The Harry S. Truman Center for Governmental Affairs exists to support interdisciplinary research, public programming and student engagement in activities that illuminate public policy issues that persist from the Truman Era to the present.
History
Truman was an avid reader of world and American history who built his understandings of leadership, public service, public morality and private integrity from a juxtaposition of those lessons from history with precepts from the Bible learned as a youth mentored by his mother. That he had to make compromises in ways that might conflict with these lessons to accomplish some of his goals or avoid worse outcomes always seemed to trouble him. But he never stopped calling for closer attention to the welfare of citizens and taxpayers in the making of public policy even as he understood the need for trade-offs in politics driven by popular elections. He anticipated that his Presidential museum and library would allow the lessons of history to be displayed for future generations to study and use. The Truman Center was premised on his perception of a need to complement the Library’s activities with those reaching citizens through educational and engagement activities that draw from current events as well as history. The Truman Center is a non-partisan governmental affairs center on the campus on the University of Missouri-Kansas City as part of the College of Arts and Sciences.