Why America Needs Another Harry Truman

This November, we will elect our next president. In November of 1948, I cast my first presidential ballot. I was 7 at the time. I was in second grade.

That "election" was conducted by Sister Mary Margaret at Our Lady of Mercy. I "voted" for Harry S. Truman, Democrat. I was one of only two kids that did. The other thirty-some kids voted for Thomas E. Dewey, Republican.

Like a great many Americans who will vote this fall, I had no clue what either President Truman or Gov. Thomas Dewey stood for. My best recollection is that I voted for Harry Truman "because he was president.”

My vote for Truman, was a vote I have never regretted. And with the passage of years, historians have come to realize that Mr. Truman may well have been one of our greatest presidents.

Truman wasn't always right. But he had the guts to do what he believed was right, regardless of polls, party politics or personal gain.

To end World War II in the Pacific, Harry Truman dropped two atom bombs. It is estimated that those bombs killed 246,000 Japanese. In his memoirs, Mr. Truman estimated that 500,000 Americans would have died had we invaded Japan -- had the bombs not been dropped. Secretary of War Stimson and Winston Churchill estimated 1 million American deaths. Those figures did not include estimates of Japanese deaths.

In February 1948, the president submitted a civil rights agenda to Congress in furtherance of voting rights and fair employment practices for blacks.

This provoked a storm of criticism from Southern Democrats and the split of the Democratic Party. Mr. Truman refused to back down. "My forebears were Confederates ... but my very stomach turned over when I had learned that Negro soldiers, just back from overseas, were being dumped out of Army trucks in Mississippi and beaten."

Tales of the abuse, violence, and persecution against African-American veterans upon their return from World War II infuriated Truman. His response was Executive Order 9981 (July 1948), desegregating and requiring equal opportunity and racial integration in the Armed Forces.

Another executive order made it illegal to discriminate against persons applying for civil service positions based on race.

In 1943, while still a senator, Mr. Truman called for a homeland for Jews who survived Hitler's Holocaust. State Department officials, however, were reluctant to offend the Arabs. Secretary of Defense Forrestal warned Truman of the importance of Saudi oil in the event of war. Truman replied that he would decide his policy on the basis of justice, not oil. Truman recognized Israel over the objections of Secretary of State George Marshall on May 14, 1948.

In 1950, the Senate, led by Estes Kefauver, investigated charges of corruption among internal Revenue officials, and 166 employees either resigned or were fired in 1950. With many soon facing indictment, Attorney General McGrath fired the special prosecutor for being too zealous. Truman fired McGrath. Truman’s plan to reform Internal Revenue was passed by Congress.

In 1952, Mr. Truman, citing his authority as commander-in-chief and the need to maintain an uninterrupted supply of steel for munitions to be used in the Korean War, instructed his secretary of commerce to take control of a number of the nation's steel mills. The Supreme Court found that, without prior Congressional authorization, his actions were unconstitutional.

Mr. Truman supported the creation of the U.N. He established the Berlin Airlift to save Berlin when the Soviets cut-off access. He enunciated the Truman Doctrine to contain the Soviets He won bi-partisan support for the Marshall Plan to rebuild war-torn Europe. He fired Gen. McArthur for insubordination.

And what I like best about him, was that he told the truth.

Harry Truman retired to Missouri a poor man. He had only his WWI army pension. He refused to use the office of the presidency to enrich himself.

Before voting this fall, I recommend you watch the movie "Truman." (It is available on amazon.com.)

Measure how our 2016 candidates measure up against a great president.

Posted: Wednesday, July 16,  2016 - QCOline.com


Copyright 2016, John Donald O'Shea