# Once and for all, Harry S or S. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 13, 2005, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-and-for-all-harry-s-or-s/321428 "2005-09-13T15:10:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-and-for-all-harry-s-or-s/321428/1 "2005-09-13T15:10:07Z")
I have read that the proper rendition of our 33rd president’s name is Harry S Truman, no period after the S because it was not an initial for a name, his middle name was just a letter. I have seen it written by many sources with a period. Is there a factual answer, or is this left to the judgement of whoever is publishing a work? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-and-for-all-harry-s-or-s/321428/2 "2005-09-13T15:12:18Z")
The answer is S, as it is not an abbreviation. At least his folks gave him the S, or he would have been Harry NMN Truman. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-and-for-all-harry-s-or-s/321428/3 "2005-09-13T15:13:43Z")
Follow up: The White House doesn’t use the period: [http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/ht33.html](http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/ht33.html) but the Truman Library does [http://www.trumanlibrary.org/lifetimes/index.html](http://www.trumanlibrary.org/lifetimes/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Sofis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Sofis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofis)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-and-for-all-harry-s-or-s/321428/4 "2005-09-13T15:27:25Z")
It appears he signed it with a period, though: [link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_S._Truman#Truman.27s_middle_initial). ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-and-for-all-harry-s-or-s/321428/5 "2005-09-13T15:31:12Z")
> [@Sofis](#): > > It appears he signed it with a period, though: [link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_S._Truman#Truman.27s_middle_initial). I didn’t know that. Well, if that’s how he used his own name, that settles that. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-and-for-all-harry-s-or-s/321428/6 "2005-09-13T15:34:42Z")
Here’s my standard query whenever a manuscript I’m copyediting omits the period: > [@](#): > > OK to retain the period after “S.”, per the following? _Chicago Manual of Style,_ 15th ed. (para 15.12); _Webster’s Collegiate,_ 11th ed.; the Truman Library ([http://www.trumanlibrary.org/speriod.htm](http://www.trumanlibrary.org/speriod.htm), which cites more sources); and per usage in _Truman,_ by David McCullough, and _Where the Buck Stops,_ ed. Margaret Truman. (Truman himself used the period out of convention, even though the S did not stand for a single name.) ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-and-for-all-harry-s-or-s/321428/7 "2005-09-13T15:37:24Z")
> [@Sofis](#): > > It appears he signed it with a period, though: [link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_S._Truman#Truman.27s_middle_initial). Should we not then call him “Harry Ess-dot Truman”? ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-and-for-all-harry-s-or-s/321428/8 "2005-09-13T15:47:58Z")
Trumans situation is similar to that of my father and his twin brother. The were named Clifford and Clarence with no middle name (NMN in Army lingo). Businesses of the time frequenty addressed letters with just the initial of the first name so letters to “C. Simmons” were frequently misdelivered. So my uncle, having been born first, took the middle initial A and my father took B. They used periods. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-and-for-all-harry-s-or-s/321428/9 "2005-09-13T16:08:38Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > I didn’t know that. Well, if that’s how he used his own name, that settles that. On the other hand, I never use a period after the W in my signature, but my name is still Alexander W. [Lastname]. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-and-for-all-harry-s-or-s/321428/10 "2005-09-13T18:34:03Z")
It depends on whether you’re writing his full name or not. His full name was Harry S Truman. However, it’s often customary to not use the full name. Instead, one uses the full first name, the middle initial, and the last name. The middle initial consists of the first letter of the middle name, followed by a period. In this case, the first letter of the middle name is “S”, so the abbreviated form of his name would be “Harry S. Truman”. ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-and-for-all-harry-s-or-s/321428/11 "2005-09-13T18:37:20Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > In this case, the first letter of the middle name is “S”, so the abbreviated form of his name would be “Harry S. Truman”. How ironic that the abbreviated version is longer than the unabbreviated version.