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Monday, October 06, 2008

#508 Harry Truman

This was sent to me in an e-mail today. It is a compilation of thoughts, deeds and sayings attributed to President Harry S. Truman. According to Snopes.com much of it is true. There are additional things in the snopes article that are equally valid.

His behavior is truly inspirational. While Truman was in office there are some things we might wish he hadn't done. However, he did what he thought was correct for the times. Where is our current Harry Truman?

Harry Truman, from Missouri, was a different kind of President. He probably made as many important decisions regarding our nation's history as any of the other 42 Presidents. However, a measure of his greatness may rest on what he did after he left the White House.

Historians have written the only asset he had when he died was the house he lived in, which was in Independence Missouri. On top of that, his wife inherited the house from her Mother. When he retired from office in 1952, his income was a U.S. Army pension reported to have been $13,507.72 a year. Congress, noting that he was paying for his stamps and personally licking them, granted him an 'allowance' and, later, a retroactive pension of $25,000 per year.

After President Eisenhower was inaugurated, Harry and Bess drove home to Missouri by themselves. There were no Secret Service following them. When offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined, stating, 'You don't want me. You want the office of the President, and that doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the American people and it's not for sale.' Even later, on May 6, 1971, when Congress was preparing to award him the Medal of Honor on his 87th birthday, he refused to accept it, writing, 'I don't consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any award, Congressional or otherwise.'

Modern politicians have found a new level of success in cashing in on the Presidency, resulting in untold wealth. Today, many in Congress also have found a way to become quite wealthy while enjoying the fruits of their offices. Political offices are now for sale.

Good old Harry Truman was correct when he observed, 'My choices early in life were either to be a piano player in a whore house or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference.


GOD BLESS YOUR SOUL HARRY TRUMAN. I doubt that there is a politician alive today that could match you in the state of being HUMBLE. You were truly, one of a kind.


#508

4 comments:

Christina said...

I agree, how truly inspirational. It is refreshing to see someone with the right attitude toward the country and the presidency.

Skunkfeathers said...

Funny thing...Harry Truman made some big decisions, and made some big mistakes during his tenure. In the late stages of his presidency -- during the Korean War -- his popularity with the American public dropped to the low 20s. Yet, at heart he was a decent, well-meaning man, and a precedent he established -- sending the military into harms' way without a congressional declaration of war, as he did in Korea -- turned out, historically, to have been the right move for the time.

History is usually a better judge of a politician or a time, than contemporary, at the time talking-heads. History judged Harry Truman correctly. A lesson we all should remember in the midst of "tough times".

The Real Mother Hen said...

Came here by chance and like your post about Harry Truman. I like to read about inspirational figures.
Now looking back, he is a great and decent guy, yet at that times, I wonder his attitude would lead people to label him as "Communist"?

BBC said...

Jack, has it ever occurred to you how much your travels and lifestyle is so hard on this planet?

As for the political monkeys, while they mean well in some ways, it's just the Roman Empire relocated and reborn here.

And you wouldn't like it at all if you wasn't lucky enough to have dug out a decent lifestyle for yourself.

But even that can change, almost in a heartbeat.