Missouri lawmakers have voted to send a statue of Harry Truman to Washington for display in the U.S. Capitol.
Every state gets to display two statues in the Capitol, and lawmakers decided in 2002 that the 33rd president should replace former U.S. Senator Francis Preston Blair Jr. Friday's 124-17 vote in the House reverses that decision, keeping Blair and instead removing former senator Thomas Hart Benton.
The choice is complicated because Blair was an unabashed racist and Benton inherited two slaves. Ultimately the decision was made on partisan grounds. Missouri Republicans in Congress wanted both parties represented. Truman and Benton were both Democrats and Blair began his career as a Republican.
The measure next heads to the governor.
The resolution is SCR 50.