"The buck stops here," is the quotation most associated with Harry S. Truman, the 33rd President of the United States. Presented is an Oct. 13, 1942, Truman signed letter, along with a handwritten note from him. Truman was born in 1884 and raised in Independence, Missouri. He became a haberdasher, with his own store, and also a judge in Jackson County, Missouri. In World War II, he served as a Captain in the U.S. Army Field Artillery in France. He was sponsored by the infamous Pendergast political machine in Missouri, and he became a U.S. Senator. He became the U.S. Vice President in 1945 and assumed the Presidency upon Franklin Delano Roosevelt's death on April 12, 1945.

Near the end of World War II, Truman chose to use atomic weapons against Japan, at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He explained that to use the atomic weapons was the hardest decision of his life, but following his own credo of "The buck stops here," he did not "pass the buck" and made the decision to drop the bombs based on the rationale that there would be more than a million American casualties, plus even more casualties to the Japanese military and civilians with a conventional invasion if he did not use atomic weapons. After the war, Truman presided over the Marshall Plan to rebuild Western Europe. Truman was elected to a full term as President in 1948, and he completed that term in 1953 and chose not to try for his re-election.

The offered letter is on the official stationery of the United States Senate (Committee on Interstate Commerce). It measures 7.9x10.2". The letter is addressed to "Mr. J. K. Brelsford," a certified public accountant in Topeka, Kansas, and dated on October 13, 1942. The body of the letter is typed and reads, "I appreciate very much your letter of October Seventh. It was nice of you to read the article in American Magazine." Using blue, fountain pen ink, Truman neatly signed as "Harry S. Truman." The future President added a handwritten note, also written neatly in blue fountain ink, reading, "Glad you liked it. Hope things are good with you." The back of the letter has some numbers, adding up to "200" and the word "Austria" written in pencil by an unknown hand. The offering has been encapsulated and PSA/DNA Certified "AUTHENTIC AUTO" (85511778). The letter shows two horizontal folds from mailing, and it is in EXCELLENT condition.

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