honton (11/01/82)
Honest Abe may not of had a middle name, but what was Harry S. Truman's middle name? chas
sysred (11/02/82)
Not only did he not have a middle name, he NEVER put a period after the initial!! - Ralph
mag (11/02/82)
It's "Harry S Truman," NEVER "Harry S. Truman," since he had no middle name, or rather, his middle name was "S". News media get this wrong constantly. I believe that the story behind it is that there were sets of relatives named both Shippe and Steele (or something close), and that rather than choose one and offend the others, "S" was chosen as a compromise. Mike Gray, BTL, WH.
wmartin (11/02/82)
Just "S"; not "S." -- the initial only.
paul (11/02/82)
The "S" in Harry S Truman is not an initial for anything. The convention of appending a "." to the S is of relatively recent origin. When HST himself signed his name there was no period after the S, and during his career, most of his correspondents did likewise. I understand that he felt that an up and coming politician should have a middle initial, so he picked one out. Any body there in St. Louis? Ask your Mom or Dad about the Prendergast (Pendergast?) machine. Prendergast was the local version of Daley in Chicago, or Boss Curley in Boston. Truman got his start as a "lieutenant" in the Democratic party there. Not afraid to admit that I'm a history Ph.D student -- Paul Killey. P.S. Any other closet liberal artists out there in the world of the net?
reid (11/02/82)
Not only did Harry S Truman not have a middle name, but you really aren't supposed to put a '.' after it, since it isn't an abbreviation for his real middle name, it *is* his middle name (The S, that is...) Glenn Reid
honton (11/03/82)
I always had heard that Truman said something to the effect that the S was for show. chas
kos (11/04/82)
#R:uofm-cv:-11200:uiucdcs:9600007:000:171 uiucdcs!kos Nov 4 14:33:00 1982 I hate to disagree with an historian, but the Prendergast machine was in Kansas City, not St. Louis. an old KC boy, Phil Kos ...decvax!pur-ee!uiucdcs!kos