- Date:
- April 12, 1945
- Original Format:
- Photographic Print
- Item#:
- 33.061
Truman Takes Oath
Here is Harry Truman at the White House at 7:09 p.m. on April 12, 1945. The nation had been without a president for just two and a half hours -- ever since Franklin Roosevelt died in Warm Springs, Georgia. Bess Truman stands to the new president's left. Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone administers the oath. The actual ceremony took place just prior to this picture—and then was repeated for the benefit of photographers. After he swore the oath, Truman kissed the Bible that can be seen here under his hand.