A faithful reader and commentator of TheFundamentals now becomes a welcome contributor. Here are his remarks about our 33rd president. They are quite remarkable. Mr. Truman, who lived from 1884 to 1972, would have received the seal of approval from the founding fathers. Please read the following:
Harry Knew the Fundamentals
Harry Truman 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.
The only asset he had when he died was the house he lived in, which was in Independence Missouri . His wife had inherited the house from her mother and other than their years in the White House, they lived their entire lives there.
When he retired from office in 1952, his income was a U.S. Army pension reported to have been $112.56 a month. Congress, noting that he was paying for his stamps and personally licking them, granted him an 'allowance' and, later, a 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 persons 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."
As president he paid for all of his own travel expenses and food.
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 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.”
TheFundamentals would only add the following: This contributor credits Wikipedia as the source for many of the facts in this essay. TheFundamentals also verified certain of this information at www.snopes.com and would add the following data from this site, an excerpt from Mr. Truman’s book, Mr. Citizen:
“I turned down all of those offers. I knew that they were not interested in hiring Harry Truman, the person, but what they wanted to hire was the former President of the United States. I could never lend myself to any transaction, however respectable, that would commercialize on the prestige and the dignity of the office of the Presidency.”
President Truman could have written TheFundamentals. Instead, he lived them.
1 comment:
A careful study of the life of Harry Truman reveals much more about old "Give 'em hell Harry".
A failure at most of his attempts in business, including a haberdashery, he resorted to the last bastion of other failures, politics. He was a product of the Pendergast mob in Kansas City, their front man and hand tool in the days when mobs ruled many U. S. cities. He also had known Communists in his administration, and capitulated to "Uncle Joe " Stalin repeatedly.
To canonize someone who did what should have been done is strange to this faithful reader, but considering how far down are expectations have gone, it is not surprising. I suppose it is customary for latecomers to the scene to search for heroes of a latter, bygone era. Indeed it is almost impossible to find noble men today, in govt.
However,one should put more than cursory research into something that is going into this important blog. By so doing,it will enable contributors to deepen their understanding about the past, and in so doing, enlighten them about the present and the future.
Post a Comment