Rome

Rome became one of the most vivid stops on Harry S. Truman and Bess Wallace Truman’s first overseas journey as private citizens. Among the ancient monuments, cheering crowds, and a rare audience with Pope Pius XII, the city offered Truman both the historical setting he had long admired and an unusually warm reception from the public.

Arrival and Public Welcome

Truman reached Rome during a European trip that was his third visit to the continent but his first as a private citizen; for Bess Wallace Truman, it was her first time overseas. Reporters had followed him through Europe, and the welcome in Rome was especially striking. At the railroad station, hundreds greeted him with cheers of “Viva Truman!” and “Hi, Harry!” in English. Truman and his party stayed at the Hassler Hotel, at the head of the Spanish Steps, placing the former president amid the city’s celebrated streets and landmarks.

The public attention continued beyond the station. American tourists cheered and followed Truman as he visited Rome’s sights. On Capitol Hill, in front of the enormous equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, he began introducing himself and shaking hands. When he greeted a tourist with “How are you? I’m Harry Truman,” Paul Schultheiss of Rochester, New York, responded by giving his own name, evidently amazed to be addressed by the former president. The small exchange turned a crowd’s excitement into a direct encounter: Truman’s international fame did not prevent him from presenting himself simply as Harry.

Ancient Monuments and an Unlikely Guide

Henry R. Luce guided Truman on a tour of Rome’s ancient monuments. Luce was standing in for his wife, Clare Booth Luce, the American ambassador to Italy, who had fallen ill. The resulting pairing was an unexpected holiday scene: Truman and the prominent publisher together at the Colosseum, speculating about the vanished Roman Empire. The setting connected Truman’s long-standing interest in history with the tangible ruins before him, while the presence of Luce made the visit striking even to those watching the former president’s travels.

The tour also took Truman among American visitors who had come to see the monuments. Their cheers and pursuit made sightseeing a public performance as well as a private excursion. On Capitol Hill, his choice to introduce himself and shake hands brought that performance down to the level of ordinary conversation. Rome thus appears not only as an ensemble of ancient remains but as a place where the former president’s accessibility became part of the spectacle.

The Holy See and the Italian Journey

During their stay, Truman and Bess Wallace Truman received a Sunday audience with Pope Pius XII. It marked the first time an American president had been received at the Holy See since Woodrow Wilson’s formal visit in 1919, during the papacy of Pope Benedict XV. Their clothing reflected the occasion: Bess Wallace Truman wore black and a lace veil over her head, while Truman wore a black cutaway coat, striped trousers, and a top hat. He described the encounter as a “most happy visit indeed.” The audience gave the Roman visit a diplomatic and ceremonial dimension distinct from the crowds and tourist excursions.

Rome was part of a longer passage through Italy rather than an isolated destination. Over two weeks, Truman and Bess Wallace Truman also visited Mount Vesuvius, the ruins of Pompeii, and the ancient Greek temples at Paestum, near Salerno. Their itinerary ranged from archaeological sites to landscapes and art: they explored the hills of Umbria, shopped for leather goods on Florence’s Ponte Vecchio, and saw Botticelli paintings in the Uffizi Gallery. In Venice, they strolled through St. Mark’s Square and rode together in a gondola on the Grand Canal. Against that broader journey, Rome concentrated the trip’s interwoven attractions—historical remains, public encounters, and formal ceremony.

The City as Holiday and Public Stage

Truman relished both the historical surroundings and the attention. At Naples, people tossed flowers in his path, prompting his astonished exclamation, “This is fantastic!” In Italy he also told reporters that the weather reminded him of Texas, bringing the distant journey into terms familiar from home. His comments ranged beyond travel: he predicted that Democratic victory in the coming presidential election was inevitable, and drew criticism after describing the World War II battles of Salerno and Anzio as unnecessary and blaming them on “some squirrel-headed general.” The reporters accompanying him carried such remarks from the holiday setting into current politics.

Rome’s significance in the account rests on this contrast. Truman moved through monuments associated with a vanished empire while remaining a highly visible contemporary figure, greeted by tourists who called to him in both Italian and English. The city afforded him a rare papal audience and an encounter with ancient history, yet its public scenes were often informal: a handshake before a statue, a tour with an unexpected guide, and crowds pressing close. Rome therefore emerges as both a destination he enjoyed for its history and a stage on which the former president’s popularity was repeatedly made visible.