More Presidential Museum Visits...

You may note from reading this blog that one of our minor hobbies is visiting Presidential Museums when we find ourselves in the area. We have visited Clinton's, LBJ's, and Bush the Elder's.  We add to our list Truman's, located in Independence, Mo and Lincoln's in Springfield Ill.  I think I can recognize some common themes that run through all these guys terms that most who are not students of history may not readily see. This seems to cause people to give whoever is in office holy heck. Let's take a long view. 

Here's Truman's house. No pictures allowed inside, but you can see where Harry himself tacked the linoleum down in the kitchen when it started peeling up. Harry was the last president who did not graduate from college. Pretty much a failure at everything as a young man he was called back to his dirt poor family farm to help save it. That did not go well there either. World War I comes and Harry turns out to be a smart leader with a cool head under fire.  Gets back, Marry's rich girl, this is actually her parents house but Harry takes good care of it. Goes into politics and long story short ends up president

The presidency is tough but Harry sees it through. Drops Atom Bomb. Not a good thing but at least Harry knew what combat was. Has to make a lot more hard choices including recognizing Israel as a nation in 1948.  Did you know that some advisers, the great generation generals, urged him to side with the Arabs? They knew the oil thing was going to be a problem. Harry made the hard choice and we suffer troubles because it today. Would have been nice to go one step more and set on a course of independent green energy in 1948. Some people foresaw the problems of the future.  Wonder where we would be now? 

Next is Korea, more trouble and eventually Truman leaves office with the lowest approval rating ever. He was blamed for housing shortages and unemployment of returning vets. There were strikes and meat shortages that some just knew were caused by the president. Personally I think this girl pictured in the exhibit is enjoying her strike. History looks back and Truman now ranks as one of the top 5. Why? He made decisions that were best for the most people. 

Cathy out side the Truman museum. He raised the money and built it himself. He lived on his WW I officers pension until presidential pensions were started in 1968.  

I think I'll have to leave Lincoln for another blog entry. I'll leave you with a photo from an exhibit that shows legislative successes in blue and failures in red. I think we are still fighting for some of these now. Which do you think is the best for the most? As Harry said, "the buck stops here." I think the common theme is do what's best for the most people.

Click on the photo to enlarge.