Elizabeth "Bess" Wallace Truman

Bess and Brownies

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First Ladies - 1900 to 2000

Bess Wallace Truman*

President Harry S. Truman*

Harry and Bess - fishing*
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First Lady Bess and President Harry S. Truman
First Lady - 1945-1953
Quotes from Bess - 

• “I've liked lots of people 'til I went on a picnic jaunt with them.”
• “We are not any of us happy to be where we are but there's nothing to be done about it except to do our best…”

​Factoid - 

• President Truman referred to his wife as "The Boss."  Bess served as First Lady AND she was Harry's secretary!  
• Bess helped to save the White House from a wrecking ball!  She lobbied Congress for funds to preserve the White House's original walls inside a sturdy new steel framework.  

Bio - 

• Elizabeth “Bess” Wallace was in Missouri to a wealthy family. Her father committed suicide when Bess was a teenage, a scandal which caused her dislike for attention from the public.  Bess and Harry Truman met at Sunday School when she was 5 and he was 6; he fell in love.  In high school, Harry was thrilled to carry her books home!   He didn't ever date anyone except Bess, he always knew she was the ONE for him. It took Harry nine years after they started dating for Bess to say "yes" to his proposal - the second time!  Harry went off to War; they married and had a daughter when he returned.
• When the Trumans moved into the White House, it was in terrible structural shape. Bess campaigned and Congress approved a renovation.  The Trumans lived in Blair House during much of Harry's term due to the renovations.
• As First Lady, Bess refused to participate in press conferences, because she didn't want public attention.  However, without drawing attention to herself, Bess worked with her husband in the area of domestic and international politics, even helping him write his speeches.  Bess also never failed to be the perfect hostess for events and support of organizations such as the Girl Scouts and the Red Cross.

About Harry - Harry Truman was the 33rd president.  Harry made the difficult decision to use atomic bombs on Japan, ending World War II five days later. He implemented the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe and helped establish NATO during the early Cold War with the Soviet Union. Domestically, he promoted civil rights and weathered the Korean War and labor unrest.

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Bess's Brownies

Bess was known for her recipes; many of the handwritten ones area still around!  We're breaking with our COOKIE recipes for this one - but brownies are really just bar cookies, right?  Bess's recipe instructions simple said, "Bake at 350 degrees."  We've added a few more details to the steps.

Ingredients
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
1 & 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 ounces of Baker's chocolate, melted 
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Steps

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees.  Prepare a Pyrex or other 9x13-inch baking dish by greasing.
2. In a mixing bowl, mix butter and sugar until creamy.
3. Melt chocolate in microwave, stirring every 30 seconds.  Cool for about 5 minutes, then add to butter mixture.
4. Mix in the eggs, one at a time.  Mix in vanilla.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour and salt; stir in chopped nuts. 
6. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating just to combine.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.  
8. Bake for 45 minutes.  Let cool before cutting into squares.

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Portrait Credits*
Elizabeth (Bess) Truman - oil painting - Greta Kempton, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; fishing - Life of Harry S. Truman Audiovisual Collection, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Harry Truman - Credit: Greta Kempton - Harry S. Truman Library & Museum; White House Photo Office, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons