Harry S. Truman

==Early life, family, and education==
{{stack|float=left|[[File:Harry ca. 1897.jpg|thumb|left|Truman at age 13 in 1897]]}}

Truman was born in [[Lamar, Missouri]], on May 8, 1884, the oldest child of John Anderson Truman and [[Martha Ellen Young Truman]]. He was named for his maternal uncle, Harrison "Harry" Young. His middle initial, "S", is not an abbreviation of one particular name. Rather, it honors both his grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young, a somewhat common practice in the [[American South]] at the time.{{sfn|McCullough|1992|p=37}}{{efn|name=initialS}} A brother, John Vivian, was born soon after Harry, followed by sister Mary Jane.{{sfn|McCullough|1992|pp=27, 37}} While Truman's ancestry was primarily [[English Americans|English]], he also had some [[Scots-Irish Americans|Scots-Irish]], [[German Americans|German]], and [[French Americans|French]] ancestry.<ref>{{cite web |author1= Niel Johnson |author2= Verna Gail Johnson |title=Rooted in History: The Genealogy of Harry S. Truman |year=1999 |url=https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/genealogy/?m=g_essay | publisher = Harry S. Truman Library – Genealogy | access-date = May 6, 2018}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ulsterscotsagency.com/fs/doc/new_range_of_ulster-scots_booklets/US_and_USA_Presidents_BK3_AW_6.pdf|title=Ulster-Scots and the United States Presidents|publisher=Ulster Scots Agency |access-date=July 12, 2010}}</ref>

John Truman was a farmer and livestock dealer. The family lived in Lamar until Harry was ten months old, when they moved to a farm near [[Harrisonville, Missouri]]. They next moved to [[Belton, Missouri|Belton]] and in 1887 to his grandparents' {{convert|600|acre|ha|adj=on}} farm in [[Grandview, Missouri|Grandview]].{{sfn|Truman Library, Birth|2012}} When Truman was six, his parents moved to [[Independence, Missouri]], so he could attend the [[Presbyterian]] Church Sunday School. He did not attend a conventional school until he was eight years old.{{sfn|McCullough|1992|pp=37, 77, 1112}} While living in Independence, he served as a [[Shabbos goy]] for Jewish neighbors, doing tasks for them on [[Shabbat]] that their religion prevented them from doing on that day.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Devine, Michael J.|title=Harry S. Truman, the State of Israel, and the Quest for Peace in the Middle East|date=2009|publisher=Truman State Univ Press|isbn=978-1-935503-80-4|page=93}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Schultz, Joseph P.|title=Mid-America's Promise: A Profile of Kansas City Jewry|date=1982|publisher=Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Kansas City|page=33}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=San Francisco Jewish Bulletin, Volume 129|publisher=Jewish Community Publications|year=1979|page=v}}</ref>

Truman was interested in music, reading, and history, all encouraged by his mother, with whom he was very close. As president, he solicited political as well as personal advice from her.{{sfn|Oshinsky|2004|pp=365–380}} Truman learned to play the [[piano]] at age seven and took lessons from Mrs. E.C. White, a well-respected teacher in [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]].{{sfn|McCullough|1992|p=52}} He got up at five o'clock every morning to practice the piano, which he studied more than twice a week until he was fifteen, becoming quite a skilled player.{{sfn|McCullough|1992|p=38}} Truman worked as a page at the [[1900 Democratic National Convention]] in [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]];{{sfn | Ferrell |1994|p=87}} his father had many friends active in the Democratic Party who helped young Harry to gain his first political position.{{sfn|Truman Library|2012aa}}

After graduating from [[William Chrisman High School|Independence High School]] in 1901,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/education/student-resources/places/independence/columbian-school-ott-school-and-independence-hs|title=Columbian School, Ott School & Independence High School|website=trumanlibrary.gov|author=Anon|year=2021|publisher=[[Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum]]|quote= "Readers of good books are preparing themselves for leadership. Not all readers become leaders. But all leaders must be readers." (Post Presidential Papers, Desk File.)}}</ref> Truman took classes at Spalding's Commercial College, a Kansas City business school. He studied bookkeeping, shorthand, and typing but stopped after a year.{{sfn|Ferrell|1994|pp=25–26}}