He proposed in 1911, but she turned him down. Truman later said he intended to propose again, but he wanted to have a better income than that earned by a farmer.[27] To that end, during his years on the farm and immediately after World War I, he became active in several business ventures. These included a lead and zinc mine near Commerce, Oklahoma,a company that bought land and leased the oil drilling rights to prospectors, and speculation in Kansas City real estate.[28] Truman occasionally derived some income from these enterprises, but none proved successful in the long term.[29]
Truman is the only president since William McKinley (elected in 1896) who did not earn a college degree.[30] In addition to having briefly attended business college, from 1923 to 1925 he took night courses toward an LL.B. at the Kansas City Law School (now the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law) but dropped out after losing reelection as county judge.