Harry S. Truman Library & Museum, Independence

We took a quick weekend to the Kansas City area recently, and especially looked forward to going to the Truman Library/Museum. It was our 3rd visit there, and we were pleasantly pleased to see that they have continued to expand and update the exhibits - I especially enjoyed the addition of brief videos that let visitors see speeches by the president, an interview of Margaret Truman of her mom and dad, some movies the president had taken of the press corps before he left office, etc. The video displays were low enough so that children could reach the buttons, and I'm sure that made the visit more interesting for kids. This being the 50th anniversary of the museum, they had a special exhibit of "treasures" from other presidential libraries, and that was interesting also. I was born in 1951, so I'm not old enough to REMEMBER Truman as president that year, but I certainly admire the man for his plain talk and decisiveness. I'm not a history buff - pretty much have to see things or read about in individual in history to become enthusiastic. This museum "did it" for me years ago, and it's even better now.

Was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed the library more than during my first visit in 1985. Though I did miss the more frequent use of political cartoons to tell the Truman story in '85, I found the modernized museum to be most enjoyable. It didn't feel at all like I was visiting something that I had already seen. I especially enjoyed the interactive features that help you get into the mind of Truman's decision making, and bring very current events into play (such as GW Bush's domestic spying). A first rate predidential library. The only negative: virtually all of the 15 minute introductory film (which I saw first) was included in the 45 minute award winning film that is shown in a different theatre. The White House in Miniature special exhibit (in 2006) was fantastic!

We watched a movie touring the white house that gave a lot of historical information about renovations including restoring it after a fire during a war and additions that different presidents made. There was a room set up that was a replica of the oval office during president Trumans time in office including some of the actual items that were originally there - his desk, globe and pieces of art. Their main attraction was the miniature whitehouse display. A detailed model of the whitehouse.