Elizabeth Virginia "Bess" Truman (née Wallace; February 13, 1885 — October 18, 1982) was the wife of Harry S. Truman and First Lady of the United States from 1945 to 1953. Before becoming First Lady, she was Second Lady of the United States in 1945.
Her birthplace was Independence, Missouri, and her birth name was Elizabeth Virginia. Her parents were Margaret ("Madge") Gates and David Wallace. Her nickname was "Bessie." Harry Truman’s family came to live in Independence, Missouri in 1890. Elizabeth Virginia and Harry Truman attended the same school from fifth grade through high school. Once Truman remembered her childhood days, and described her as a girl with “golden curls” and “the most beautiful blue eyes.”
After completing her schooling, she studied in Miss Barstow's Finishing School for Girls in Kansas City, Missouri. Her father died in 1903. She returned to Independence, Missouri to live with her mother.
By the outbreak of the First World War, Harry S Truman had become a Lieutenant. He proposed to her and she accepted. After their engagement, Lieutenant Truman left for the battlefields of France in 1918. After the War ended, they married on June 28, 1919. In 1924, their only daughter, Margaret Truman, was born. Before that she had many miscarriages.
By this time, Harry Truman had become active in politics. Mrs. Truman always traveled with her and shared the public platform with her husband. Harry Truman became a member of the United States Senate in 1934. The Truman couple came to live in Washington, DC. In 1944, Harry Truman became the Vice President of the United States of America. When President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945, Harry Truman became the President of the United States. Elizabeth Virginia Wallace Truman became the First Lady.
When Harry Truman became the President of the United States, Truman took the role of the First Lady. But, she felt the absence of privacy in the White House. She continued to attend to social functions, but to a minimum level.
Sometimes, people compare her with Eleanor Roosevelt, who was the First Lady before her. Mrs. Roosevelt was very active in press. But, Mrs. Truman did give only one press conference. She got the questions in advance. Her replies were written replies. When one reporter asked her whether she wanted her daughter, Margaret, to become President. Her reply was: "most definitely not". To a question, she replied that after her husband’s retirement as President, she wanted to "return to Independence". However, once she had thought of living in Washington after 1953.
After the President retired, the Truman couple returned to Independence, Missouri, in 1953. Truman spent his time building his library. In 1959, Mrs. Truman underwent an operation. In 1972, her husband died. Mrs Truman continued to live a quiet and private life. Her daughter and son-in-law, Clifton Daniel, and their four sons, often visited her.
She died in 1982. She lies buried beside her husband in the courtyard of Harry S Truman Library. She lived up to the age of 97 years, and at the time of her death, she was the longest-lived First Lady of the United States, setting a record, which still stands today.
Margaret Taylor
Margaret Mackall Smith Taylor (September 21, 1788 – August 14, 1852), wife of Zachary Taylor, the President of the United States. She was First Lady of the United States from 1849 to 1850. Some people called her Peggy Smith.
She was born in Calvert County, Maryland. Her mother’s name was Ann Mackall and her father’s name was Walter Smith. Her father was a major in the American Revolutionary War. When she was visiting her sister in Kentucky in 1809, she met Zachary Taylor. Taylor was a lieutenant at that time. They married in June 1810. For sometime, she stayed in a farm she had got as a marriage gift from her father. There she gave birth to her first baby. But, then she started to live with her husband. Taylor’s garrison moved from one location to other on the western front, and she also moved with him.
Their two small daughters died in 1820. As described by Taylor, the children had died of “a violent bilious fever.” They had three other girls and a boy. All four grew to adulthood. Taylor knew the difficult life of a military man. He was always against their daughters marrying military men, but all the three married military persons from the United States Army.
At the White House, Peggy Taylor participated in the household activities and personal functions. She did not participate in formal and official functions. Her youngest daughter, Mary Elizabeth Bliss, acted as the official hostess for her mother.
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf is the name of a geographical place. Its location is in the Middle East. It is an extension of the Gulf of Oman. It is between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula, and the Arabs prefer to call it the "Gulf of the Arabs".
During the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), the Persian Gulf came into news. Both sides attacked oil tankers of each other. Later, when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1991, the new war got the name of "Gulf War" but major fighting happened on land.
The water in the Persian Gulf is rich in fishes; it has long beautiful coral reefs. Deep inside the water of the Persian Gulf, there are many pearl oysters. Due to this, the area attracts a lot of activities.
In Persian language, the term khalīj-e-Fars means the Persian Gulf. On October 2018, the World Intellectual Property Organization of the United Nations registered Persian Gulf as a place of origin, based on the Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration.
The sea waters of the Persian Gulf covers an area of 233,000 km². On the east, it connects with the Gulf of Oman by Strait of Hormuz. On the west, it connects a major river delta of Shatt al-Arab. In this river delta, waters of two big rivers of the area flow into: the waters of the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers.
The length of the Persian Gulf is 989 kilometers, and the shortest distance between two land points are 56 kilometers. The waters are generally not very deep. The maximum depth is only 90 meters. The average depth is only 50 meters.
There are many countries with borders touching the Persian Gulf. If taken in a clockwise direction, these countries are from the north: Iran, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar on a peninsula off the Saudi coast; Bahrain on an island; and Kuwait and Iraq in the northwest. Many small islands lie within the Persian Gulf.
The area in and around the Persian Gulf has world’s largest crude oil. Industries relating to crude oil are the main industries in this area. Al-Safaniya, the world’s largest offshore oil field is in the Persian Gulf. Many countries with large crude oil are in this area. They are called Persian Gulf States, that is, the countries around the Persian Gulf. These countries are Iran, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Iraq (with its small portion touching the Persian Gulf) is not called a Persian Gulf State.
For about 200 years, from 1763 until 1971, the United Kingdom kept some control over some of the Persian Gulf countries. These countries were the Trucial States and at various times Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar. Upon independence most of the Trucial States made a new United Arab Emirates.
Khalistan movement
The Khalistan movement is a Sikh separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing a sovereign state, called Khālistān ('Land of the Khalsa'), in the Punjab region. The proposed state would consist of land that currently forms Punjab, Chandigarh and some parts of Haryana.
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