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Truman leverages his knowledge of Presidential history to defend his refusal to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee
Truman leverages his knowledge of Presidential history to defend his refusal to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee
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Truman, Harry S. (1884-1972) Truman leverages his deep knowledge of Presidential history to defend his refusal to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee based on "... precedents commencing with George Washington himself in 1796. Since his day, Presidents Jefferson, Monroe, Jackson, Tyler, Polk, Fillmore, Buchanan, Lincoln, Grant, Hayes, Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, Coolidge, Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt"

Document Signed, "Harry Truman," 3 pages, 8.5" x 11", [Independence, Mo.], November 11, 1953, being a mimeographed copy of Truman's letter to Congressman Harold H. Velde, Chairman of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), refusing to appear before the committee, issued as a press release. Two minor toned spots not affecting text, minor corner crease to page three, else very fine condition.

Truman's response to the HUAC subpoena reads in full: "I have your subpoena dated November 9, 1953, directing my appearance before your Committee on Friday, November 13th, in Washington. The subpoena does not state the matters upon which you seek my testimony, but I assume from the press stories that you seek to examine me with respect to matters which occurred during my tenure of the Presidency of the United States. In spite of personal willingness to cooperate with your Committee, I feel constrained by my duty to the people of the United States to decline to comply with the subpoena. In doing so, I am carrying out the provisions of the Constitution of the United States; and am following a long line of precedents commencing with George Washington himself in 1796. Since his day, Presidents Jefferson, Monroe, Jackson, Tyler, Polk, Fillmore, Buchanan, Lincoln, Grant, Hayes, Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, Coolidge, Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt have declined to respond to subpoenas or demands for information of various kinds by Congress. The underlying reason for this clearly established and universally recognized Constitutional doctrine has be succinctly set forth by Charles Warren, one of our leading Constitutional authorities, as follows: 'In this long series of contests by the Executive to maintain his Constitutional integrity, one sees a legitimate conclusion from our theory of Government. Under our Constitution, each branch of the Government is designed to be a coordinate representative of the will of the people...Defence [sic] by the Executive of his Constitutional powers becomes, in very truth, therefore, defence of popular rights -- defence of power which the people granted to him. It was in that sense that President Cleveland spoke of his duty to the people not to relinquish any of the powers of his great office. It was in that sense that President Buchanan stated the people have "rights and prerogatives" in the execution of his office by the President which every President is under a duty to see "shall never be violated in his person" but "pass to his successors unimpaired by the adoption of a dangerous precedent" In maintaining his rights against a trespassing Congress, the President defends not himself, but popular government; he represents not himself but he People.' President Jackson repelled an attempt by the Congress to break down the separation of powers in these words: 'For myself I shall repel all such attempts as an invasion of the principles of justice as well as of the Constitution, and I shall esteem it my sacred duty to the People of the United States to resist them as I would the establishment of a Spanish Inquisition.' I might commend to your reading the opinion of one of the Committees of the House of Representatives in 1879, House Report 141, march 3, 18970, 45th Cong. 3rd Sess., in which the House Judiciary Committee said the following: 'The Executive is as independent of either house of Congress as either house of Congress is independent of him, and they cannot call for the records of his action or the action of his officers against his consent, any more than he can call for any of the journals and records of the House or SenateÉ.' It must be obvious to you that if the doctrine of separation of powers and the independence of the Presidency is to have any validity at all, it must be equally applicable to a President after his term of office has expired when he is sought to be examined with respect to any acts occurring while he is President. The doctrine would be shattered, and the President, contrary to our fundamental theory of Constitutional Government, would become a mere arm of the Legislative Branch of the Government if he would feel during his term of office that his every act might be subject to official inquiry and possible distortion for political purposes. If your intention however is to inquire into any acts as a private individual either before or after my Presidency and unrelated to any acts as President, I shall be happy to appear."

In response, Velde, wrote in a published statement: "... I regret very much that Mr. Truman evidently does not intend to answer several pertinent questions which the committee desired to ask him, respecting his relationship with Harry Dexter White, described last week by Attorney General Brownell as a 'spy' for the Soviet Union... " Citing Truman's receipt of a warning from the F.B.I. when he nominated him to head the International Monetary Fund, "The committee wished to determine whether Mr. Truman actually had received this report personally, prior to the issuance by him of a strong letter of recommendation of White's behalf. The personal loyalty of Mr. Truman has not bee put in question but the collective security of the people of the United States was certainly jeopardized by failure on the part of some responsible authority in the previous Administration in failing to alert the Senate of the United States and the American people as to the nature of White's alleged activities. Mr. Truman's refusal to elaborate upon his knowledge of the White case leaves the entire matter in limbo. The committee has no intention of attempting to force the cooperation of those, although shielded by an uncertain and ill-defined immunity, have a continuing and sacred duty to cooperate in all respects where the public safety and the public welfare are concerned." (New York Times, November 13, 1953, p. 14)

Truman had been subpoenaed in connection with an inquiry into the affairs of Harry Dexter White, the former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury whom Truman had appointed as director of the International Monetary Fund in 1946 despite warnings from the F.B.I. that White was suspected of espionage. For reasons unknown, the Senate was never made aware of the report and confirmed his nomination soon after Truman submitted White for confirmation. A year later, in June 1947, White abruptly resigned his position after Attorney General Tom Clark ordered a federal grand jury to look into accusations made against him by a Soviet defector, Elizabeth Bentley. White testified before HUAC in August 1948 that he was not a communist, and died ten days later from a massive heart attack. Despite his death, the case continued to fester, reinforced by accusations made by Whittaker Chambers and then later Senators William Jenner and Joseph McCarthy when the F.B.I. revealed that it had warned Truman about White six weeks prior to nominating him to direct the I.M.F. Evidence gleaned from the Soviet archives in recent years confirms that White had been indeed a high level source for Soviet intelligence.

Truman the historian.

From an early age, Truman was captivated by history. In his 1955 Memoirs he write that his "debt to history is one which cannot be calculated. I know of no other motivation which so accounts for my awakening interest as a young lad in the principles of leadership and government." Although he lacked a college education, Truman was a voracious reader of history, claiming to have read every volume in his local public library by age 14. When Truman turned 10, his mother presented him with Charles F. Horne's Great Men and Famous Women which deeply influenced his view on history, which he viewed simply as "the life and actions of great men." This simplistic attitude drew the ire of many professional historians (whom Truman deeply distrusted). After speaking with Truman in March 1959, Arthur Schlesinger remarked in his diary that the former president "as usual," discussed American history, offering numerous facts and opinions, "a good many of them wrong." Despite his narrow focus and his lack of professional training, history provided Truman with the critical tools of governance. As one observer described it, Truman as President "internalized" history and looked to it for guidance whenever a new problem or issue arose. His study of the "life and actions of great men" gave him ready examples and precedents to justify his decisions. One of his other core beliefs in American history was in the inherent decency and common sense of the American people to overcome periods of hysteria whipped up by demagogues like Joseph McCarthy (who, he had predicted, would burn out by 1956 - he was only two years off). That same faith in the goodness of Americans also led him to resist any constitutional reforms to prevent other demagogues from rising to power. (Samuel W. Rushay, Jr., "Harry Truman's History Lessons," Prologue, Vol 41, No. 1, Spring 2009)

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