A very Presidential (and Haunted) Key West Experience

After surviving 2020, and its long, rough winter, we think you deserve a break. This President’s Day, you need a President’s Day Off. Since we’re honoring presidents, why not go where they went on vacation? Harry Truman, for instance, chose Key West.

In February, average high temperatures rarely touch 80. It’s also the driest month, so your plans are unlikely to get soggy. Get the tank tops and shorts out of storage; your skin can feel the sun once again!

But what to do once you get there? Of course, there’s plenty of fun in the sun, but what about nightly activities?

If you have kids in tow, or you’re just looking for a hauntingly-good time, we suggest taking our All-Ages Key West Ghost Tour.

If you’re in Key West during President’s Day, that’s even better. A perfect tour for President’s Day, our Ghosts of Key West Tour stops at Florida’s only Presidential Museum - the Harry S. Truman Little White House. And yes, it’s haunted.

Fun fact about Harry Truman: he served two terms in office but was only elected once. His first term began when his predecessor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, passed away while in office.

For the 1944 election, Roosevelt’s advisors knew he likely wouldn’t survive a fourth term in office. His unique opportunity to serve for so long came from a combination of worry about a second World War and a fracture in the Republican Party.

FDR’s advisors knew that they were also likely choosing the next president in choosing his vice president. They looked at Truman as a successful leader and someone not too far left as the previous VP had been.

He was also a veteran of the First World War, which made him an attractive candidate as the second one rolled on. In the end, Truman did use his experiences to end the war.

Shortly after entering office, President Truman was told about the atomic bomb. Up until then, the former Vice President was totally unaware; that’s how secret the Manhattan Project was.

Harry has been criticized over the years for his use of the atomic bomb. The destruction those weapons caused was way more intense than anything the world had ever seen, and he didn’t take the decision to use them lightly.

It was during the first World War that Truman learned the importance of leaders making tough decisions. When his unit’s position was in danger of being overrun, he decided to stand and fight.

He roused his men to victory with profanity-riddled orders that were very much against his character. Imagine Mr. Rogers going full drill sergeant all of a sudden.

In President Truman’s mind, the Japanese were prepared to fight to the last man. He may well have been right - Japanese propaganda indicated that death was preferable to surrender in all cases.

If he was right, the endeavor would cost many more American and Japanese lives than dropping the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

True or not, that’s how President Truman saw it, and he acted accordingly.

After 19 months of making decisions like that, Harry needed a break. His doctor ordered it, actually. So he took a trip down as far south as he could - Key West. There were some naval officer’s quarters where he could set up shop temporarily.

Those quarters became Truman’s Little White House. If you visit the museum inside today, it’s in much the same condition as it was when Truman Stayed there. The front door is like a time portal.

Truman fell in love with the Little White House. He visited 11 times for a total of 175 days during his presidency and a few times after. He even called it his second favorite place on Earth, just after his hometown of Independence, Missouri.

Truman’s Little White House is just one small haunted stop on our Ghosts of Key West Tour.

But Key West has a certain style. It’s more floral shirts and flip flops and less suit and tie. What drew President Truman to a place so strikingly different from Washington D.C.?

Well, there were two sides to Harry.

There was the quiet, soft-spoken side that managed the mundane businesses of the country without causing too much of a stir, and then there’s the side that won re-election by breaking with his Southern Democratic base to push a Civil Rights act.

To reporters who saw Truman’s approval rating at 36% before Executive Orders 9980 and 9981 which desegregated the federal workforce and Armed Forces, it was political suicide.

You gotta hand it to him: Truman was bold.

Republican candidate Thomas Dewey saw the fracture in the Democrat Party and thought he had the election in the bag. He took his foot off the gas.

Reporters at the time also thought President Truman didn’t have the slightest chance at victory. That led to a slew of inaccurate headlines announcing his adversary’s victory.

The man could play politics, but I think he had a renegade spirit somewhere deep down inside. Remember his military service when he scared his men to victory with profanity?

You can also find his renegade spirit in his hobbies. Some play golf or a saxophone, but Truman loved playing poker and sipping bourbon.

That’s straight out of the old West, folks.

In Key West, Truman could kick off his shoes and loosen his belt. He didn’t have to be as uptight as he felt a president usually should. At the Little White House, Truman felt the relaxation that we could all use in the wake of 2020.

Truman’s Little White House does have a resident ghost, but it’s not haunted by Harry Truman.

Employees have reported experiencing anything from sudden changes in temperature to full-bodied apparitions in the house museum. Even the ghost of a former employee is believed to still walk its halls in the afterlife.

To hear the full story, though, you’ll have to join us on our Ghosts of Key West Tour. Bring the kids if you have them!

The Little White House operates today as Truman’s Presidential Museum. There are exhibits showcasing his accomplishments and the difficulties he faced.

It’s open every day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and includes original furnishings and personal effects.

While our tours don’t take you inside Truman’s Little White House, the museum offers tours of their own. They’ll allow you to explore the inside of this haunted house museum during the day.

But the ghosts only come out at night...

Or if you’re more into the more depraved, raunchy side of things, you could check out our

Darkside of Key West Tour, our Adults-Only Ghost Tour.

How dark is Key West’s dark side? Well, the subject of one stop inspired a series of films about a possessed mass-murdering doll. And that’s only the beginning...