After graduation, Truman returned to farming. His father faced major financial problems, and as a result, the family moved to Kansas City, and John Truman worked as a night watchman protecting a grain elevator. Harry worked at the National Bank of Commerce as a clerk, then at the Union National Bank. He did not have much spare money, so he stopped taking piano lessons. Rejected from West Point for poor eyesight, he joined the National Guard. At this time, Bess’s father, David, committed suicide. This event was shocking for many. McCullough writes: “If the Trumans had known shame during John’s financial downfall, it was little compared to what the family of a suicide would experience” (67).

The Trumans then moved to a large Blue Ridge farm. For the next five years, Truman focused primarily on farming. McCullough says that the farm was “the whole family’s life, its livelihood, its constant responsibility, its sole source of income” (70). Truman had to learn how to do many new things such as driving a plow. Soon, John Truman made Harry his full partner. He also followed in the footsteps of his grandfathers and joined the Masons. Grandma Young passed away, and his brother married.