Sparrow Foot COE - Clinton, MO

 Sparrow Foot COE - Clinton, MO

Corp of Engineer campgrounds are probably our favorite place to stay. We definitely prefer them over the high priced resorts. Many of the resorts are over $100/night and the sites are usually super cramped with very little space between sites and usually, there are no trees.  Our Senior Pass allows us to stay half price- but their rates are already super low. We usually pay $10-12 for an awesome 50 amp site with full hookups.  Most of the Corp parks are on a lake, river or dam, so we usually have a water front view. The sites are never crowded or super close to each other, plus typically we have been lucky enough to be one of only a few campers in the park. The parks are always shaded by mature trees. The sites are often paved and very easy to level the RV. We would be more than happy to camp in nothing but COE parks if they were more readily available in more places. When I compare campgrounds, the COE parks are the ones I use as the basis for my comparison. We have yet to stay in any resorts that were even remotely comparable, much less better than a COE park.

Lisa was hanging out with "Give'em Hell Harry" outside his presidential library and museum.

Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 – December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin Roosevelt and as a United States senator from Missouri from 1935 to January 1945. He assumed the presidency after Roosevelt's unexpected death. Truman implemented the Marshall Plan to rebuild the economy of Western Europe and established both the Truman Doctrine and NATO to contain the expansion of Soviet communism. He proposed numerous liberal domestic reforms, but few were enacted by the conservative coalition that dominated the Congress.

Truman grew up in Independence, Missouri. During World War I, he fought in France as a captain in the Field Artillery. Returning home, he opened a haberdashery in Kansas City, Missouri and was elected as a judge. Truman was elected to the United States Senate from Missouri in 1934. In 1940–1944, he gained national prominence as chairman of the Truman Committee, which was aimed at reducing waste and inefficiency in wartime contracts.

Truman was elected vice-president in 1944 and assumed the presidency 82 days later following the death of Roosevelt. Not until he became president was Truman informed about the ongoing Manhattan Project and the atomic bomb. Truman authorized the first and only use of nuclear weapons in war against Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. Truman's administration engaged in an internationalist foreign policy by working closely with British Prime Minister Clement Attlee. Truman staunchly denounced isolationism. He energized the New Deal coalition during the 1948 presidential election and won a surprise victory against Republican Thomas E. Dewey that secured his own presidential term.

Truman presided over the onset of the Cold War in 1947. He oversaw the Berlin Airlift and Marshall Plan in 1948. With the involvement of the US in the Korean War of 1950–1953, South Korea repelled the invasion by North Korea. Domestically, the postwar economic challenges- such as strikes and inflation, created a mixed reaction over the effectiveness of his administration. In 1948, he proposed Congress pass comprehensive civil rights legislation. Congress refused, so in 1948 Truman issued Executive Order 9980 and Executive Order 9981 which desegregated the armed forces and federal agencies.

He was eligible for reelection in 1952, but with weak polls, he decided not to run. Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower attacked Truman's record and easily won the election. Truman went into a retirement marked by the founding of his presidential library and the publication of his memoirs. It was long thought that his retirement years were financially difficult for Truman, resulting in Congress establishing a pension for former presidents, but evidence eventually emerged that he amassed considerable wealth, some of it while still president. When he left office, Truman's administration was heavily criticized, though critical reassessment of his presidency has improved his reputation among historians and the general population. He is now considered to be one of the country's most successful presidents.

Decades of poor maintenance, the construction of a fourth-story attic during the Coolidge administration, and the addition of a second-floor balcony over the south portico for Harry S. Truman took a great toll on the brick and sandstone structure built around a timber frame. By 1948, the house was declared to be in imminent danger of collapse, forcing President Truman to commission a reconstruction and to live across the street at Blair House from 1949 to 1951.

The work required the complete dismantling of the interior spaces, construction of a new load-bearing internal steel frame, and the reconstruction of the original rooms within the new structure. The total cost of the renovations was about $5.7 million ($64 million in 2022). Some modifications to the floor plan were made, the largest being the repositioning of the grand staircase to open into the Entrance Hall, rather than the Cross Hall. Central air conditioning was added, as well as two additional sub-basements providing space for workrooms, storage, and a bomb shelter. The Trumans moved back into the White House on March 27, 1952.

While the Truman reconstruction preserved the house's structure, much of the new interior finishes were generic and of little historic significance. Much of the original plasterwork, some dating back to the 1814–1816 rebuilding, was too damaged to reinstall, as was the original robust Beaux Arts paneling in the East Room. President Truman had the original timber frame sawed into paneling; the walls of the Vermeil Room, Library, China Room, and Map Room on the ground floor of the main residence were paneled in wood from the timbers.

A replica of the Oval Office during Harry's administration is on display in his library. He was the last President to not use the Resolute Desk.

Harry maintained an office at the Library/Museum where he worked 5-6 days a week until his death.  The office remains as he left it.

The memorial walk leads to the gravesites of Harry and Bess.

President Truman kept this passionate letter from William Banning in his desk drawer. Included with the letter was the Purple Heart earned by Mr. Banning's son, who died in the Korean War. Truman issued the orders for the US military to enter the Korean War in an attempt to limit the Communist invasion.

Lisa was standing with Harry as we left the library. We have really enjoyed visiting the Presidential libraries and museums, but sadly we have missed a few along our journeys. We plan to go back and visit the ones we missed and try to see all the remaining ones.