Dates: 1931-1945
The Thomas McGee Papers contain correspondence between Harry S. Truman, Thomas McGee, and others, mostly relating to political and personal affairs.
Size: 2.5 inches (about 35 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: The donor gave to the U.S. government its copyrights in this material. Documents created by U.S. government officials in the course of their duties are in the public domain. Copyright interest in other documents presumably belongs to the creators of those documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: Aaron Davis (2014) as part of the Truman Library Internship Program.
Supervising Archivists: Randy Sowell and David Clark.
[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]
Thomas McGee (1859 - 1953) was a Kansas City businessman and friend of Harry S. Truman. In 1910, he founded the insurance firm that later became Thomas McGee and Sons. He was a prominent figure in Kansas City civic and political affairs, as were his three sons, Joseph J. McGee, Thomas Francis "Frank" McGee, and Louis McGee.
Along with Mr. Truman, Mr. McGee was a supporter of the Democratic Party and the Kansas City political organization headed by Thomas J. Pendergast.
The Thomas McGee Papers contain correspondence between Harry S. Truman and Thomas McGee during Truman's time as Presiding Judge of the Jackson County Court and U. S. Senator from Missouri. Also included is some correspondence with others and a copy of an autographed photograph of Truman, dated 1945.
The collection is arranged in a single series, the Subject File, and primarily contains letters between Truman and McGee. The letters come from a period of time when Truman was an associate of Tom Pendergast, political boss of the Democratic Party in Kansas City. One of the letters to McGee has a handwritten note by Truman asking, "How's the Boss?" The letters discuss requests for Truman to perform certain favors in his power as Presiding Judge or Senator.
The correspondence in this collection is important because it deals directly with Truman's involvement in the Pendergast machine. A number of the letters contain references to Pendergast and issues in which he was interested.
More correspondence between Truman and the McGee family can be found in the Harry S. Truman Papers (President's Personal File and Post-Presidential Papers).
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Container Nos. |
Series |
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1 |
SUBJECT FILE, 1931-1945 Correspondence between Harry S. Truman and Thomas McGee, other correspondence, and a copy of an autographed photograph. Arranged alphabetically. |
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Box 1
- Correspondence
- Photograph