SS George Washington

The SS George Washington links Harry S. Truman’s passage into the First World War with the statesmen’s effort to shape its aftermath. A confiscated German luxury liner carrying seven thousand troops, it bore Truman to France in 1918; less than a month after the armistice, it carried President Woodrow Wilson there to seek a lasting peace.

A troopship bound for France

The ship sailed on the night of March 29, 1918, Good Friday, nearly a year after the United States entered the war. Truman stood at the rail with Lieutenant Paterson as New York’s skyline receded, talking about German submarines and what lay ahead. He later recalled the uncertainty in stark terms: “There we were watching New York’s skyline diminish and wondering if we’d be heroes or corpses.” Afterward, the two went below and played poker through the rest of the night.

The crossing made the ship’s military purpose tangible. Once the convoy entered the submarine zone, it followed a zigzag course; troops endured lifeboat drills and calisthenics, wore life preservers continuously, and kept the ship dark at night, with smoking on deck forbidden. Officers slept six to a cabin. Truman, who could not swim and had never seen an ocean, missed home and wondered why anyone would choose a sailor’s life. The sea offered little change beyond its shifting color—blue in sunshine, lead-colored under cloud—and the sunrises and sunsets reminded him of home without matching them.

Arrival and a return passage

The SS George Washington steamed into the crowded harbor of Brest on the morning of April 13. The day was warm and sunny; Truman thought the town looked “quite wonderful.” Welcoming bands played as crowds lined the shore, cheering and waving flags. The arrival marked the end of the Atlantic passage and the beginning of his experience of wartime France.

The ship’s significance extended beyond that troop voyage. In less than a month, Wilson was on his way to France aboard the same vessel. The liner thus appears at two turning points in the book’s account: first carrying soldiers toward the conflict, then carrying the president toward the negotiations intended to secure peace.

From wartime crossing to peace mission

The contrast between the two journeys gives the ship its narrative weight. For Truman, its darkened decks, crowded cabins, submarine precautions, and endless drills made the crossing a tense interval between departure and arrival. For Wilson, the same ship became a route back to France after the fighting ended, as responsibility for making peace shifted to statesmen. The SS George Washington serves not merely as transport but as a recurring link between the American war experience and the attempt to settle its consequences.