For the physician, see Edward Jacobson (physician)

Edward Jacobson (physician)

Dr. Edward Jacobson is an American gynecologist, specializing in cosmetic and restorative vaginal surgery. He serves as an expert to the media regarding vaginal rejuvenation and labiaplasty.- Medical Practice :Dr...

Edward Jacobson (17 June 1891, New York City – 25 October 1955, Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

) was an American-Jewish businessman. He was also a U.S. Army associate, business partner, and close friend of President Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...

.

Jacobson met Truman when the two reported to basic training at Fort Sill, near Lawton, Oklahoma, with a unit of soldiers from the Kansas City area. They successfully managed a canteen together, and were thus inspired to open a haberdashery together after World War I. However, poor business decisions caused the business to fail, and the resulting debts burdened both for many years. Jacobson spent the rest of his career as a traveling salesman, which enabled him periodically to visit Truman in Washington. According to David McCullough

David McCullough

David Gaub McCullough is an American author, narrator, historian, and lecturer. He is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian award....

, Jacobson had open access to the Oval Office.

When Jacobson first heard about what was happening to the Jews in Germany, before and during World War II, he took to discussing it with Truman. After he heard the post-war reports regarding the Nazi Holocaust and its survivors, his talks with Truman about how to help the Jewish people became more intense. Because Jewish leaders in the U.S. knew Jacobson was a friend of the President, they approached him to lobby Truman with even more fervor. Jacobson went to the White House

White House

The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...

 on 13 March 1948, and at that meeting persuaded Truman to meet with the leader of the Zionist movement, Dr. Chaim Weizmann

Chaim Weizmann

Chaim Azriel Weizmann, , was a Zionist leader, President of the Zionist Organization, and the first President of the State of Israel. He was elected on 1 February 1949, and served until his death in 1952....

. Partly as a result of Jacobson's efforts, the United States became the first nation to grant diplomatic recognition to the new state of Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

 on 14 May 1948.

Timeline

• 1893: Moved with his family to Leavenworth, Kansas
  Leavenworth, Kansas
  Leavenworth is the largest city and county seat of Leavenworth County, in the U.S. state of Kansas and within the Kansas City, Missouri Metropolitan Area. Located in the northeast portion of the state, it is on the west bank of the Missouri River. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
  
  
• 1905: Moved with his family to Kansas City, Missouri
• 19-teens: Worked as a clerk in a Kansas City clothing store
• 1917–1919: Served as enlisted man in the 129th Field Artillery
  129th Field Artillery
  The 129th Field Artillery Regiment is a regiment of the Field Artillery Branch of the United States Army. Only the 1st battalion is presently constituted as an active unit, and is assigned to the Missouri Army National Guard, with its headquarters in Maryville, Missouri, and has subordinate...
  
  , 60th Brigade, 35th Division
  U.S. 35th Infantry Division
  -Combat Chronicle:The division was organized in August 1917 as a National Guard formation with troops from Kansas and Missouri, after a few months as the 14th Division. It consisted of the 69th Infantry Brigade and the 70th Infantry Brigade .It went overseas in May 1918...
  
  , U.S. Army
• 1919–1922: Partnered with Harry S. Truman in the Truman & Jacobson haberdashery, 104 West 12th St., Kansas City, Missouri
• 1922–1945: Traveling salesman in the clothing business
• 1945–1955: Proprietor, Eddie Jacobson's Westport Menswear, Kansas City, Missouri
• 1947–1948: Urged President Truman to support the creation of a Jewish homeland in the British Mandate of Palestine – now Israel
  Israel
  The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
  
  .

External links

• Edward Jacobson Papers @ the Truman Library