Thomas E. Harty

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"Thomas E. Harty," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/1047.

Position: Chauffeur
Years in President's House: 1945 – circa 1953
Legal Status: Free Person
Gender: Male
Race/Ethnicity: White
Presidency: Harry S. Truman
Biography: Thomas Enoch Harty, better known as Tom, was born in Charles County, Maryland on October 1, 1884. (1) As a young man, Harty was a mechanic and streetcar conductor, but for most of his career, he worked for the U.S. government as chauffeur to several vice presidents. (2) Beginning in the 1920s, he drove each vice president from Charles Dawes to Harry S. Truman and lived across from the U.S. Naval Observatory (home to the vice president) for constant access. (3) After President Franklin D. Roosevelt suddenly died at Warm Springs, Georgia on April 12, 1945, Hardy sped an unknowing Harry Truman to the White House – there, Truman learned that the president was dead and took the Oath of Office. (4) Afterward, Harty became First Lady Bess Truman’s chauffeur. (5) He also drove Mrs. Truman’s mother, Madge Gates Wallace; Mrs. Truman’s secretary, Reathel Odum, recalled “She [Madge] liked him, and he was so kind to her.” (6) It seems that Harty drove for Bess Truman through the end of her husband’s presidency in 1953; afterward, he worked in the mail room of the Senate Office Building. (7) Tom Harty died on January 28, 1966, and was buried at Fort Lincoln Cemetery in Brentwood, Maryland. (8)
: (1) Thomas Enoch Harty, U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942, National Archives at St. Louis; St Louis, MO, USA; World War II Draft Cards (Fourth Registration) For the District of Columbia; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147; Box or Roll Number: 030, Ancestry.com.
(2) Thomas Enoch Harty, U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005; Thomas E Harty, 1910 United States Federal Census, Year: 1910; Census Place: Precinct 4, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: T624_151; Page: 3a; Enumeration District: 0071; FHL microfilm: 1374164, Ancestry.com.
(3) Thomas E Herty, 1940 United States Federal Census, Year: 1940; Census Place: Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia; Roll: m-t0627-00561; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 1-260B, Ancestry.com;Thomas Enoch Harty, U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942, National Archives at St. Louis; St Louis, MO, USA; World War II Draft Cards (Fourth Registration) For the District of Columbia; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147; Box or Roll Number: 030, Ancestry.com; “Thomas E. Harty Still Vice-President’s Chauffeur,” St. Lous Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, MO), January 21, 1941, pg. 7.
(4) Harry S. Truman, Memoirs of Harry S. Truman (New York: De Capo Press, 1986), 4.
(5) “Thomas E. Harty,” The Washington Daily News (Washington, D.C.), February 2, 1966, pg. 36; “Trumans in Mo. For Week End,” Times Herald (Washington, D.C.), September 15, 1945, pg. 1; Personnel Changes 1948-1949, July 1, 1948Records of the White House Office: Records Relating to Accounts, Purchases and Personnel (Record Group 130), Harry S. Truman Library; “Payroll for Personal Services November 18, 1945 to December 1, 1945” Garage List, Records of the White House Office: Records Relating to Accounts, Purchases and Personnel, Harry S. Truman Library.
(5) “Oral History Interview with Reathel Odum,” Harry S. Truman Presidential Library, https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/oral-histories/odumr.
(7) “Thomas E. Harty,” The Washington Daily News (Washington, D.C.), February 2, 1966, pg. 36.
(8) “Thomas Enoch Harty,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/136576217/thomas-enoch-harty; “Thomas E. Harty,” The Washington Daily News (Washington, D.C.), February 2, 1966, pg. 36.
Birthplace: Charles County, Maryland, USA