Landry, Robert B. Papers

Air Force Aide to the President, 1948-1953

The papers of Robert B. Landry document his service as Air Force Aide to President Truman, his personal relationship with Harry S. Truman, and other aspects of his life and military career. The collection includes correspondence between Landry and Truman, and correspondence with others pertaining to Truman, mostly dating from the years after the end of the Truman Presidency in 1953. It also contains newspaper clippings, photographs, two versions of a report to the President that Landry prepared on witch-hunting and political hysteria in America, and other items.

See also Oral History and Landry Files.

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

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ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Size: One linear foot, four linear inches (approximately 2,400 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: Robert B. Landry donated to the U.S. government his copyright interest in all unpublished materials in this collection, and in any of his unpublished writings that may be among other collections received by the U.S. government and maintained in a U.S. government depository. Documents created by U.S. government officials in the course of their duties are in the public domain. Copyright interest in other writings in this collection presumably remains with the authors of the documents or their heirs.
Processed by: Dennis Bilger, Randy Sowell, Sharie Simon, and Janice Davis (2000); Jim Armistead and David Clark (2014).

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

1909 (December 1)		Born, New Orleans, Louisiana
1932		Graduated from U.S. Military Academy and commissioned as Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army
1935		Became pilot in U.S. Army Air Corps
1942-45		Served with Eighth U.S. Air Force in Great Britain during World War II, and awarded Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal, among other decorations
1948-53		Served as first U.S. Air Force Aide to the President, and promoted from rank of Colonel to Major General
1962		Retired from U.S. Air Force with rank of Major General
2000 (July 14)		Died, Scottsdale, Arizona

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COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

The papers of Robert B. Landry mostly relate to his service as Air Force Aide to President Harry S. Truman from 1948 to 1953, and his personal relationship with Harry S. Truman in the years that followed. Landry's papers are arranged in a single Subject File. The collection includes correspondence with Mr. Truman and correspondence with other persons concerning Harry S. Truman. The correspondence is primarily personal in nature, consisting of birthday and Christmas greetings, acknowledgments of gifts, congratulatory letters and messages concerning reunions. Some of the correspondence relates to requests for special consideration for certain Air Force personnel, requests which the former President received from friends and passed on to Landry.

Also included in the collection is a report that Landry prepared, at the President's request, on the subject of mass hysteria and "witch-hunting" in American history. Written by Landry with the assistance of other Air Force personnel, the report was submitted to the President on October 31, 1949. Subsequently, the report was revised by Ken Hechler, a Special Assistant in the White House Office; this revised version can also be found in the Landry Papers. According to Hechler, President Truman frequently used historical information from the "witch-hunting" report in his speeches against McCarthyism.

The Landry Papers also include the scrapbooks, photograph albums, audiovisual materials, certificates, handwritten notes, memorabilia, military orders, and World War II related documents. The clippings and photographs primarily document the activities of Landry and other members of the Truman White House staff, especially their participation in the President's trips, vacations, and ceremonial functions, as well as matters pertaining to the U.S. Air Force.

Materials at the Truman Library relating to Robert B. Landry include two oral history interviews and the Robert B. Landry Files, which are part of the Staff Member and Office Files of the Harry S. Truman Papers.

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