Sold – President Harry Truman on the End of the Famed Prendergast Machine in Missouri, and the Resultant Political Chaos There

“When an organization as strong and as powerful as the one which was there when you and I started in politics blows up, it takes a long, long time for it to become a working organization again…All the old fellows like you and me can do is sit by and hope that some leader with brains will come along and reorganize.”

Tom Pendergast controlled Kansas City and Jackson County, Missouri as a political boss from approximately 1925 to 1939. "Boss Tom" gave workers jobs, saw to it that Prohibition was not enforced, allowed alcohol and gambling, and made sure that companies controlled by his friends and himself were awarded major contracts funded by public funds. He was also able to place many of his political friends in positions of authority throughout Jackson County, and it was claimed that elections were fixed to keep supporters in power. Pendergast promoted Truman’s career, and handpicked him to be the 1934 candidate for U.S. Senate. Though it was never shown that Truman himself was corrupt, after he became Vice-President and then President, his opponents used this against him.

Typed Letter Signed, on White House letterhead, Washington, April 20, 1948, to Shannon C. Douglass, identified by the Truman Papers as a friend of the President. “I read your letter of the 15th about Kenneth Dickey with a lot of interest, and I hope some way may be found to get him properly placed. It certainly is too bad that a man of his background is not in a better position. I also read your letter in regards to the political situation in Missouri and Kansas city. It will be a long time before that situation is properly worked out. When an organization as strong and as powerful as the one which was there when you and I started in politics blows up, it takes a long, long time for it to become a working organization again. You can take Cincinnati as an example, or New York City. All the old fellows like you and me can do is sit by and hope that some leader with brains will come along and reorganize. I ‘Star’ government and I am perfectly willing to let them have it, although I don't think Roy Roberts has the honesty nor the background to make a good political leader, and he knows I think that, for I have been very careful to see you that he is told about it.” Roberts was the president and editor of The Kansas City Star during the presidencies of Truman and Eisenhower, and was a Republican and thorn in Truman’s side.