Harry S. Truman was born on a farm near Lamer, Mo., on May 8, 1884. During World War I, he served in France as a captain with the 129th Field Artillery. He married Bess Wallace in 1919. After engaging briefly and unsuccessfully in the haberdashery business in Kansas City, Mo., Truman entered local politics. Under the sponsorship of Thomas Pendergast, Democratic boss of Missouri, he held a number of local offices in a notoriously corrupt political area. In 1934, he was elected to the US Senate and reelected in 1940. …
