A book by Timeless Lessons Press “The buck stops here.” 28/3/26
1945 April till 1953 Jan. When he left office as the 33rd President his approval rating were amongst the lowest in the world. Today historians consider that he was amongst the most consequential leaders. 8years less 82 days. He was a man of moral clarity and with honesty, accountability and decisiveness. He had a sense of personal responsibility and learned how to navigate corruption without succumbing. He always believed that the right action however unpopular is the highest form of leadership.
Born in 1884. He was very bookish, loyal to his family and beside scripture at a young age had read the histories of Rome and Greece and biographies of Andrew Jackson and Napoleon. He wanted to attend West Point but failed the vision test. In 1905 joined the National Guard. 1914 his father died and he took over running the farm. WW1 he enlisted in the Field Artillery, He did not cheat, drink or take bribes. He became president while America was still at war in both Europe and the Pacific, and had only met Roosevelt twice. he believed in work well done promises kept and you owned decisions. Complaining never harvested a field he learned on the farm. Roosevelt had humor, Churchill poetry but Truman endurance. When scandals later erupted in his administration, he faced them head on. His speeches were plain direct and unpolished.
WW1 he emerged as a leader capable of commanding men, making decisions under fire, and standing firm in chaos. In 1918 he was a captain in command of Battery D who had, had a reputation before he arrived as being unruly and impossible to control, In the mud of France he learned that trust was the currency of leadership. His soldiers would remain fierce loyal and even when he was president he received their letters addressed to Captain Harry. He understood that poor decisions and waste and corruption cost lives.
Failure more than success reveals who you are. He and his friend Eddie opened the Truman &Jacobson haberdashery when the soldiers were returning from the war and Kansas was booming. The shop became a veteran meeting place, but came the crash of 1921 people stopped buying clothes. Truman resolved not to declare bankruptcy but to pay the people back and it took him 15 years. A man who never has been knocked down has no idea how to get up again. "If I am no true to my word on small things, how can I ever be trusted on the great things"
Going into politics was a moral minefield. Kansas City Democrats was run by Tom Prendergast the most corrupt machine in the country but they saw his potential. Votes were bought , jobs were traded for loyalty. With Prendergast help Truman ran for Eastern District judge at Jackson County, this was a administrative overseeing budgets. Curiously Truman could not be bought. However when this position was lost to Republican in 1924 he returned to the family farm, but later he got this job back again. Later Prendergast needed a candidate for the Senate, here he never made speeches of promises he couldn't keep. Prendergast was later put in prison for Tax evasion.
Washington in the 1930s was a city of patronage. But Truman said if something is wrong can't vote for it. Remembering the inefficiencies of WW1 He proposed a committee to investigate waste and mismanagement in defense production and this was later called the Truman Committee. Companies were charging the government 3 time the price for substandard goods. Workers complained about the unsafe conditions, wasted materials and fraud. Waste costs lives and faulty equipment killed soldiers. . Refusal to look away when the truth is inconvenient. After Pearl Harbour the US mobilization was unmatched in history, Wherever money flowed freely corruption followed.
He was warned that to investigate waste during the war was political suicide as it would be resented by powerful industrialists and officials. "Then that is exactly what we need to do. I'm not after headlines, I want results" The Truman Committee had over 400 hearings and 51 reports. When an executive accused the committee of harming morale Truman replied " What harms moral is when a soldier dies because of a faulty gun." The press called him the Treasury Watchdog. It is estimated that he saved the taxpayer $15 billion.
Henry Wallace was meant to be voted for vice president but he was too polarizing for Roosevelt. "Truth always strengthened democracy" Truman was vice President for only 82 days. "Leadership without humility becomes tyranny in disguise." A leader has to make decisions and live with them. Ending the war quickly would limit Soviet influence, Wars end when the ideas that refuel war are resolved, and he believed that cooperation with the defeated Germans was important.
In Europe Stalin refused to honor agreement he had made and would keep Soviet troops in all land occupied, he would not hold free elections. There is no difference between a totalitarian state and gangster , you can't appease either one. Britain informed America that without help Turkey and Greece would fall to communism and global responsibility was being handed over to the US. This led to the Truman Doctrine 1947 March, that the US would stand against expansion of tyranny, and Congress would support his request for aid to Greece and Turkey. However he stated that American strength must rest on arms but also democratic ideals.
1947 June Secretary of State George Marshall gave a speech at Harvard University. Truman understood that victory without reconstruction would lead to what followed WW1 and they must not allow conditions that would breed dictators. The Marshall Plan or the European Recovery Program was to rebuild infrastructures, stabilize currencies and restore production. This was the end of US return to isolationism. The cost of peace if far less than the cost of war. Europeans countries began to coordinate their economies and this led to the European Union resulting in not only recovery but unity. Truman's insistence of including Germany and Italy was controversial but visionary. Truman never claimed credit but praised Marshal as the greatest man of the age.
1948 June till May 1949 The US Britain and France unified the territories that they occupied and made into an economically stable West Germany and the Deutsche Mark was introduced to revive trade. When the Soviets closed the roads to West Berlin. The airlift was introduced. Truman would not back down. He showed that the arsenal of democracy mightiest weapon was endurance, but it also showed unity and NATO resulted.
After winning the elections in 1948 Truman raised the minimum wage from 40 to 75 cents a hour. Extended social security to 10 million more Americans, initiated a housing program but was not able to advance in national health. He called for anti lynching laws. end to poll taxes and desegregated the armed forces by executive order in 1948 July. " The test of government is how much it can do for the poor man to help himself."" Democracy is not self sustaining it must be nourished by fairness , defended by courage and guided be conscience"
Truman was the president who took a moral stand, he supported a cause not because it was popular but because it was right." He was apposed by the "Dixiecrats" Democrats who stood for states rights .If you wish to inspire freedom abroad you must practice it at home. With segregation he said " We cannot any longer afford the luxury of separate but equal." The military would become the laboratory of integration. Appointed more black judges than any previous president. Met Civil Rights leaders including NAACP. In 1947 July he spoke at their gathering at the Lincoln Memorial. I swore on oath to uphold the Constitution and " it does not say for whites only." He showed that moral courage is not measured by applause but by doing what is right.
The Korean War showed the limits of power. Truman believed in containment to preserve peace. This war broke out in 1950 and General Douglas MacArthur with UN forces launched an amphibious landing at Inchon behind enemy lines and caught the North Koreans off guard and liberated Seoul and drove them north. MacArthur wanted to move them beyond the 28 parallels but Mao warned that they would not tolerate foreign troops so close to its territories. Thousands of Chinese troops crossed the Yula River. Truman fired MacArthur because he did not respect the authority of the President. The people can elect a new president but can't elect a new General. In a democracy power must remain accountable especially during a war. The hardest thing in being a leader is knowing when not to fight. Generals advise but presidents decide.
After he left office corporate boards offered him positions, he answered "You don't want to pay for my knowledge you want to pay for my name and that is not for sale." Dignity does not depend on riches. When asked what he missed most about being president answer " The music of the marine band" " When you are in charge you can't blame anyone else" If you want a friend in Washington get yourself a dog. Friendship and power rarely exist. Leadership does not require grandeur but gravity.
He entered the presidency without popularity and left it with less. His approval rating sank as low as 22%. He said "I cant make people like me I can only do my job." He told the public what it didn't believe that communism could not be defeated overnight. I'll leave my defense to history it has a longer memory that newspapers. The Presidency is a trust not a trophy. He declined a official visit to Queen Elizabeth II. as he said a man shouldn't go sightseeing at the expense of the taxpayers.
He died aged 88 in 1972 and buried with only the naval band playing and no pageantry. His legacy was that he had a modest background and no wealth and no university degree.. He understood power as a loan and not a possession. He called himself "the Common Man President" The only thing new in the world is the history you don't know. Courage need not come with grandeur, and greatness does not require perfection. He never hid from his mistakes, he faced them and learned from them. About the Atomic bomb he said " Sometime you do terrible things to prevent worse ones. 36,000 Americans died in the Korean War. and it was labeled the Truman War. You have to keep sowing the seed even if you wont be there to harvest. To work hard even when no-one notices. He represented America of small towns and big hearts. A man's honor is his best protection. Truman's legacy is not the wars he fought but the peace he achieved, not the speeches he gave but the example he set. Do your duty without expectation of reward.
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