Well we've had a lively discussion prior to Dr. Lee's arrival as to whether or not the "S" in Truman's name has a period after it. I read McCullough's book on Truman and the "S" doesn't stand for anything. Nevertheless you see it both with the period and without it. Dr. Lee had a print out from the internet that did have the period.
Now that we've got that important issue out of the way we ought to thank Larry Pack again for inviting History Professor Dr. David Lee to speak today about the Harry Truman presidiency. Dr. Lee is Dean of Potter College and Sally Ray's boss. He is an expert on Sargent York and has spoken to our club about his exploits.
Today David reviewed a lot of the mental images we have about Truman. He recalled the photo of Truman holding the Chicago Tribune declaring Dewey the winner. We remember his early morning walks with the press and his sign that asserted that THE BUCK STOPS HERE. In a recent ranking of the country's greatest presidents Turman was ranked 5th yet he finished his presidency with a 22% approval rating. David said that Truman was the only president in a 112 year span with no college education. He had planned on going to West Point but his eyesight was so horrific he couldn't pass the physical. He ultimately got into the Missouri National Guard by memorizing the eye chart. He served with distinction in WWI.
David talked about the unlikely path Truman took to the White House. He rose through Missiouri polictics in the 1920's including an affiliation with corrupt machine boss Tom Pendergrass. After being elected County Judge he went on to the U.S. Senate and ultimately became FDR's VP in his fouth term. Truman had distinguished himself in the Senate by ferreting out waste and corruption among military contractors during the war. He made the cover of TIME in 1943. FDR needed a running mate that had few enemies. Truman neither saught nor wanted the post but was finally persuaded to join the ticket.
Truman was sworn in January 20, 1945 and met with FDR a couple of times before being called to the White House on April the 12th. Eleanor Roosevelt told him that she had received word that her husband had died. Truman asked her if there was anything he could do to be helpful. She assured him that it was he who would be needing help.
Sam Rayburn's summary of Truman was that he had been right about most of the big things and wrong about a lot of the little things. Dr. David Lee said Truman had said that "I did my damnedest and that's all there is to it". In my lifetime I have seen an appreciation for Truman grow. I read David McCullough's book on Truman and it made me appreciate the man a great deal. David did a wonderful job in bringing to memory so many of the attributes of this Citizen President. Thank you David.
