Margaret Truman Daniel, the only child of former United States president Harry S Truman who was known for her mystery novels and singing career, died on January 29 after a brief illness, the Truman Library said.
She was 83.
Born Mary Margaret Truman on February 17 1924, she was in college when her father, who was serving as vice-president, became the president following the death of Franklin D Roosevelt in 1945.
She pursued a singing career upon her graduation from George Washington University in 1946 and performed at Carnegie Hall on November 27 1949, a year after her father was reelected.
She wrote her first book, an autobiography, in 1956, the same year that she married Clifton Daniels, who was then assistant to the foreign news editor of the New York Times.
A long-time resident of New York City, she was the author of 23 novels and nine books of non-fiction, including the definitive biography of her mother, Bess W Truman.
Truman Daniel was in the process of moving to Chicago to be near her eldest son when she fell ill with a “simple infection” and was transferred to a Chicago care facility several weeks ago where her condition quickly deteriorated, a spokesperson for the library said.
She had been one of the eldest surviving children of an American president, second only to John Eisenhower, the Truman Library said in a statement. – AFP