page_title: Bess Truman
section_title: Early life and education
hierarchical_section_title: Bess Truman / Early life and education
caption_attribution_description: Wedding photo of Harry and Bess Truman, June 28, 1919. They are in the backyard of 219 N. Delaware, Independence, Missouri.
context_page_description: Elizabeth Virginia Truman was the wife of President Harry S. Truman and the First Lady of the United States from 1945 to 1953. She also served as the Second Lady of the United States in 1945.
  She had known her future husband since they were children attending the same school in Independence, Missouri. As First Lady, she did not enjoy the social and political scene in Washington, and at the end of her husband's term in 1953, she was relieved to return to Independence. She currently holds the record of longest-lived First Lady and longest-lived Second Lady, at 97 years, 247 days. She died in Independence, Missouri.
context_section_description: Bess Truman was born Elizabeth Virginia Wallace on February 13, 1885, to David Willock Wallace (June 15, 1860 – June 17, 1903) and his wife, the former Margaret Elizabeth Gates (August 4, 1862 – December 5, 1952), in Independence, Missouri, and was known as Bessie during her childhood. She was the eldest of four; three brothers: Frank Gates Wallace, (March 4, 1887 – August 12, 1960), George Porterfield Wallace, (May 1, 1892 – May 24, 1963), David Frederick Wallace, (January 7, 1900 – September 30, 1957). Bess had a reputation as a tomboy as a child.  As a young woman, Bess enjoyed expressing herself through her fashion and hats; a friend was quoted "Bess always had more stylish hats than the rest of us did, or she wore them with more style."
  Harry Truman met Bess soon after his family moved to Independence, and the two attended school together until graduation.
  After graduating from William Chrisman High School (then known as Independence High School) she studied at Miss Barstow's Finishing School for Girls in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1903, her father rose very early one morning, climbed into the family bathtub, and died by suicide by shooting himself in the head. According to biographer David McCullough, the cause for his suicide is unknown, with speculation ranging from depression to mounting debts.
  Bess and Harry Truman married on June 28, 1919, at Trinity Episcopal Church in Independence. Harry courted Bess before he went off to fight during World War I; he proposed in 1911, but she turned him down. Truman later said that he intended to propose again, but when he did he wanted to be earning more money than a farmer did. Their only daughter, Margaret, was born in 1924.
caption: Harry and Bess Truman, 28 June 1919.
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