Bess Truman may have had her hang-ups, but Harry gave historic
support to the Jewish people.

In November 1953, Harry Truman spoke before an enthusiastic crowd of
American Jews at New York's Jewish Theological Seminary. Eddie
Jacobson, a Jewish haberdasher from Kansas City, introduced the
former president as "the man who helped create the State of Israel."

"What do you mean, 'helped create?' " Truman asked.

"I am Cyrus. I am Cyrus," he said, a reference to the ancient Persian
ruler who saved the Jews from their exile in Babylon.