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Discouraged by his lack of business success and without funds, Truman sought the help of friends. His farm background, his war record, his Masonic connections, his Baptist Church affiliations, and his genial personality recommended him to [[Thomas J. Pendergast]], the Democratic political boss of Kansas City and much of western Missouri. Pendergast, an Irish Catholic, had a strong base among the Irish Catholics and used Truman to reach out to Protestants, farmers and veterans. He made Truman the overseer of highways for Jackson County.  

Discouraged by his lack of business success and without funds, Truman sought the help of friends. His farm background, his war record, his Masonic connections, his Baptist Church affiliations, and his genial personality recommended him to [[Thomas J. Pendergast]], the Democratic political boss of Kansas City and much of western Missouri. Pendergast, an Irish Catholic, had a strong base among the Irish Catholics and used Truman to reach out to Protestants, farmers and veterans. He made Truman the overseer of highways for Jackson County.  

In 1922 Truman was elected a county judge; needing some legal knowledge he studied nights for two years at Kansas City Law School; it was his only education beyond high school, although he read history. In the 1924 GOP landslide he was defeated for reelection, but in 1926 he was returned to office as presiding judge of the court, the duties of which also involved administrative supervision of many county expenditures, including $60 million for public works. He almost joined the [[Ku Klux Klan]], but withdrew his application when he realized his Irish Catholic allies bitterly opposed the KKK; Truman then campaigned against the Klan.  

In 1922 Truman was elected a county judge; needing some legal knowledge he studied nights for two years at Kansas City Law School; it was his only education beyond high school, although he read history. In the 1924 GOP landslide he was defeated for reelection, but in 1926 he was returned to office as presiding judge of the court, the duties of which also involved administrative supervision of many county expenditures, including $60 million for public works. In 1924, Truman paid $10 (equivalent to more than $120 today) as a membership fee to join the [[Ku Klux Klan]], but withdrew when he learned that Pendergast, a [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]], would not support anyone who belonged to an anti-Catholic organization;<ref>David McCullough, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=8fp1A2s6aQwC Truman]'' (Simon and Schuster, 2003) ISBN 0743260295), p. 166</ref> Truman then campaigned against the Klan.

 

==Senate==

==Senate==

In 1934 Pendergast arranged for Truman's nomination as United States Senator on the Democratic ticket; he was elected in the democratic landslide as a supporter of Roosevelt and the New deal. His first term in office was uneventful, except for a failed effort to prevent the renomination of Maurice Milligan for U.S.  District Attorney for the Western District of Missouri; Milligan had obtained the conviction of 35 Pendergast "ward leaders" for vote frauds.

In 1934 Pendergast arranged for Truman's nomination as United States Senator on the Democratic ticket; he was elected in the democratic landslide as a supporter of Roosevelt and the New deal. His first term in office was uneventful, except for a failed effort to prevent the renomination of Maurice Milligan for U.S.  District Attorney for the Western District of Missouri; Milligan had obtained the conviction of 35 Pendergast "ward leaders" for vote frauds.