President Harry S. Truman send this typed and signed letter to his friend, Secretary of the Treasury John W. Snyder, on May 19, 1952. Truman had bypassed congress and went to the United Nations to get approval to intervene in the Korean War, a move that angered many at home. Truman’s motives were based off of “The Truman Doctrine” which was designed to contain the expansion of Soviet Russia at the beginning of the Cold War. Truman’s typed letter refers to a discussion he had with Secretary Snyder about a letter from Thomas Jefferson to a J.B. Colvin, and how some of Jefferson’s actions that seemed to circumnavigate the law were done for the greater good, echoing his thoughts on the Korean War. “You will see that if I’m unconstitutional so was old Tom—but I don’t think either of us have been,” wrote Truman in the letter, sharing Jefferson’s sentiment that one must sidestep the law for the greater good that can be adjudicated later, much like Jefferson’s attempts to buy Florida from Spain after the Louisiana Purchase. Truman included a typed five-page transcript of the letter in which Jefferson argues that expediency in the eyes of a threat is needed to protect the union, attempting to draw a parallel between himself, Jefferson’s sentiments in the letter, and the Korean War. The letter 8 ¾ x 7-inch paper letter is on official White House letterhead was signed by the President in black ink and features no cornering or edging or toning. The 8 x 10 ½ -inch typed transcription from Jefferson’s letter to Colvin is on white paper that features folding creases and presents some elements of toning. The signed typed letter by Harry S. Truman comes with an LOA from JSA (BB68314).

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