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Motion Picture MP2006-45

Truman: A Self-Portrait

Administrative Information

Original Format(s)
Motion Picture
Footage
880 feet
Running Time
21 minutes
Film Gauge
16mm
Sound
sound
Color
Black & White
Produced by
National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Restrictions
Restricted
Description

Biographical film about Harry S. Truman, from childhood to end of his presidency in 1953. There is a short segment of President Truman's August 6, 1945 speech on the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

Date(s)
ca.
1984

SD-quality copies of already digitized motion pictures are available for $20, and HD-quality copies of already digitized motion pictures are $50. Copies of motion pictures not already digitized will incur additional costs.

This item does not circulate but reproductions may be purchased.

To request a copy of this item, please contact truman.reference@nara.gov​​​​​​​

Please note that this video belongs to a different video collection than the items available to be borrowed by teachers, from our Education Department.

Moving Image Type
Motion Picture

Shot List

  • Reel 1
     
00:30   Harry Truman speaks during a campaign, calling the Democratic party the “party of the people.”
00:34   The title appears: Truman: a Self-Portrait.
00:40   Photos from Truman’s childhood and youth are shown (some have been colorized) while the narrator reads in Mr. Truman’s words, Truman’s childhood, his meeting of Bess Wallace, graduating high school, and losing the family farm.
01:46   The narrator talks about Truman’s military experiences such as his going to France in 1918 and commanding a battalion. After the military, he married Bess in 1919, and Margaret was born in 1924.
03:07   Mr. Truman and Eddie Jacobson opened a store (the haberdashery), but during the “squeeze of 1921” they were forced to close. Then Mr. Truman ran for Judge, after which he ran for the Senate.
05:13   Mr. Truman runs as the Vice Presidential candidate with Franklin D. Roosevelt. He speaks at the Democratic convention in 1944. Shortly thereafter he meets with President Roosevelt.
06:23   Newsreel shows President Roosevelt was re-elected. Vice President Truman is seen taking the oath of office at the 1945 inauguration.
07:33   President Truman speaks about World War II.
07:55   At Potsdam, President Truman talks with Churchill and Stalin.
08:09   He makes a speech wherein he mentions destroying Japan’s ability to make war (August 6, 1945 announcement of the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima on board the U. S. S. Augusta). The bomb is dropped and Japan surrenders.
08:57   President Truman accepts the Potsdam Declaration. In Times Square, two million people celebrate.
09:45   Newsreel: “President Pleads for Price Curb.” – Ed Herlihy
10:34   President Truman speaking with George C. Marshall; the Marshall Plan is announced.
10:57   Russia blockades Berlin, and the Berlin Airlift arises.
11:25   Truman is seen taking his daily walk.
11:45   Truman Family Home Movies (Truman plays the piano solo).
12:08   Bess and Margaret are at the dinner table with Mrs. Thomas Strickler. They then stroll about the lawn.
12:40   Truman decides to run again even though his popularity is at an all time low. A man is seen with a sign reading: “We are MILD about Harry.” South Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi walk out of the Democratic National Convention.
13:46   President Truman accepts the nomination on July 15, 1948. He, Bess, and Margaret board the train for the whistle stop campaign.
14:36   Truman makes a campaign speech.
15:10   His opponent, Governor Thomas E. Dewey votes in New York; then, we see Mr. Truman and family vote in Independence.
15:53   News commentator H.V. Kaltenborn talks about how evenly the United States is divided.
16:17   Herbert Brownell, Jr. (the Dewey Campaign Manager) announces that Dewey won New York.
16:53   President Truman speaks at the Presidential Elector’s Dinner and imitates Kaltenborn. He then takes the oath of office again on January 20, 1949.
18:39   Military footage is shown, then Truman says that the Korean War must be limited to avoid World War 3.
19:30   President Truman meets with General Douglas MacArthur, then, after General MacArthur does not heed his commands, Truman relieves him of duty.
20:19   President Truman presents Adlai Stevenson at the Democratic convention in 1952.
20:42   The Truman’s vote in Independence.
21:04   After his victory is announced, Dwight D. Eisenhower is seen at his inauguration.
21:39   Independence, Missouri.: January, 1953: Harry and Bess talk to reporters, then former President Truman waves.