Truman Administrations - Early Life
Early Life
Truman's father was a small farmer and livestock trader in Lamar, Missouri, in the Ozarks south of Kansas City, Missouri. The family, descended from Kentucky farmers, moved frequently in the years following Truman's birth. In 1890 they settled in the western Missouri town of Independence when he was six years old. That year he was diagnosed as nearsighted and had to wear glasses, which at the time was unusual among children. The glasses, and a severe attack of diphtheria when he was 10 (which meant that for a year he was confined to a modified baby carriage in lieu of a wheelchair), made him feel like an outsider among his peers.
Truman practiced the piano for two hours every morning as a teenager and remained an accomplished amateur pianist throughout his life. He also worked in a drugstore, but devoted as much time as possible to reading. He claimed later to have read every book in the Independence town library....
[The entire page is 188 words long]
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