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Margaret Truman Daniel Dead

First Daughter went on to act, sing and write

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 29, 2008 5:20 PM CST
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(Newser) – Margaret Truman Daniel died today at 83 after breaking the mold of First Daughter and embarking on careers in singing, acting, and writing, the Los Angeles Times reports. The go-getter braved opera critics as a singer in the 1940s and '50s before acting alongside Jimmy Stewart on radio and television. Her career cooled after she married a future New York Times editor, but she wrote biographies—one of father Harry—before turning to mystery-writing on a whim.

Long vexed by Washington's scrutiny of her as a child—she was likely the first White House daughter to feel modern media's spotlight—she found some revenge in her capital-based books. "That's why she writes" them, her grandson quipped, to "kill off" people in Washington. Unsure at first, critics warmed to her 20 whodunits over time. A New York resident, Daniel died in Chicago after a short illness.

Margaret Truman-Daniels during a press conference in Kansas City, Mo. in this Dec. 12, 1972 file photo. Margaret Truman, the only child of former President Harry S. Truman who became a concert singer, actress, radio and TV personality and mystery writer, died Tuesday, Jan 29, 2008. She was 83. (AP...
Margaret Truman-Daniels during a press conference in Kansas City, Mo. in this Dec. 12, 1972 file photo. Margaret Truman, the only child of former President Harry S. Truman who became a concert singer,...   (Associated Press)
Former President harry Truman kisses his daughter, Margaret, when she greeted him on arrival in New York to make a television appearance in this 1954 file photo. Margaret Truman, the only child of former President Harry S. Truman who became a concert singer, actress, radio and TV personality and mystery...
Former President harry Truman kisses his daughter, Margaret, when she greeted him on arrival in New York to make a television appearance in this 1954 file photo. Margaret Truman, the only child of former...   (Associated Press)
Margaret Truman Daniel appearing on a NBC television show on Jan. 6, 1977. Margaret Truman, the only child of former President Harry S. Truman who became a concert singer, actress, radio and TV personality and mystery writer, died Tuesday, Jan 29, 2008. She was 83. (AP Photo/File)
Margaret Truman Daniel appearing on a NBC television show on Jan. 6, 1977. Margaret Truman, the only child of former President Harry S. Truman who became a concert singer, actress, radio and TV personality...   (Associated Press)
Margaret Truman smiles happily in her dressing room after her concert appearance in Constitution Hall in Washington, on Dec. 8, 1950, when she sang before her parents, President and Mrs. Truman, and British Prime Minister Clement Attlee, who were in the audience. The only child of former President Harry Truman,...
Margaret Truman smiles happily in her dressing room after her concert appearance in Constitution Hall in Washington, on Dec. 8, 1950, when she sang before her parents, President and Mrs. Truman, and British...   (Associated Press)
Margaret Truman appears on the February 26, 1951 cover of Time Magazine
Margaret Truman appears on the February 26, 1951 cover of Time Magazine   (Wikimedia Commons)
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New York Times

 
White House • obituary • Washington • opera • mystery • book • Too Much Media • Harry Truman • first families

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