Edward Jacobson

Edward Jacobson (June 17, 1891 – October 25, 1955) was an American Jewish businessman. He is best known as an Army comrade, business partner, and close friend of President Harry S. Truman. Jacobson was born in New York City's Lower East Side. His parents, David (1851–1935) and Sarah Rubin Jacobson (1862–1941) were impoverished Jewish immigrants from Lithuania. Jacobson had three brothers and two sisters. The family moved to Kansas in 1893, settling in Leavenworth, before finally relocating to Kansas City, Missouri in 1905. Jacobson met Truman in 1905, when both worked in downtown Kansas City. They renewed their acquaintance during World War I, when in 1917 they reported for basic training at Fort Sill, near Lawton, Oklahoma, with a unit of soldiers from the Kansas City area. They successfully managed a canteen together, and were thus inspired to open a haberdashery together after the war. The business failed as a result of the post-war recession and the resulting debts burdened both for many years.