Potus Geeks Photo: Three Presidents at Princeton

It was on June 17, 1947 (65 years and two days ago) that this picture was taken at Princeton University. It was the institution's 200th anniversary. It shows current President Harry Truman, former President Herbert Hoover and future President Dwight Eisenhower. The picture was taken on the final day of four days of events, at a ceremony at which a group of 6000 people gathered in the open air amphitheater in front of Nassau Hall for closing ceremonies. Truman gave the convocation address to that year's graduates. Also present at the ceremony were the widows of Presidents Grover Cleveland and Woodrow Wilson, who were special guests. The first recipients of an honorary degree at the ceremony were General Dwight Eisenhower (who would succeed Truman as President in 1953) and Admiral Chester Nimitz Both were honored for their leadership during the war, Eisenhower as Supreme Allied Commander, and Nimitz as commander of the Pacific Fleet. Other recipients of honorary degrees included Dr. Vannevar Bush, wartime director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development (and organizer of the Manhattan Project) and Bernard Baruch, presidential adviser during both world wars. Also present at the ceremony were Warren Austin, US representative of the United Nations, Viscount Harold Alexander, governor general of Canada, and Albert Einstein.

Though Hoover and Eisenhower were the two Republicans in the group, Truman and Hoover would become the closer friends, after working closely together to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Europe following World War II. It was a crossing of party lines for a higher purpose, something we could probably do with more of today.

I found this video newsreel of the event: