1/8/2024 0 Comments Palm shaded key west beaches![]() ![]() ![]() When Truman was ready he took off his sun helmet and went in for a swim. After breakfast the president worked on his mail until about 10:00 a.m., then gathered aides and walked with them to Truman Beach to soak up the sun, tell stories, discuss the day’s news or government business, and watch games of beach volleyball or darts. Hassett, his correspondence secretary or Clark Clifford, chief counsel, speechwriter, and political tactician. They might include Fleet Admiral William Leahy, his chief of staff William D. The president was often joined at the breakfast table by members of his senior staff, some of whom shared the house with him. Its crew had breakfast ready when Truman returned to the Little White House, usually around 8:00 a.m. The presidential yacht Williamsburg docked nearby to offer communications and logistical support. and took a bracing morning walk, ranging the tree-shaded streets of the submarine base and sometimes venturing into town. ![]() The president quickly settled into a Key West routine. Once he started swimming there the press named it “Truman Beach.” 5 The navy hauled in tons of new sand to build up and improve the beach, constructing a small cabana as a place to change into swimming suits or step out of the sun. The sand was sparse, and the underlying crushed coral could cut a swimmer’s feet. Located on a spit of land near the Civil War-era Fort Zachary Taylor, it had its drawbacks. When Truman’s choice of Key West was made known, the navy designated a former enlisted men’s beach for his use. Impressed with the new style and comfort of the place, Truman told his wife: “I’ve a notion to move the Capitol to Key West and just stay.” 4 After Truman won his election in 1948, the navy had the house professionally redecorated, hanging maritime paintings and prints borrowed from the U.S. Navy in 1890, it had screened and louvered porches that filtered the midday sun, welcomed the ocean breezes, and assured privacy. The president slept in the northeast bedroom on the second floor of the 10-room, West Indian-style Commandant’s House, which soon became universally known as the Little White House. “From the first day he saw the advantages it offered.” 3 Rigdon, who managed the president’s vacation workday. “Down there the president felt that he could step out of the house and walk around without every person he encountered wanting to stop him and talk to him,” said Commander William M. The president could swim on a beach reserved for him, nap in the afternoon, sip a bourbon if he felt like it, and play poker until midnight. Off-shore, the cobalt-blue reaches of the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico offer deep-sea fishing for yellowfin, grouper, amberjack, mackerel, and barracuda.įor Truman, the navy submarine base at Key West offered a degree of privacy, security, and freedom unavailable in most vacation spots. Coconut palms, purple and red bougainvillea, frangipani, red and pink hibiscus, and tinted oleanders thrive in the frost-free tropical climate. 2Īt the end of the island chain stretching from Florida into the Gulf of Mexico, the coral island of Key West-4 miles long and two miles wide-is the southernmost point in the United States. He timed his escapes for the fall or late winter, trading Washington’s cold and often snowy weather for the warm breezes that blew through what the newspapers variously called the whispering, rustling, or swaying palms. Truman visited Key West 11 times from November 1946 to March 1952, vacationing and working there in good times and bad for a total of 175 days. Arriving at Key West in the giddy aftermath of Truman’s dazzling upset election victory in 1948, Vice President-Elect Alben Barkley took in the president’s vivid shirt, jaunty cap, and casual slacks. And that led to “the Key West uniform” and contributed to the breezy informality of all of the president’s Florida vacations. Since there were far more than the president could wear, he had dozens laid out on the lawn for others to take. When photographs of Truman wearing them hit the newspapers, people showered the Little White House at Key West, Florida, with gift shirts. Others simply called them Harry Truman shirts. They proclaimed temporary independence from the mansion Truman called “the big white jail.” Some people found them gaudy, garish, and unpresidential. They represented a break from the blue-suit, white-shirt formality that had been Harry Truman’s hallmark since his days as a Kansas City haberdasher. The president’s shirts were loose, comfortable, vividly patterned, and tropically bright. ![]()
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