opened a haberdashery in Kansas City. The store closed down after three years
and Harry spent the next dozen years paying off creditors (DeGregorio, 2001;
Whitney and Whitney, 1993)
John Anderson, a lifelong Democrat, also instilled in his son a love of politics.
Harry’s first exposure to the political world was during 1900, when he served
as a page at the Democratic National Convention in Kansas City. After his
father died in 1914, Harry served the remainder of his appointed job as road
overseer of Jackson County, MO. In 1922, with the help of the Thomas
Pendergast Democratic machine, Truman was elected judge for the Eastern
District of Jackson County, a position whose authority was similar to a
county executive. Though defeated for reelection to that post, he was
elected as presiding judge of the latter county in 1926. In these positions
as well as in later posts as president of the Greater Kansas City Plan
Association and director of the National Conference on City Planning,
Truman gained a reputation as a reformer who cut government waste and
reduced debt (DeGregorio, 2001).
In 1933, Harry Truman was recruited by the Franklin Roosevelt
administration to serve as Missouri reemployment director for the Federal
Emergency Relief Administration. A year later, Truman ran for the
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Convention