, U.S.S.R., 1952-53. 46 pages. |
| BEAN, LOUIS H. | Chief Fiscal Analyst, Bureau of the Budget, 1943-47; member of the staff of the Secretary of Agriculture, 1947-53. 88 pages. |
| BECKER, NATHAN M | Economic adviser, Board of Economic Warfare and Department of State, 1941-47; economic adviser, General Staff, U.S.-U.N. Forces, Korea, 1952-53. 99 pages. |
| BECKMAN, RICHARD R. | US Army Criminal Investigation Detachment Agent during WWII. Member of the US Amry unit that was assigned to guard the President at Celilienhof during the Potsdam Conference. 100 pages. |
| BEGG, JOHN M. | Department of State official, 1941-53; Director, Private Enterprise Cooperative Staff, International Information Administration, Department of State, 1948-53. 68 pages. |
| BELL, DAVID E. | Special Assistant in the White House Office, 1947-48; Administrative Assistant to the President, 1951-53. 212 pages. |
| BELL, JACK L. | Chief of the U.S. Senate staff of the Associated Press, 1940-69. 80 pages. |
| BENDETSEN, KARL R. | General counsel, Department of the Army, 1949; Assistant Secretary of the Army, 1950-52; Under Secretary of the Army, 1952. 306 pages. |
| BENDORF, C. THOMAS. | City Manager, City of Santa Maria, California, 1958; Aide to Senator Clair Engle, 1959-61; Assistant to Governor Pat Brown, 1961-63; Director of Government Relations for Lockheed, 1963-?. 18 pages. |
| BENNETT, FRANCES R. | Accountant for Vendo Company and for AT&T. 49 pages. |
| BENTON, THOMAS HART. | Artist, painter of "Independence and the Opening of the West." 43 pages. |
| BERNARIS, ANTHONY. | Secretary-General of the Ministry of National Economy, Greece. 23 pages. |
| BERNHARDT, LOIS | Stenographer to James F. Byrnes during World War II and from July to November, 1945. 112 pages. |
| BERNSTEIN, BERNARD. | Director, Finance Division and Division of Investigation of Controls and External Assets, U.S. Group Control Commission for Germany, 1944-45; Financial Adviser to General Dwight D. Eisenhower for Civil Affairs and Military Government, 1942-45. 179 pages. |
| BIEMILLER, ANDREW J. | Congressman from Wisconsin, 1945-47 and 1949-51. 117 pages. |
| BINGHAM, JONATHAN B. | Assistant Director of Office of International Security Affairs, Department of State, 1951; Deputy Administrator, Technical Cooperation Administration, Department of State, 1951-1953. 9 pages. |
| BIRKHEAD, KENNETH M. | Associate director of public relations, Research Division, Democratic National Committee, 1948. 96 pages. |
| BISSELL, RICHARD M., JR. | Deputy Director and Executive Secretary, President's Committee on Foreign Aid (Harriman Committee), 1947-48; Assistant Administrator for Program, Economic Cooperation Administration, 1948-51; Acting Administrator, Economic Cooperation Administration, 1951. 71 pages. |
| BLAIR, WILLIAM McCORMICK, JR. | Administrative assistant to Governor Adlai E. Stevenson, 1950-52. 30 pages. |
| BLAISDELL, DONALD C. | Special Assistant, Bureau of U.N. Affairs, Department of State, 1947-51; U.S. representative for International Organization Affairs, Geneva, Switzerland, 1951-53. 247 pages. |
| BLAISDELL, THOMAS C., JR. | Chief, Mission for Economic Affairs, London, England, 1945-46; Director, Office of International Trade, Department of Commerce, 1947-49; Assistant Secretary of Commerce, 1949-51. 85 pages. |
| BLOCK, RALPH. | General Representative of the Office of War Information in India, 1942-46; Director, General Staff, Policy and Plans Division, International Information Administration, Department of State, 1952-53. 64 pages. |
| BOHAN, MERWIN L. | Foreign Service officer specializing in economic relations between the United States and Latin America, 1928-55. 84 pages. |
| BOLLING, RICHARD. | U.S. Congressman, Fifth District of Missouri, 1949-83. 183 pages. |
| BOND, NILES W. | Foreign Service officer, 1939-68; Assistant Chief, Division of Northeast Asian Affairs, Department of State, 1947-49; First Secretary, Office of U.S. Political Adviser to the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, Tokyo, Japan, 1950; Counselor, U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, Japan, 1952. 72 pages. |
| BONNET, HENRI LUCIEN | French Ambassador to the United States, 1944-45. 44 pages. |
| BONTECOU, ELEANOR. | Attorney, Civil Rights Section, Department of Justice, 1938-55. 47 pages. |
| BOOK, KLAS | Head, Commercial Department, Foreign Office, 1945-48, and chairman, Foreign Exchange Control Board, Sweden, 1948-51. 22 pages. |
| BORENSTINE, ELINOR. | Daughter of Edward Jacobson, U.S. Army associate, friend, and business partner of Harry S. Truman, 28 pages. |
| BORING, FLOYD M. | U.S. Secret Service agent assigned to the White House. 74 pages. |
| BOWMAN, FREDERICK J. | Member of Battery D, 129th Field Artillery during World War I. 46 pages. |
| BOWMAN, WELBERN. | Pastor, First Baptist Church, Grandview, Missouri, 1941-69. 67 pages. |
| BRANDT, RAYMOND P. | Chief, Washington Bureau, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1934-61. 98 pages. |
| BRAY, WILLIAM J. | Staff member, Democratic National Committee, 1948; Assistant Postmaster General, 1952. A dictated statement. 48 pages. SEE also the STOWE, DAVID H. and WILLIAM J. BRAY oral history |
| BRIGHTMAN, SAMUEL C. | Associate director of publicity, Democratic National Committee, 1947-52; director of publicity, Democratic National Committee, 1952-57. 143 pages. |
| BROWN, BEN HILL. | Assistant Legal Adviser, Department of State, 1946-49; Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations, 1949-55. 89 pages. |
| BROWN, WINTHROP G. | Chief, Division of Commercial Policy, Department of State, 1945-48; Acting Director, 1947-48, and Director, 1948-50, Office of International Trade Policy, Department of State; Director, Office of International Materials Policy, Department of State, 1950-52; Deputy to Minister for Economic Affairs, U.S. Embassy in London, United Kingdom, 1952-55. 54 pages. |
| BRUCE, DAVID K. E. | Assistant Secretary of Commerce, 1947-48; Chief, Economic Cooperation Administration Mission to France, 1948-49; Ambassador to France, 1949-52; Under Secretary of State, 1952-53. 49 pages. |
| BUCKLEW, L.L. | Associate of Harry S. Truman during World War I. 38 pages. |
| BUFORD, ANTHONY A. | Friend and Missouri political associate of Harry S. Truman. 39 pages. |
| BUNKER, COLONEL LAURENCE E. | Chief aide to Gen. Douglas MacArthur, 1946-52. 44 pages. |
| BURRUS, RUFUS B. | Harry S. Truman's friend and attorney; assistant county counselor, Jackson County, Missouri, 1927-41; member, U.S. Army Reserve, 1927-45. 278 pages. |
| BUTTERWORTH, W. WALTON. | Counselor, U.S. Embassy in Madrid, Spain, 1944-46; Counselor, U.S. Embassy in Nanjing, China, 1946-47; Director for Far Eastern Affairs, Department of State, 1947-49; Assistant Secretary of State, 1949-50; Ambassador to Sweden, 1950-53. 72 pages. |
| BYROADE, HENRY. | Military attache to Gen. George C. Marshall on China Mission, 1946-47; Deputy Director and Director, Bureau of German Affairs, Department of State, 1949-52; Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern, South Asian and African Affairs, 1952-55, U.S. Ambassador, 1955-77. 159 pages. |