N ILLUSTRIOUS BROTHER CLIFTON TRUMAN DANIEL:
Keeping His Family Legacies Alive On December 3, 2011, Most Worshipful Brother Terry L. Seward, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Illinois, made Brother Clifton Truman Daniel a Mason at sight. In August 2021, he was inducted into the class of 33° Honorary Members of the Scottish Rite, NMJ, serving as Exemplar for his class. He has been a Scottish Rite Mason since 2014 and is a member of the Valley of Chicago.
PHOTO COURTESY OF HARRY S. TRUMAN LIBRARY
Illustrious Brother Daniel is the oldest grandson of Most Worshipful Brother and President Harry S. Truman. Brother Daniel served as guest speaker at a Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library event to celebrate the opening of The Masonic Hall of Fame exhibition. His grandfather is among the 10 inductees who grace the walls of the new museum installation—big shoes to fill, Brother Daniel admits. “I was made a Mason at sight 10 years ago because of my grandpa, and I’ve been trying to make up for it ever since,” he confessed.
A family snapshot of a young Clifton, Christmas in Independence, 1961, happily playing the trumpet and wearing his special holiday gift.
“I was made a Mason at sight 10 years ago because of my grandpa, and I’ve been trying to make up for it ever since.”
Combine that with being the son of E. Clifton Daniel, Jr., former New York Times managing editor, and author/ actress Margaret Truman, Brother Daniel said his career choices were heavily influenced by his parents and grandfather—though he didn’t know his grandfather was president until the first grade, when his schoolteacher asked him about it.
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Now in his 60s, Brother Daniel still keeps that advice close to his heart. Approachable and down-to-earth, he is humble about his upbringing. A fan of Mark Twain just like his grandfather Truman, he says he lives by the words of Mark Twain, who said, “Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” In his 20s, Brother Daniel said he wanted to be an actor, partly because he thought it would be a great way to command the same attention that his grandpa Truman received. Brother Daniel recalls walking into a room with his grandfather, who always stole the show, and he’d think to himself, ‘What am I, chopped liver?’ By age 26, he decided he no longer wanted to pursue acting, so he got a job as feature writer and editor for the
At age 6, as they went around the room introducing themselves by name, he respectfully said his name and his teacher prompted him further. “Wasn’t your grandfather president?” At the end of that day, he couldn’t wait to get home and inform his mother.
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“Mom, did you know that Grandpa Truman was President of the United States?” he asked. His mother of course said yes, and further explained to him, “Any little boy’s grandfather can be president. Don’t let it go to your head.”
Ill. Brother Richard Elliot, 33˚, Executive Director of Museum & Library, presents a gift to Ill. Brother Clifton Truman Daniel, 33˚, at the Museum’s Masonic Hall of Fame gala.
The Northern Light
