Harry S. Truman

St. Louis Native Martyl Langsdorf, Designer of the Doomsday Clock, Dead at 96

Late last month, Martyl Langsdorf -- the famed painter, designer and native St. Louisan -- died at a hospital in the Chicago area. She was 96 years old and according to family fell ill with a lung infection. Her best-known creation was likely the Doomsday Clock, a symbolic representation of how clo ... More >>

"Stan Span" Plan Nearly Law: Musial Bridge Tribute Gets Unanimous Support in U.S. Senate

U.S. Senators Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, and Roy Blunt, a Republican, don't usually agree on much of anything -- but they can come together for Stan the Man. And thus the rare press release yesterday quoting both Missouri senators, who are championing the unanimous passage this week in the U.S. ... More >>

Stan Musial Bridge: Governor Jay Nixon Pressures Pat Quinn With Press Release

The death of Stan Musial is one of those rare occasions that prompts elected officials from across the state to send out press releases with virtually the same message -- one of praise and gratitude for the late Cardinal and Missouri icon. The latest incarnation of press-releases-honoring-Musial is ... More >>

You Will Appreciate U.S. Grant, St. Louis's Only President

Springfield and Independence do a lot of crowing about Lincoln and Truman, but St. Louis is remarkably reticent about Ulysses S. Grant, the only U.S. president who ever lived here. Now it's true Grant was born and grew up in Ohio and spent the bulk of his adulthood in the Army and Washington, DC, ... More >>

RIP Betty Anne McCaskill, Missouri Politician and Advocate for Women

Betty Anne McCaskill, who is now most famous as one of the chief campaigners for her daughter Claire but who had a long career of her own in Missouri politics, died yesterday at home in St. Louis after a long illness. She was 84. Claire McCaskill, who had last week suspended her campaign for re-ele ... More >>

UPDATE: Sculptor Hard at Work on Bust of Rush Limbaugh for Missouri State Capitol

Update, March 6: More information at the end of the post, including Senator Claire McCaskill's protest and an answer to commenter Mike N's question about whether this wad of bronze is funded by taxpayer money. ------- The eagle-eyed bloggers at Fired Up! Missouri posted the news earlier this after ... More >>

Sarah Palin's Paul Revere And Three Mostly Accurate History Songs

by Bob Weinstein; Wikipedia. ​Note to self, as a future historical-figure-ghost: If Sarah Palin and Paul Revere are any indication, the best way to trend on Twitter 200 years after your death is to have someone controversial give a particularly strange recounting of your life's work, as inform ... More >>

Quiz: How Many Deer Were Killed in Missouri This Weekend?

Former Missouri politician Harry Truman would've been so proud.​Missouri Governor Jay Nixon was one of thousands of Show-Me-State hunters to get themselves a deer during the start of the season this weekend. According to the governor's office, Nixon bagged an eight-point buck near Kahoka (in the f ... More >>

For Sale: The True Truman House

image viaYou want a Truman House? This is a Truman house!​One of the biggest attractions in Independence, Missouri, is the Harry Truman House. The elegant Victorian mansion at 219 North Delaware Street is, indeed, a house fit for a President, and the National Park Service has spruced it up for ... More >>

Harry Truman Endorses Ed Martin -- No Not That Ed Martin

When Harry Met Ed ... on the Internetz.​Ed Martin, the Republican candidate who seeks to dethrone incumbent Russ Carnahan in Missouri's Third Congressional District recently posted an interesting letter of support on his campaign website. It's an endorsement (of sorts) from Harry Truman (posted on ... More >>

Will the Buck Stop Here For Truman Day?

Happy birthday dear Harry! (Maybe for the very last time...) Happy birthday to you!​Though Missouri has produced only one President, we made sure he was a good one. Which is more than Pennsylvania, home of James Buchanan, can say. And unlike our neighbor, the Land of Lincoln, we don't have to ... More >>

Obama Visits St. Louis, Wishes it Were 2008 All Over Again

Claiming a burning need to get out of politics-obsessed Washington, President Obama visited St. Louis yesterday for a nice, relaxing chat about health care. After delivering his speech at St. Charles High School, the president dropped in at the Renaissance Grand Hotel downtown for a benefit for his ... More >>

Show Review Setlist: Billy Joel and Elton John at the Scottrade Center, Thursday, May 14

For the third time in 15 years, Billy Joel and Elton John have teamed up with their dueling pianos co-headlining tour. It's a fool-proof idea, really, and therefore no surprise that it drew a near-capacity crowd to the Scottrade Center last night. Both men have racked up dozens of hit songs and sol ... More >>

Matt Blunt: He's No Harry Truman

Harry Truman and his "The Buck Stops Here" placard. Have you heard this one already? Matt Blunt's attorneys are asking the court to replace their client with Governor Jay Nixon in a lawsuit accusing the former governor of defamation and wrongful termination in the firing of political aide Scott Ecke ... More >>

Behind the Wheel

A Look Back -- 56 Years Ago -- to "Citizen" Harry Truman's Great American Road Trip

It was the summer of 1953. Queen Elizabeth had just been cornonated. The Braves had left Boston for Milwaukee, and Elvis was making his first recording. Back in Independence, Missouri, meanwhile, there was Harry Truman, restless in his first months of presidential retirement and itchy ... More >>

On Your Knees

flickr.com/photos/james_in_baltoToday is the National Day of Prayer. Or, in the words of the National Day of Prayer Task Force, a chance to "pray with conviction that God would continue to shed His grace on thee." This has been going on since 1952 when President (and Missourian) Harry Truman signed ... More >>

Behind the Wheel

St. Louis Stage Capsules

Dennis Brown and Paul Friswold suss out the local theater scene in St. Louis

The Truman Show

When Harry met Dewey, and other true tales

¡Ask a Mexican!: What's so brave about Niños Héroes?

Playing Politics: The world might be a better place if presidents still went to the theater

Happy Birthday to Tru!

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

What does an old Munchkin have to do to earn a place on the St. Louis Walk of Fame?

Something Fishy

A bubbling demand for Missouri caviar spawns cutthroat competition.

All Aboard!

We get political with Kerry and Dean, feel the bite of a "Mad Dog" and discover something amazing about Prius ownership. Plus, confidential to Unreal readers: Parking downtown is easy!

If You Could Walk a Mile in Anybody's Shoes, Whose Would They Be?

Week of September 25, 2002

Track Meet

The Museum of Transportation throws wide its gates for a get-together

A Mayor Runs Through It

With the determination of a Missouri mule, Mayor Mike Swoboda drags a $40 million development into the heart of Kirkwood

Party Disloyalty

The 20th Ward delivers for the Democrats, then gets dumped

Union Made

The music made inside Velasco's bar in Florissant is both defiant and relaxed

Naval Gazing

Men of Honor lays it on thick but not intolerably so

Alternate Route

Despite a new name and location, the sights are largely the same at Route 66 Brewery and Restaurant

AND NOW, SOME SUPERFICIAL QUESTIONS

Russian Unorthodox

He has been an advisor to Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin. He's renowned internationally as a journalist and scholar. And he has been a highly popular visiting professor at Webster University. So why is Nikolai Zlobin looking for a job?