If Only Harry Truman Were Alive Today

Modern research tools failed me, so I must accept something allegedly stated by President Harry S. Truman on his departure from the Oval Office. It went something to the effect; there is no greater honor than to be a private citizen.
Ordinary citizens, who don’t enjoy the trappings of wealth or power, cannot understand how happy they ought to be holding the very throttle of power in their hands (by voting) and wallets (by controlling what businesses succeed or fail). They are curried to buy and vote at every turn, and few ever question why.
Only when someone walks away from the highest office in the land, can it be understood how great common citizenship can be.
Truman’s time in the White House from 1945-1953 was among the most precedent setting of any chief executive except for President Lincoln. The atomic bomb was first used, World War II ended, America was on the upswing, and political lines were being drawn for the Cold War.
If I could get on a time machine, and could have a wish granted, it would be able to be among the press corps at the Truman White House, to meet the man who, in retrospect, seems like the kind of stand-up president we again long to have.
From quotes readily available, Truman knew no gray area. Things were A or B, right or wrong, good or bad. No middle ground befouled his thinking.
He must have had a truly dry sense of humor, otherwise, how could be possibly have said “Always be sincere, even if you don’t mean it.” If the current president uttered those words, he would be drawn and quartered by every late-night talk show host in the land.
There was lots of truth to another Truman admonition for those who long to hold office in the nation’s capital: “You want a friend in Washington? Get a dog.”
Maybe that is why so many chief executives harbor a canine in the Oval Office. It must get awfully lonesome in there when the microphones turn off, and all the advisors leave, and there remains a pile of work remaining on the massive desk.
We elect a mortal and expect a god to exude superhuman knowledge from that place at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Having spent time inside that palatial estate, Truman came up with another observation: “The White House is the finest prison in the world.” Perhaps instead of alluding to it as a “term” the holder of the office is serving a four-year sentence, which would be understandable, given the high security that surrounds the place, the guards who are stationed at every entrance, the bars that keep the distance between those inside and outside.
Then came a more troubling utterance from “The Buck Stops Here” president: “When even one American – who has done nothing wrong – is forced by fear to shut his mind and close his mouth – then all Americans are in peril.”
“When even one American – who has done nothing wrong – is forced by fear to shut his mind and close his mouth – then all Americans are in peril.”
We would be well advised to rehearse that one over and over today.
“Forced by fear to shut his mind and close his mouth…” doesn’t that speak directly to so-called political correctness? Many people are afraid to speak their mind because they don’t want to face the consequences of the things they think. That’s wrong. This is America, where we pride ourselves in being able to say anything freely.
There are no speech police. There are no thought police…yet. If we wake up and realize the freedom we have — and exercise it so that it does not get shut down — America will be a better, stronger place. Diverse ideas are what make this land what it is. Fear has no place in this land.
If someone dislikes what we say, they ought to understand that no group holds a club to force us to think any particular way. If, like Truman stated, we are forced by fear to shut our minds and close our mouths, then we all are in grave peril.
Perhaps leaders of both political parties ought to be made to write another of Truman’s utterances 500 times, or until it finally sinks in: “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”
Each day, we are pelted with reports of what Republicans and Democrats say and do. If one says “right” the other screams, “left.” If one says, “black” the other, says “white.”
Middle ground seems endangered. No one on Capitol Hill wants to give anyone else credit for a good idea or gracious thought. That’s what’s wrong with the place and with the entire political machine.
From the grass roots, we elect men and women to serve us. They are sent from our districts and states to do what is right and best for us, not them, us. As the pendulum swings, we have Democrat and Republican administrations. Each has valid attributes. Neither has a monopoly on winning ideas.
Will the day dawn when R’s and D’s sit at a table and draft something that will truly benefit us, and care less if it was created by the majority or minority?
That is too great a thing to hope will happen, much like that wish to be part of the press corps in the Truman White House.