Ten places visited by Harry and Bess Truman on their 1953 road trip from Missouri to New York and back:
- Philadelphia
- Washington, Pa.
- Wheeling, W. Va.
- Frostburg, Md.
- Richmond, Ind.
- Decatur, Ill.
- Washington
- Columbus, Ohio
- Hannibal, Mo.
- New York City
In 1953, former President Harry Truman accepted an invitation to speak at the annual convention of the Reserve Officers Association in Philadelphia. Truman, an auto buff, decided he and Bess would make the trip from their home in Independence, Missouri, to Philadelphia by car. Mostly by car, at least; they drove first to Washington, D.C., from where President Truman took the train to Philadelphia and then to New York while his daughter Margaret drove Mrs. Truman from Washington to New York. Anyway, the whole trip is documented in a terrific new book, Harry Truman’s Excellent Adventure: The True Story of a Great American Road Trip by Matthew Algeo. It's a quick read, but a fascinating one.