Lockett, Edward B. Papers

Correspondent for Time, Inc., 1942-1947

Edward B. Lockett’s papers include his reports for Time magazine on the vice-presidential campaign of Harry S. Truman, reports written as Time’s White House correspondent during the Truman presidency, his unfinished manuscript of a book on President Truman, and photographs of Mr. Lockett and the president.

[Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List]

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ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Size: Less than one-half of one linear foot (about 800 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: The donor gave to the United States her copyright interest in the unpublished materials in this collection. Copyright interest in other documents presumably belongs to the creators of those documents or their heirs.
Processed by: Dennis E. Bilger (1985).
Updated by: Lani M. Kirsch (2007) as part of the Truman Library Internship Program.
Supervising Archivists: Randy Sowell and David Clark.

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

1905		Born
1942-1944		London bureau chief for Time magazine
1944		Time correspondent for Harry S. Truman's vice-presidential campaign
1945		Time correspondent in Europe during World War II
1945-1947		Time White House correspondent
1947		Became free-lance writer

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COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

The papers of Edward B. Lockett consist mainly of reports he wrote for Time magazine describing the vice-presidential campaign of Harry S. Truman and press conferences during Truman’s presidency. From these experiences Mr. Lockett began to write a book about Truman’s transformation from vice president to president, complete with anecdotal stories, which was incomplete at the time of his death. The collection consists of one series, a Subject File, arranged alphabetically by folder title.

The bulk of the collection consists of reports filed by Mr. Lockett for Time on Senator Truman’s campaign for vice president in 1944, and of reports filed during the correspondent’s assignment to the White House press corps covering President Truman from 1945 to 1947. As one of the few who traveled with Senator Truman during the 1944 campaign and also attended the Truman press conferences, his writings provide a candid but professional perspective of a reporter who witnessed firsthand the transition of Harry Truman from senator to vice president to president.

Lockett’s news reports provided the information that was used to prepare articles in Time. The reports often include the words “not for attribution,” as well as observations and statements that would not appear in the articles. Lockett’s reports include detailed descriptions of President Truman’s press conferences and information on such topics as the 1944 campaign, the objects on the president’s desk, his exercise regimen, and his occasional flashes of anger at negative press coverage.

The remaining writings are the rough drafts of the book Mr. Lockett intended to write on President Truman but was unable to complete before his death. These include the thesis of the proposed book, an outline, and three chapters. One chapter on the 1944 campaign is particularly insightful as to the day-to-day nature of the campaign and the senator’s interaction with people. The manuscript is entitled “Harry Learned Fast.”

Also included are four photographs of Mr. Lockett, three of which show him with President Truman, and correspondence between Mrs. Lockett and the Truman Library.

The Truman Library also has the Frank McNaughton Papers (Washington correspondent, Time, Inc.), who was a contemporary of Edward Lockett, and an oral history interview with Wesley McCune (Executive Assistant to the Secretary of Agriculture, 1948-1953), in which Lockett is mentioned.

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