Bruce E. Lambert Oral History Interview

Notice
This is a transcript of a tape-recorded interview conducted for the Harry S. Truman Library. A draft of this transcript was edited by the interviewee but only minor emendations were made; therefore, the reader should remember that this is essentially a transcript of the spoken, rather than the written word.

Numbers appearing in square brackets (ex. [45]) within the transcript indicate the pagination in the original, hardcopy version of the Lambert oral history interview.

RESTRICTIONS
This oral history transcript may be read, quoted from, cited, and reproduced for purposes of research. It may not be published in full except by permission of the Harry S. Truman Library.

Opened May, 1983
Harry S. Truman Library
Independence, Missouri

[1]

FUCHS:  Mr. Lambert, when and where were you born?

LAMBERT:  I was born in Lamoni, Iowa, two and a half miles over the Missouri line. As I said, I moved into Missouri. before I got tainted though. I grew up in Missouri, Independence and that area; so I'm a Missourian, by adoption probably, now like I'm a Virginian by adoption.

FUCHS:  What year did you go to Independence?"

LAMBERT:  I guess it was somewhere around 1916.

FUCHS:  How old were you at that time?

LAMBERT:  Twelve years old.

[2]

FUCHS:  So at that time Mr. Truman would have been about 32.

LAMBERT:  About 32. He was about 20 years older than I was.

FUCHS:  Yes. I was just trying to get a little feeling for the period. Well, then, when did you first become aware of Mr. Truman?

LAMBERT:  Well, I knew of him when he went to Mexico when they were in that action, National Guard; and then of course, after he came back from the First World War. Being younger, that's when I got acquainted with him personally.

FUCHS:  You would have been around 16 or 17 then?

LAMBERT:  About 17 when I first met Harry.

FUCHS:  He was married in 1919, after he got back. You knew of him in the haberdashery?

LAMBERT:  Yes, I knew of him then, and knew of him in the Harpie Club.

[3]

FUCHS:  Oh, the Harpie Club. Tell me something about that. I've had different versions of the Harpie Club.

LAMBERT:  I expect you've had a lot of them. Well, that was basically a poker playing club. We usually had a vacant room in a second or third floor of one of the buildings on the Square. And we met together; it was his friends, those that came out of the First World War? Edgar Hinde, who was Postmaster for years, and you've probably talked to him.

FUCHS:  Yes. I've had an interview with him earlier.

LAMBERT: He's gone now. He'd have had a lot to tell you. And then, of course, in politics, when they first went into politics, a group of us got together and borrowed money and financed his first campaign in Jackson County. I knew him all the way through.

FUCHS:  Well, first, the Harpie Club. Was that composed of people of various ages? I thought at one time

[4]

or I had the impression, that it might have been all men of Mr. Truman's age.

LAMBERT:  They were with the exception of two. Russell Gabriel, he's dead now, he used to be -- he's my age -- he was assistant prosecuting attorney in Jackson County, and of course, I was in it. I knew "Hiney" real well, Edgar Hinde; and I'd been in politics there at the time. Through Harry I was appointed Chief Deputy for John D. Burns, who was the clerk of the courts, Circuit Clerk.

FUCHS:  You were deputy for one of the courts?

LAMBERT:  Yes, not a specific court, but for all Divisions I was Chief Deputy to John D. Burns.

FUCHS:  What year was that?

LAMBERT:  Oh, that goes back when I first was appointed someplace in the 1930s. Of course, I traveled with him on his first campaign for -- and drove him some. Hunter Allen did also, and I drove him some, on his first campaign for Senator, and I

[5]

drove him practically all of his second campaign in 1940.

FUCHS:  What did you do in his first campaign he had, for Eastern Judge, in 1922?

LAMBERT:  I just got out and worked, that's all.

FUCHS:  You were a precinct worker?

LAMBERT:  Yes, 14th Precinct.

FUCHS:  How did he happen, in your opinion, to be first considered for the job? There are various stories about that, too.

LAMBERT:  Well, I can remember this much about it, that I can plainly -- it came about, everybody talked about it, you know, among the fellows who knew him, and we borrowed money, each one of us, and put in money for his campaign. My father, who was a councilman in Independence...

FUCHS:  What was his name?

LAMBERT:  Richard J. Lambert. I remember when Harry

[6]

first came out and was running for his first political job, my father introduced him; and my dad was pretty well-known in Independence, and respected, and for that reason they asked him to introduce him. Of course, we thought a whole lot of Harry, there's no question about that. He was a great guy.

FUCHS:  Well, who were some of the other individuals in the Harpie Club, because I think they probably had a good part in bringing him out for office?

LAMBERT:  Oh, yes. Well, Spencer Salisbury was one, Edgar Hinde, of course, Dexter Perry, Hansel Compton, Polly Compton, Joe Clements, Hugh Miller, oh, it's hard to remember all of them; also, Hunter Allen and Russell Gabriel. There were about sixteen -- eighteen members. Bill Duke was one; a select number, at least we thought so. They were people who had been in the military with him; and they were people who had known, trusted and admired him for a long time also, in non-military related endeavors.

[7]

FUCHS:  I've always heard that there was quite a few of his military associates that backed him in his first campaign.

LAMBERT:  That's right, that's who backed him in his first campaign. Of course those I speak of were Independence and Eastern Jackson County in the early days. However, Kansas City played a greater part in some respects. Also, his part in the state with the Road Commission made him well respected statewide.

FUCHS:  He was running against Montgomery, I believe it was.

LAMBERT:  I was just trying to think. My memory doesn't tell me who it was he was running against.

FUCHS:  It's been so long since I've gone over some of this stuff, but I believe it was E. Montgomery. Then he ran in, let's see, in '24 he ran for the term '25-'26, and he was defeated by Judge Rummell. Did you have an acquaintance with Judge Rummell or was it following that loss that you became

[8]

active?

LAMBERT:  Yes. Yes I remember; that was his only defeat. And of course, later he became Presiding Judge, and that was a four-year term. The others were two-year terms. As a matter of fact, he was an affiliate of what we called the "Goat" faction, Pendergast faction. He was considered as one of the leaders of it. Pendergast was Catholic, and his was a strong Catholic organization; Harry was a Protestant and a member of many other organizations, a leader of and respected by many other groups though not as strong as Mr. Pendergast.

FUCHS:  Now, most of these Harpie Club members were in the Goat faction?

LAMBERT; Yes, mostly but not all were politically affiliated. But no, there were many good "Rabbits." Harry was universal all the way and liked and respected.

FUCHS:  Do you have an opinion about how the Pendergast

[9]

leaders influenced his first campaign? They came in, when, into that?

LAMBERT:  Oh, he was approved -- they didn't influence it anymore than they did for all Democrats of good report. He was a part of that group that they would back, not a member of an opposing group. There were Goats and Rabbits, factions led by Shannon and Pendergast, and then there was a splinter faction in the Shannon faction. Cass Welch was that part; but Harry Truman, as far as that's concerned, was known and liked and admired; if not especially liked, he was respected by all. However, he was a part of the faction known as "Goats."

FUCHS:  But do you think that the Harpie Club and his other friends in Independence actually put him forward before Pendergast?

LAMBERT:  Not just friends in Independence, however. Pendergast wouldn't have given him help if he hadn't been a strong person, with strong backing

[10]

from many and a reputation without blemish. Pendergast was at that time the solid, basic part of the Democratic Party, and Harry always had been a part of the majority group. As I say, there were other splinter factions of lesser import. After he had been Eastern judge, and after he had run and Pendergast recognized his ability and came to know him intimately, they worked together from that time on. In the beginning, no, it was done by his old buddies in service, and many fine men and women who had known him for years. He was well-known in the entire state. His family was from Grandview; he married an Independence girl who was his greatest single asset over the years.

FUCHS:  Now, to go back a little bit, his defeat by Rummell, what did you lay that to?

LAMBERT:  Frankly at the time I could not say but believe they just didn't work hard enough for him, that's all; just didn't work hard enough

[11]

for him. More or less, his supporters figured they could pick it up and go ahead on their own. They didn't try to get outside help or anything else. Of course, Rummell was a campaigner, and a good one. Harry learned a whole lot from that campaign. In other words, sometimes we must back up to build momentum before moving ahead.

FUCHS:  What part did you play in his campaign in '26?

LAMBERT:  I worked in the precinct; worked along with everyone else, and borrowed money and contributed. We all did what we could financially and otherwise. But by that time, though, he had others who had quite a little bit of money that, of course, helped. He was well-known, highly respected, and for that reason they were looking for those kind of people; and following the war, those people who had participated in it had the best go as far as politics was concerned. Further, the Democratic organization needed him and he needed it. It was a good marriage.

[12]

FUCHS:  Did you work similarly in the '30 campaign then, the second campaign for Presiding Judge?

LAMBERT:  Yes. I worked in that campaign in the 14th Precinct, as a precinct worker. Gave all I could everywhere, as far as that's concerned. And when he ran for Senator, in the primary, between Hunter Allen and myself -- Hunter Allen had been the chauffeur when he was in the court, the County Court, he drove him whenever he could. I drove him sometimes, and helped pinch-hit on that on his statewide campaign. I worked in every campaign from the first through 1948.

FUCHS:  You drove out around the state with him.

LAMBERT:  Yes. On both of his campaigns for U.S. Senator.

FUCHS:  Hunter Allen? I know the name, but I don't know too much about him. Just who was he?

LAMBERT:  One hell of a fine guy. Didn't use many words but always there. He was one of the old buddies who Harry had known in the Army. Also he had been,

[13]

as I say, the chauffeur for the County Court, and he drove and served Harry well for many years as a trusted friend.

FUCHS:  That was his job, his paying job?

LAMBERT:  That was his job.

FUCHS:  Now, was he in Independence or Kansas City?

LAMBERT:  Independence, is where Hunter lived.

FUCHS:  I see. A lot of the people who were in Battery D were from Kansas City.

LAMBERT:  Oh, yes, it was the whole area there, sure. But I was talking about those right close, real close to him. Oh, yes, they all had their part and worked and worked hard, not just Democrats either. It's hard to distinguish now those that were basically in the beginning, and those that collected, you know, as he went along. A winner always picks up a lot of people who would be for him, and he was a winner. And it's hard to distinguish. Of course, we knew who he was close to and

[14]

who he thought the most of, but many other people helped, too. They were a part of it.

I'll never forget in the campaign -- I've forgotten which one it was, probably '30 -- when one of his old buddies tried to doublecross him, and he didn't get the job done, but he did come out on the other side at the last minute.

FUCHS:  Who was that?

LAMBERT:  Spencer Salisbury. And I'll never forget the meeting after that when they were talking about it. "Well, who are we going to be for on this job?" and so forth (and Spencer had a good job). He said, "I'd like to see this, and I'd like to see that." I remember Dexter Perry said, "Well, who are you going to have here in Spencer's job?"

He said, "We'll put Spence back in that job if we can."

And Dexter said, "That s.o.b. doublecrossed you."

[15]

He said, "That's all right, he's our s.o.b.; we'll keep him."

I'll never forget that.

FUCHS:  It's quite well-known that there was a falling out between Harry Truman and Spencer Salisbury, and I think that the usual story is that that had something to do with the bank, the savings and loan. You think that it might go back even further to this incident?

LAMBERT:  It might, yes; I do not know.

FUCHS:  There was a beginning of a break there perhaps?

LAMBERT:  Yes. But Harry stayed behind him. Harry stayed with him, at that time.

FUCHS:  Do you know anything about that bank deal? I believe it was Community Savings and Loan?

LAMBERT:  Yes. That's one thing I didn't get in on, had nothing to do with that. I knew there was a difficulty there but I didn't get in on that.

[16]

FUCHS:  Did you personally care for Spencer Salisbury?

LAMBERT:  No, I never did. He was kind of a different sort; didn't care for him. Smart man though.

FUCHS:  Yes, that's what I've heard.

LAMBERT:  Very intelligent man.

No, I worked, as I said, in the courts there, I was chief deputy circuit clerk. I was assigned to the Independence division for awhile and then I went in, of course, to the Kansas City division; worked for Judge Waltner, Marian Waltner, who was one of the Circuit Court Judges. And then I went into Internal Revenue. I expect it was an appointive job at that time, with the Collector of Internal Revenue. Dan Nee was the Collector, and I received my appointment through the recommendation of Harry Truman. I was in Revenue, well, for six years in Missouri, and then I came into Washington. Harry had nothing to do with that, I had qualified as a Civil Service employee.

FUCHS:  You came here in a Civil Service job?

[17]

LAMBERT:  Yes.

FUCHS:  That was in Internal Revenue?

LAMBERT:  Yes. And I held some fairly high jobs in it. Of course, you're not interested in me, but...

FUCHS:  Well, yes, scholars are interested in who's talking, what their background is; it helps them to determine the validity of what is said. We're not just interested in Harry Truman.

LAMBERT:  I was sent to New York to take over when they had to let a collector go up there, Dowling, a black man; and I took over that office up there. Then I came back down here (Washington, D.C.). Then I was sent to Newark, New Jersey as District Director of Internal Revenue.

FUCHS:  Had you studied law already then?

LAMBERT:  Yes.

FUCHS:  When did you go to law school?

LAMBERT:  Oh, back in the forties, after I came to Washington.

[18]

FUCHS:  Where did you go?

LAMBERT:  Catholic University.

I resigned as District Director of Internal Revenue in Newark and came back down here to practice law. My wife is an attorney, so we set up down here in Virginia and qualified in D.C. also.

FUCHS:  Did you marry her here, or is she an Independence girl?

LAMBERT:  She's not Independence, she's Missouri.

FUCHS:  Did she study law back there?

LAMBERT:  No, she studied law up here with me. She took it the same time I did.

Yes, Harry was taking law when he came up here as Senator. He lacked a month of completing, and he took it at the old Kansas City School of Law -- it's now part of Missouri University.

FUCHS:  Kansas City Law School?

[19]

LAMBERT:  Yes, Kansas City School of Law. And they refused to give him a diploma – degree -- as he was elected Senator and left to take office a month before his graduation. He could not come back and take that month, and they later refused to let him complete. However, after he was President they tried to give him an honorary degree, but he said, "I'm not interested," and he told them in very plain words, Missouri words. They wouldn't give it to him when he worked for it so he wasn't going to take it the other way.

I'll never forget when another university gave it to him he called me up and said, "Bruce, that's the way to get your law degree. It's a whole lot easier than working like you did."

FUCHS:  I guess so.

Now there's a story about him and the collectorship, and of course, scholars have put this in various campaigns. Do you recall anything about that? He wanted to run for an office and he wanted to be collector.

[20]

LAMBERT:  Yes, he did.

FUCHS:  And what year would that have been?

LAMBERT:  That's in the early thirties, let's see. Yes, he wanted to be, and he ran for Senator instead. And they had somebody else -- I don't know whether it was a Rabbit or a Goat, now, I can't remember -- but at any rate, he won election and the other job was forgotten.

FUCHS:  You mean the collectorship?

LAMBERT:  Yes.

FUCHS:  I guess the collectorship paid a percentage in those days, and paid pretty well.

LAMBERT:  Yes, it probably paid more money than the other one he had. I was thinking there was something in there between Joe Shannon and Cass Welch and I'm just trying to think -- no that was a Pendergast job, the collector's office.

FUCHS:  He ran against a Robert Hood in one of those

[21]

campaigns.

LAMBERT:  Bob Hood was a Rabbit, yes.

FUCHS:  I see, he was a Rabbit.

LAMBERT:  Yes, nice guy.

FUCHS:  Was he from Independence?

LAMBERT:  Yes. He's not with us anymore either.

FUCHS:  Well, some people have associated the collectorship deal with when he wanted to run for collector and they said, "No, but you can be Senator," and I've always figured from what I've been able to gather, that wasn't the correct campaign. It was Presiding Judge, maybe, as you say.

LAMBERT:  Yes, I think so. It was after that that he -- of course, it was in there at that time, I remember the collector's one and it's a little bit difficult for me to recall.

FUCHS:  Now, you can't recall any specific incidents or

[22]

remarks of his or whatever, when you were driving for him?

LAMBERT:  Oh, we talked many a time about many things but he really ran a campaign. I'll tell you one thing. Every night that he was away from home on the campaign, before he went to bed, before he'd go to sleep, he'd call and talk to Bess; every night, he never missed. He'd talk fifteen or twenty minutes. The reason I know this -- of course I knew it anyway -- but we slept in the same room in twin beds during the campaign most of the time because that's the way they got the facilities for us, and even occasionally we had to sleep in the same bed. I knew him real well. I knew the man, knew what a fine person he was, and that's right.

FUCHS:  Did you get paid for this by the campaign coffers?

LAMBERT:  No.

FUCHS:  You didn't, you did this on a voluntary basis?

[23]

LAMBERT:  That's right.

FUCHS:  Well now, the Harpie Club was conceived or started about what year?

LAMBERT:  Oh, way back in the early twenties.

FUCHS:  It was after the war though?

LAMBERT:  Oh, yes, after the war. That was just a meeting of a bunch of his friends. Some of them were not in the war, as I say, but most of them were his old buddies. But he knew all the people in the area and he was well thought of, and for that reason they set this thing up.

FUCHS:  Did you play poker with him?

LAMBERT:  Often.

FUCHS:  What are your views of his poker playing?

LAMBERT:  Well, as far as with us, it was a friendly pasttime, but he was a chump, in that he wanted to see what your hole card was, and knew anyone

[24]

got a kick out of winning from him and he accommodated.

FUCHS:  He stayed no matter what?

LAMBERT:  That's right. And if he could whip you he got a big kick out of it.

FUCHS:  What kind of stakes did they play for in those days?

LAMBERT:  Oh, dime limit, three raises.

FUCHS:  Three raises, dime ante, or something like that?

LAMBERT:  Yes.

FUCHS:  Did you ever take exception to things he did as either Eastern Judge or Presiding Judge, or did you, generally, think he did an excellent job?

LAMBERT:  I think he did an excellent job. I also for a period of time, worked -- this had nothing to do

[25]

with him -- but in the bond issue, I worked with a survey crew. I had taken engineering before and I worked on the surveys on the highways that he built for Jackson County.

That's something too; remember he built those highways for Jackson County and not a Pendergast construction firm got any contracts. It went for the best bid for the best bidder. And there wasn't any question about it. He didn't do anything that was questionable.

FUCHS:  Were you associated with, or did you know Stayton and Veatch?

LAMBERT:  Yes, I knew them. I worked in that office. Stayton and Veatch, yes.

FUCHS:  When they were planning the...

LAMBERT:  When they were planning.

FUCHS:  Where did you go to college then?

LAMBERT:  I went to college at -- oh, I went to three or four different places, but I got this in Massachusetts.

[26]

Got my engineering there.

FUCHS:  I see. When did you last see Mr. Truman?

LAMBERT:  When did I last see Mr. Truman? Oh, probably six months before he died.

FUCHS:  Did he still seem to be the same fellow then that...

LAMBERT:  Oh, the same guy. Of course he'd lost his sharpness and everything else, we know that. Like all people do when they get a certain age.

FUCHS:  But with his fiends he never seemed to change much, is that your opinion, too?

LAMBERT:  That's right, he never changed. Not as far as I'm concerned at all.

FUCHS:  Did you see him in Washington while he was President? Did you have any occasion to go there?

LAMBERT:  Once in awhile, yes. I saw him four or five times.

[27]

FUCHS:  He was associated with an Arthur Metzger in the Community Savings and Loan. Who was Arthur Metzger?

LAMBERT:  Well, there were Sampsons; Annie, Lillie, and Mamie Sampson, and Arthur Metzger was related to them. People with quite a bit of funds, money, Jewish people. I remember when the Harpie Club was named the Harmonica Club. And Port Sampson, Miss Annie, Lillie and Mamie, and Port, those four. And, of course, Arthur Metzger was related to them, a nephew or something I believe. Anyway he was related and he handled their money for them. Port played the harmonica. He's about -- oh, I guess Port was about four and a half feet tall, and he had every size harmonica he'd play. And we asked him if he'd come up at the dedication of the Harmonica Club, and that's what it was at the beginning and it was shortened to Harpie Club later on. He was up there and he played all of these harmonicas at the opening.

FUCHS:  Was it called the Harmonica Club before they

[28]

asked him to come there? When did they decide to name it that?

LAMBERT:  I'm trying to remember. That's what bothers me, I can't remember, but it was the club, and he came to the dedication of it, and it was called the Harmonica Club then.

FUCHS:  How did that get corrupted into Harpie?

LAMBERT:  Oh well, that shortened it, Harpie.

FUCHS:  I thought maybe he played a Jew's harp or something?

LAMBERT:  No. No, it was the harmonica, and it all goes back to Port Sampson. He may have played a Jew's harp but I don't recall it now.

FUCHS:  You say he was four and a half feet tall? You mean he was full grown then and that's all the taller he was?

LAMBERT:  Oh, yes, he was in his fifties or sixties.

FUCHS:  A short man.

[29]

LAMBERT:  Yes.

FUCHS:  Was he portly, was he a heavy man?

LAMBERT:  Oh, just a little round man, not too heavy; but he was not thin either.

FUCHS:  I've heard about him, but I never could picture him.

LAMBERT:  I remember when they leased their building where they operated on the east side of the Square next to Bundschu's, and Port was telling us all about it in his inimitable way. He was just a little bit simple. He said, "Well," he said, "we leased it, we got so much a month." And somebody said, "Well, Port, that's not very much for that building." He said, "Oh, but that's for 99 years, and we get it all back then, it's just a lease."

FUCHS:  Where was that? To the south of Bundschu's on the south corner of that...

LAMBERT:  It's right to the right (north), it's on the

[30]

same side of the Square, east side of the Square.

FUCHS:  The Bundschu Building doesn't take the whole east side of the Square?

LAMBERT:  Oh no. It was on the south, and then the old Savings and Loan was on the south of it. It later took up part of it. But it didn't take all of that. It doesn't even today, I was there last week. Of course, it's something else in there now.

FUCHS:  Did you know Bess Wallace before she married Mr. Truman?

LAMBERT:  No, I did not.

FUCHS:  You didn't. Well, I guess that's about all. You're getting busy, and unless you've got some anecdotes that you'd like to add to the record...

LAMBERT:  No, there's a lot of things, lot of things you could say. When we traveled -- of course, he was Grand Master of Masons of Missouri the second

[31]

campaign, '40 -- and all of the places where we went he'd stop in at the lodges, such as that.

FUCHS:  That helped him, too, I guess.

LAMBERT:  Oh, yes. But of course he didn't become Grand Master for political reasons, he had been in Masonry for many years. Anybody who's ever been in Masonry, and I have -- and I wasn't then, I wasn't for many years after that -- but they were fine people.

FUCHS:  Were you confident when President Roosevelt died and Mr. Truman became President, did you...

LAMBERT:  Never any fear in my life. The only thing I felt for him was admiration.

FUCHS:  You thought he could handle it.

LAMBERT:  Oh, yes. I knew he could handle it. And he showed it, too, didn't he? The only President I ever heard of who went in as President and came out no richer in this world's financial goods.

FUCHS:  Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

• Allen, Hunter, 4, 6, 12-13

  Bundschu Building, Independence, Missouri, 29-30
  Burns, John D., 4

  Clements, Joseph, 6
  Community Savings and Loan, Independence, Missouri, 15, 30
  Compton, Hansel, 6
  Compton, Polly, 6

  Duke, William, 6

  Gabriel, Russell, 4, 6
  "Goat" faction, Democratic party, Jackson County, Missouri, 8-9

  Harmonica Club, 27-28
  Harpie Club, 2-4, 6, 8, 9, 23, 27-29
  Hinde, Edgar G., 3, 4, 6
  Hood, Robert, 20-21

  Internal Revenue Service, U.S., 16-17

  Jackson County, Missouri:

  • Democratic party, factions in, 8-9
    elections of 1922, 5-7
    elections of 1924, 7-8, 10-11
    elections of 1926, 11
    roadbuilding program in, 25

  Kansas City School of Law, 18-19

  Lambert, Bruce E., background, 1-2, 16-18
  Lambert, Richard J., 5-6
  Lamoni, Iowa, 1

  Masonic Lodge, 30-31
  Metzger, Arthur, 27
  Mexico, 2
  Miller, Hugh, 6
  Missouri National Guard, 2
  Montgomery, Emmett, 7

  Nee, Daniel, 16

  Pendergast, Tom, 8, 9-10
  Perry, Dexter, 6, 14

  "Rabbit" faction, Democratic party, Jackson County, Missouri, 8-9
  Rummell, Henry, 7, 10, 11

  Salisbury, Spencer, 6, 14-16
  Sampson, Port, 27, 28-29
  Shannon, Joseph, 9, 20
  Stayton Veatch engineering firm, 25

  Truman, Bess Wallace, 22, 30
  Truman, Harry S.:

  • Collector of Revenue, Jackson County, Missouri, interest in office of, 19-21
    Eastern Judge, Jackson County, Missouri, first campaign for, 5-7, 9
    Eastern Judge, Jackson County, Missouri, defeat in reelection bid for, 7-8, 10-11
    "Goat" faction of Democratic party, leader of in Jackson County, Missouri, 8-9
    Harpie Club, member of, 2-4, 6, 8, 9, 23
    Kansas City School of Law, attends, 18-19
    Lambert, Bruce, first acquaintance with, 2
    Lambert, Bruce, visits with, 26
    Masonic activities, prominence in, 30-31
    Pendergast, Tom, relationship with, 9-10
    poker player, as a, 23-24
    Presiding Judge of Jackson County, Missouri, elected, 11
    Presiding Judge of Jackson County, Missouri, record, as, 24-25
    Salisbury, Spencer, relationship with, 14-15
  Truman, Bess Wallace, marriage relationship, 22

  Waltner, Marion, 16
  Welch, Cass, 9, 20