[Letter] 1948 February 9, The White House, Washington [to] M.D. Whitaker, Bethlehem (PA) / Harry Truman.

The letter is typed on White House letterhead. See also Truman's official White House biography (http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/ht33.html) and a guide to research collections of his papers (http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=T000387).

Truman responds to Whitaker's letter, thanking him for the "practical support" he has offered to conservation efforts by establishing a four-year course at Lehigh in that subject. At the time this letter was written, Truman had been elected President on his own ticket, after completing the term of Franklin Delano Roosevelt who died in office. In addition to serving as President and Vice President, Truman also served in World War I, worked as a farmer, a haberdasher, and a judge before joining the Senate where he investigated military expenditure. One of his most controversial decisions while in office was the dropping of the atomic bomb on two Japanese cities. Whitaker served as President at Lehigh 1946-1960 (died in office). Prior he was director of the Atomic Energy Commission Laboratory; worked on developing the atomic bomb.