Price: $8 adults, $7 seniors 65+, $3 children (6 to 15), and free children (under 5)
Hours: Open 9am-5pm Mon.-Sat., 9am-9pm Thu. May-Sept., noon-5pm Sun. Please call to confirm hours.

Celebrating Harry Truman's 125th birthday in 2009, the Truman Library & Museum recounts the life of America's 33rd president. One of only 13 U.S. Presidential Libraries, the museum's two permanent exhibits chronicle the Missourian's private life and political career -- with exhibits depicting his most difficult decisions like the using the atomic bomb, the Cold War and recognizing Israel. President Truman and his wife, Bess, are buried in the museum's courtyard.

The museum's historical collection consists of approximately 30,000 objects -- including hundreds of Truman family possessions, political memorabilia, diplomatic gifts and 1,300 letters from the Truman courtship and marriage.

Truman's two-term tenure is considered by many historians as one of the most-eventful and most-studied periods in American history. Ascending to the presidency following Franklin D. Roosevelt's death in April 1945, Truman grappled with several controversial decisions-including the release of the atomic bomb, the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the implementation of several anti-Communist policies. His administration was also responsible for the establishment of the National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency.

Dedicated in July 1957, the Harry S. Truman Library & Museum was the second Presidential Library to receive national designation but the first to be created under the 1955 Presidential Libraries Act. The Truman Library is administered by the National Archives and Records Administration and supported in part by its nonprofit partner, the Truman Library Institute.

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