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Edward D. McKim Oral History Interviews

 

Oral History Interviews with
Edward D. McKim

Served under Capt. Harry S. Truman, Battery D, 129th Field Artillery Regiment, 1917-19, and, subsequently in the U.S. Army Reserve Corps with Mr. Truman. Chief Administrative Assistant to the President (1945) and Administrative Assistant to the Federal Loan Administrator (1945); member of the Board of Directors of the Panama Canal Company, 1950-53; and close personal friend of Mr. Truman since World War I.

Interview Transcripts
February 17 | & February 19, 1964

[Notices and Restrictions | List of Subjects Discussed]

 


Notice
These are transcripts of tape-recorded interviews conducted for the Harry S. Truman Library. A draft of each transcript was edited by the interviewee but only minor emendations were made; therefore, the reader should remember that these are essentially transcripts 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 oral history interview.

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 They may not be published in full except by permission of the Harry S. Truman Library.

 


 

List of Subjects Discussed

 

Allen, Captain Charles, 7, 8, 9
Allen, Charles B., 2
Allen, George, 112, 118, 127, 128-129, 144, 163
Allen, Pete, 2
American Legion Conventions:

  • Andrews, T. Coleman, 159, 160
    Army and Navy Surplus Property Board, 132, 133-136
    Aylward, James P., 58, 59

     

    Barry, Francis, 31
    Battle of Dugny, 78-79, 81
    "Battle of Who Ran" (World War I), 18-19
    Bendetsen, Karl R., 160
    Berg, Archbishop Gerald T., 168
    Board of Election Commissioners, 5
    Bowman, Fred, 118-119
    Boyle, William, 91-92
    Brannon, Francis A., 15
    Breen, William H., 15
    Brice, George, 33
    Burke, Edward, 77-78
    Butler, Paul, 164
    Byrnes, James F., 97, 98

    Camp Coetquidon, 15, 22
    Camp Doniphan, 2, 14
    Camp Ripley, 50, 73, 74
    Canfil, Fred, 36, 37, 63-65, 110
    Carpenter, Terry, 61, 62
    Central High School, 28
    Cheppy Orchard (France), 17-18
    Chow, Albert, 139
    Cochran, Governor Roy, 35-36
    Conboy, Francis L., 15
    Condon, Ed, 82-83
    Connelly, Matthew, 113, 118, 124, 147
    Creighton University (Omaha.), 167-168

    Davis, William, 121, 122, 123
    DeLasalle Academy, 2, 13, 15
    Dickmann, Bernard F., 36, 72
    Dobel, Riley E., 15
    Donnelly, Jiggs, 26, 32
    Doorly, Henry, 149
    Drum, Robert, 147, 148
    Duncan, Richard, 89-90

    Early, Stephen, 127
    Eisenhower, Dwight D., 129, 130, 131, 142, 155
    England, Clarence, 42
    Eppley, Eugene, 150, 151
    Evans, Milton R., 23
    Evans, Tom L., 100, 101, 116-117, 118

    Fawcett, William, 52-53
    Fisher, Frank, 49
    Flaherty, Daniel L., 15
    Flannigan, Mike, 60
    Ft. Riley, 29
    Ft. Sill, 3
    French Lick Springs, Indiana, 37
    Fulton, Hugh, 113, 118, 126

    Garner, John Nance, 111
    Griswold, Dwight, 72-74
    Guffey, Senator Joseph, 37, 38-39

    Hannegan, Robert E., 72, 98, 101, 127
    "Henry Stanley" (railroad car), 111
    Higginbotham, John J., 15
    Hoffman, Frank G., 21
    Hopkins, Harry, 38
    Householder, Victor, 79-80, 81
    Hughes, Maj. General Everett, 172

    Ickes, Harold, 38, 85-86

    Jackson County (Mo.) campaign and election of 1922, 42-44
    Jacobson, Edward, 14, 30-31

    Kansas City Post, 8
    Kennedy, John F., 164-166
    Kenny, Robert, 139
    Kirby, William, 76
    Klemm, Colonel Karl D., 20-21, 25, 34
    Knowlson, James, 132
    Ku Klux Klan, 45-46

    McCabe, Thomas, 132, 134-135
    McDonald, Fred, 13, 15
    McKim, Edward D.:

    • Army and Navy Surplus Property Board, 132, 133-135
      and 1944 Democratic National Convention, 96-104
      and 1956 Democratic National Convention, 163-164
      demotion in rank, World War I, 11
      Foamite Fire Foam Company, 28
      insurance field, 29
      Jackson County (Mo.) campaign and election (1922), 42-43
      Lt. Governor of Nebraska, candidacy for, 61
      Missouri National Guard, recruitment for, 5
      Nebraska legislature, files for, 58
      Nebraska legislature, election to and service in, 60-61, 63
      oilfields, worker in, 27
      Omaha, moves to, 47
      as poker player, 51
      Truman, Harry S., advice to, on candidacy for Congress (1934), 57-58
      Truman, Harry S., April 13, 1945, visit with, 124-125
      U.S. Army Reserves, commission expires, 94
      U.S. Army Reserves, commissioned in, 28
      Vice Presidential campaign tour of 1944, duties in, 117-118
      White House, visits with Vice President Truman, 105-106
      World War I, service in France, 78-81
    McLaughlin, Charles F., 74-75
    Madison Square Garden rally (1944), 114-115
    Mansfield, Mike, 137, 138
    Marks, Theodore (Ted), 50
    Messall, Victor, 71
    Messenheimer, C.A., 154, 155
    "Military Order of the Flying Coat Tails," 52
    Morrison, Governor Frank, 169

    Neal, Fletcher, 122, 123

    Oak Grove (Mo.) picnic, 1922 campaign, 42-43
    Omaha, President Truman's 1948 campaign appearance in, 145-151
    Omaha, visit by former President Truman to, (1962), 167-171
    129th Field Artillery, Battery D:

    • reunions of, 32-33
      role in Truman campaigns (1920's), 44
      in World War I, 2, 12-13, 15-26

    Panama Canal Company, 143, 158-161
    Patton, General George S., Jr., 172-174
    Paul, Major General Bert, 36
    Pearson, Drew, 106, 107, 173-174
    Pendergast, James M., 59
    Pendergast, Thomas J. (Tom), 57
    Peterson, Val, 140, 141, 153-154, 155-157
    Pick, Lt. General Lewis A., 139-142, 143
    Pope Pius XII, 132
    Presidential campaign (1948), 152-153
    Presidential inauguration (January 1945), 118-119

    Reinsch, Leonard, 118
    Remon, Colonel Jose, 161-162
    Rice, Carl, 157
    Ridge, Albert A., 15, 31
    Ritter, Captain Rollin, 7, 9-11, 12
    Roberts, Roy, 97
    Rockhurst College, 2, 7, 13
    Roosevelt, Franklin D., 37-38, 105-106

    St. Mary's College (Kansas), 7, 8
    St. Patrick's School, 1
    Salisbury, Spencer, 46, 48-49
    Sandifer, Edward L., 16, 22, 23
    Savage, John, 149
    Sawyer, Charles, 134
    Schmidt, Ernest L., 15
    Schwellenbach, Lewis, 112
    2nd Field Artillery, Missouri National Guard, 2
    77th Field Artillery, 68
    Sherlock, Joseph W., 15
    Sherman, Hunter, 33
    Sinatra, Frank, 115
    Snyder, John W., 50, 51-52, 68, 69, 70, 129, 133, 136
    Symington, Stuart, 136-137

    Taggart, Tom, 37
    Teasley, "Cushion foot," 27
    Thacher, Captain John, 7, 12
    35th Division reunion (1948), 146
    Tiernan, L. Curtis, 20
    Tobin, Maurice, 113, 119
    Truman Committee, 90-91
    Truman, Harry S.;

    • airplane, first ride in, 42-43
      April 12, 1945, events of, 120-124
      baseball game, World Series (1944), 108, 109
      Battery D, assumes command of, 15-16
      Battery D.reunion, pays for damages, 33-34
      commander of Battery D, saves lives as, 24
      Democratic National Convention in 1944, nomination for vice presidency, 96-104
      estimation of, 174-176
      farewell dinner (1952), 163
      football game, attends with Edward McKim, 87, 88
      France, service in, during World War I, 3, 4, 17-26
      haberdashery, 27, 30
      as a hunter, 53, 54
      Jackson County judge, decision to be candidate (1922), 41-42
      McKim, Edward D., first meeting with, 5
      McKim, Edward D., socializing with, 44-45
      Omaha, Presidential speech in (June 1948), 145-151
      as a poker player, 51, 127-128, 129-131
      Presidential campaign of 1948, remarks on Republican complacency, 152-153
      promotion to Captain, 12-13
      Roosevelt, Franklin D., meets with, 38
      Senatorial campaign of 1934, decision to be candidate, 55-59
      speech on radio, for McKim's candidacy, 62
      trophy, from Battery D (1919), 25-26
      Vaughan, Harry, accompanied to West Coast by (World War II), 92-93
      vice presidential nominee, campaign tour (1944), 108-118
      as Vice President, visits White House with Edward McKim, 105-106
    Truman, Margaret, 65, 66
    Truman, Mrs. Harry S. (Bess), 49, 116

    Uncles, John J., 15

    Vardaman, Jake, 54-55
    Vatican, representative to, 131-132
    Vaughan, Harry, 40-41, 50-51, 67-71, 92-93, 122, 124, 127
    Vice Presidential nomination, 1944 Democratic, 96-104
    Vice Presidential campaign, 1944 Democratic, 108-118

    Walker, Frank, 127
    Wallace, Henry, 102-103, 114-115
    Walsh, Jerome, 89
    Whitney, Harry, 84, 85
    Wilson, Colonel Arthur, 92
    Wooden, McKinley, 22
    Woodrow Wilson (movie), 104, 105, 107
    Woolridge, Meigs, 18

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