Whistle-Stop Campaign

Truman had crossed the western part of the nation some throughout the summer, but the 21,000-mile whistle-stop campaign began in earnest on September 17, 1948, when the Ferdinand Magellan, Truman's personal train car, stood waiting at the end of the seventeen-car special train at Washington, D.C.'s Union Station. For thirty-three days, the Magellan crossed the country, with a man determined to win re-election. The arduous train tour was a test of his courage and stamina.

Contributed by Marilyn Harlan

"I was a 14 year old high school student when President Truman made a campaign stop in Pacific Junction, Iowa, a small railroad and farming community thirty-five miles north of the Missouri border with a population of around 500. Everyone in town and others from the surrounding area came to see the man who thought we were important enough to address. I remember the band playing and the excitement. I also remember thinking that Margaret was much prettier in person than in the pictures I had seen in the newspaper and that President Truman gave a rousing speech"

Marilyn DeLashmutt Harlan

Contributed by Charlotte E. Riley Buren

"I was almost seven years old when I had the opportunity to accompany my grandfather Wade Riley to Union Station to meet President Harry S. Truman who was coming in on the campaign train. Thursday, September 30, 1948 turned into a warm hazy autumn day in Owensboro, Kentucky and the visit by President Truman was a rare opportunity to see a famous dignitary in person. These were the days before we had television and just being in the throng and seeing the famous people and hearing the music and seeing the red white and blue bunting has left a vivid memory in my mind and heart.

"The train traveled up the Kentucky side of the Ohio River from Henderson to Owensboro and would travel on to Louisville after a fifteen minute stop in Owensboro. President Truman was introduced to the crowd (estimated at 15,000) and gave a short campaign speech, telling the Owensboro audience it was a pleasure to visit Kentucky, which he called "the most spirited state in the nation, except my own state of Missouri"!

"After the brief speech there was quite a bit of activity going on around the platform and my grandfather just lifted me up on the platform and told me to go over and say "Hello Mr. President". I started walking over to where President Truman was sitting and talking to a group of men. When he saw me on the platform he motioned me to come over, he took my hand and asked me my name and how old I was. I remember sitting on his lap and his telling me that he had a little girl and her name is Margaret, but she is older than you are. He picked up one of my long braids and asked me how long I had been growing my hair. It was a short moment in time, but one that I will always treasure... even then I knew that I had met one of the most famous men in the world and his charm, geniality and friendliness came through to a small Kentucky girl."