Editor,
Harry S. Truman, before he became 33rd President of the United States on April 12, 1945, was a Senator from the great state of Missouri. Truman served his country with honor as an artillery officer in World War I. As a Senator during the Second World War, Truman was appointed to head an oversight committee appropriately named the Truman Committee “This committee proved to be one of the most successful investigative efforts ever mounted by the US government: an initial budget of $15,000 was expanded over three years to $360,000 to save an estimated $10–15 billion in military spending, and thousands of lives of US servicemen.” (Wikipedia) While Truman was a Democrat whose rise was supported by the corrupt Pendergast political machine of Missouri, he was first and foremost a constitutional American.

“Truman found in the Bible the moral core of the American system of government. In March, 1952 he told the convention of the Columbia Scholastic Press Association that:

“The fundamental basis of this Nation’s ideals was given to Moses on Mount Sinai. The fundamental basis of the Bill of Rights of our Constitution comes from the teachings which we get from Exodus, St. Matthew, Isaiah, and St. Paul. The Sermon on the Mount gives us a way of life, and maybe someday men will understand it as the real way of life. The basis of all great moral codes is “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. Treat others as you would like to be treated.” (National Archives)

He took his responsibility to the Constitution and the American people seriously. Upon his desk, he had a plaque that said “The Buck Stops Here.”

Truman had integrity. He respected the taxpayer. He put the interests of the average American above his party affiliation.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States and WWII hero, in his inaugural address famously stated “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” He is also quoted as saying “Every dollar released from taxation that is spent or invested will help create a new job and a new salary. And these new jobs and new salaries can create other jobs and other salaries and more customers and more growth for an expanding American economy.” (Radio and Television Report to the American People on the State of the National Economy, August 13, 1962)

President Kennedy was a liberal Democrat, yet he had a clear understanding of how economies work. He was a great American. It would be unlikely that the modern Democrat party would allow Kennedy or Truman inside their tent.

These great men would be derided as a hateful, tea party, radical, conservative lunatics.

How times do change. The modern Democrats, with names like Shumlin, Obama, Clinton, Pelosi and Reid may be idolized by their supporters but in no way do they resemble Truman or Kennedy.

Stuart Lindberg
Cavendish, VT