Q 01/05

Who won the 1952 election to succeed Truman as president?

A) Adlai Stevenson

B) Dwight Eisenhower

C) Thomas Dewey

D) Robert Taft

Answer · why

B) Dwight Eisenhower

Dwight Eisenhower followed Truman, the 33rd president, into office; a 1947 diary entry shows Truman had once offered to run as the general's vice pres...

Q 02/05

What does the 'S' in Harry S. Truman stand for?

A) His uncle Samuel

B) The Shipp family name

C) His grandfather Solomon

D) Nothing in particular

Answer · why

D) Nothing in particular

Nothing in particular: his parents settled on a bare S as a compromise between the names of his two grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Yo...

Q 03/05

In which Missouri town did Truman grow up and later retire after his presidency?

A) Independence

B) Grandview

C) Harrisonville

D) St. Joseph

Answer · why

A) Independence

Independence: the family moved there in 1890, and at the First Presbyterian Sunday school young Harry met Bess Wallace, the girl he would marry in 191...

Q 04/05

Which instrument did young Truman practise at five o'clock every morning?

A) Piano

B) Cornet

C) Cello

D) Violin

Answer · why

A) Piano

Piano: he practised two hours before school and dreamed of becoming a concert pianist, later admitting that as a boy he was 'kind of a sissy'.

Q 05/05

Why was Truman refused an appointment to West Point?

A) He was too short

B) A heart murmur

C) Flat feet

D) Poor eyesight

Answer · why

D) Poor eyesight

Poor eyesight kept him out: nearly blind without his thick glasses, he got into the Missouri National Guard in 1905 by memorizing the eye chart.