According to the Wheeling Intelligencer<\/em>, the visit \u201ccame off without a hitch and split-second timing prevailed throughout.\u201d Truman arrived promptly, delivered his calculatedly pro-labor speech (calling for the repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act<\/a>) from the back of the caboose, was handed the key to the city, and was promptly sent steaming his way to Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been riding through Wheeling for 20 years,\u201d Truman quipped, \u201cbut this is the first time I\u2019ve been given a way of coming and going without getting caught.\u201d<\/p>\n

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You can listen to the entire Wheeling speech (and hear the cheers of the people of Wheeling), courtesy the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum <\/a>and the U.S. Army Signal Corps, by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Truman was also photographed aboard his train<\/a> by Wheeling\u2019s legendary train photographer J.J. Young<\/a>, some of whose B.&O photos are currently on display<\/a> at the Ohio County Public Library.<\/p>\n
Apparently, a plot to make the President\u2019s visit even more memorable was foiled as police informed the Truman campaign that an unidentified man had unsuccessfully attempted to acquire 30-40 \u201cstink bombs\u201d at Fette\u2019s News Stand on 15th and Market.<\/p>\n
It was not Truman\u2019s first visit to Wheeling, and it wouldn\u2019t be his last. In fact, many U.S. presidents have visited Wheeling over the years, including Ulysses Grant, Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and John F. Kennedy, just to name a few.<\/p>\n
Truman also visited Wheeling after his presidency, staying with his wife, Bess, at the McLure Hotel in the summer of 1953 during a cross-country road trip humorously recounted in Matthew Algeo\u2019s Harry Truman\u2019s Excellent Adventure<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n
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