Tag Archives: Americans

Harry Truman was a different kind of President.

Posted on by
3
This comes from a website and email that seems to be circulating. I found it here: http://theotheri.wordpress.com/2011/02/08/were-the-olden-days-better/
Harry Truman. We may never see this again, but we should!
Harry & Bess(This seems unreal.)

Harry Truman was a different kind of President. He probably made as many, or more important decisions regarding our nation’s history as any of the other 42 Presidents preceding him. 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 father and other than their years in the White House, they lived their entire lives there.

 

English: US Postage stamp: Harry. S. Truman, I...

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 was 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.”

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 (cf. Illinois ).

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!

I say dig him up and clone him!

If you agree, forward it. If you don’t, delete it. By my forwarding it, you know how I feel.

“Do I think the trail of secret service personnel which today a U.S. president will have attached to him or her for the rest of their lives really is an unnecessary luxury?”

While the author of the blog above debates if former US presidents should or shouldn’t be granted an entourage of secret service men, I think the point is rather the integrity of politicians today.

My Comment:

“Interesting food for thought indeed. While I don’t know if we can get our current politics back to such times, its sad to think of the abuse that can occur in this day in age. A former U.S. President, buying a house, and then paying his mortgage based on the rent he charges to the secret service agents stationed there…??? That would be abuse of the privilege. I think the point of the letter was to state that making those individuals wealthy in government corrupts government. Many of today’s politicians have fallen prey to the wealth of their positions.

 

A woman that dresses provocatively to get the attention of men, will most likely attract the basest of men. Not likely  the type she would long to marry and have protect and care for  her.  A government position laced with gold and a high throne will similarly attract the basest of men. These men are not the type that would protect and care for the nation or the welfare of the others.”

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
For the record, I’m a pest control guy, and I hate politics… or Poly-Ticks. (Poly as in “Many” and Ticks as in “blood sucking creatures”)