How simple life used to be ...........

Harry Truman's Farewell Address
Given on Thursday, January 19, 1953

Good Evening, My Fellow Americans:

Next Tuesday, General Eisenhower will be inaugurated as President of the United States. I will be on a train on my way home to Independence, Missouri, to become a plain citizen. Inauguration Day will be a great demonstration of the Democratic Process. I am glad to be a part of the peaceful transfer of the vast power of the Presidency from my hands to his. There is no job like it on the face of the Earth. I want you all to realize how hard it is and to give Ike all the help he will need. The Cold War and the “hot war” in Korea will be great tests of his strength.

How will the Cold War end? It will end…someday…because of the great weakness of the Communist system. I have not a doubt in the world that a great change will occur. I have a deep and abiding faith in the destiny of free men. With strength and courage, we shall, someday, overcome.

When Franklin Roosevelt died, I thought there must be a million men more qualified than I to take up the Presidential task. But the work was mine to do. But always, I knew that I was not alone. I knew that you were working with me. And now, the time has come for me to say goodnight and God bless you all.

It was his time to step in to history, he did his job, and it was time to get on the train and head home. Life and times were simpler then. If Obama loses the election, can you see him saying anything like this? If he wins the election, can you imagine what the country will be like .... then?

Harry S. Truman By Dallek, Robert/ Schlesinger, Arthur Meier (EDT)/ Wilentz, Sean (EDT) 
Harry S. Truman: Presidential Rhetoric 
Historic Photos of Harry S. Truman 
PVT-Superstock SAL1457634 F-14B Tomcat USS Harry S. Truman -CVN 75 US Navy -24 x 18 Poster Print 

Jimmy Stewart, Nice Guy

James Maitland "Jimmy" Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997

"If Bess and I had a son we'd want him to be just like Jimmy Stewart." –Harry Truman

By all accounts, Jimmy Stewart was as nice in real life as so many of the characters he played in the movies were. He was, in contrast to so many other celebrities, a refreshingly regular guy in his daily life. Stewart would have turned 104 today, and we're marking the date by retelling a few of our favorite anecdotes from his personal life… plus, of course, watching a few of our favorite films.

James Maitland Stewart grew up in small-town Pennsylvania, the son of a hardware store owner. Throughout his career, his father often urged him to leave Hollywood and come back to Pennsylvania to settle down and lead a quiet, respectable life. When Stewart won his only Oscar – in 1941, for The Philadelphia Story – he sent it home to his dad. To his credit, Stewart's father displayed the Oscar prominently at his store.

Stewart was good friends with Henry Fonda, despite their very different politics (Stewart was a staunch Republican, Fonda a devoted Democrat). For a time, they shared an apartment. In later years, their children remembered that one of their favorite pastimes was to build and paint model airplanes together.

Stewart and his wife Gloria owned a dog, Beau, whom the family loved very much. When Stewart was on location in Arizona, Beau became very ill, and the vet called to say he needed to be put to sleep. Stewart replied, "Keep him alive and I'll be there." He took an immediate leave of absence from the film, rushed home, and got to spend a few days with Beau before he said goodbye. Later, remembering petting his beloved dog's head at night, Stewart wrote a poem about Beau – one of many poems he wrote in his life. When he read "Beau" on The Tonight Show, both Stewart and Johnny Carson were moved to tears.

I remember that show well, I was in tears also ........... jbd

Good Old Harry Truman

Not my commentary, but very interesting.
  Whether you admired him as a President or not, the following is a good commentary on how things have changed in our country.
  Harry Truman, from Missouri, was a different kind of President. He probably made as many important decisions regarding our nation's history as any of the other 42 Presidents.
  However, a measure of his greatness may rest on what he did after he left the White House. Historians have written the only asset he had when he died was the house he lived in, which was in Independence, Missouri.
  On top of that, his wife inherited the house from her mother.
  When he retired from office in 1952, his income was a U.S.O. Army pension reported to have been $13,507.72 a year.
  Congress, noting that he was paying for his stamps and personally licking them, granted him an 'allowance' and,later, a retroactive pension of $25,000 per year.
  After President Eisenhower was inaugurated, Harry and Bess drove home to Missouri by themselves. There were no Secret Service following them.
  When offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined, stating, 'You don't want me. You want the office of the President,...
  We will NEVER see any of that happen again. Can you imagine Barack and Michele and the kids driving back to Illinois

Harry Truman, a DIFFERENT Kind of President

He probably made as many, or more important decisions regarding our nation's history as any of the other 42 Presidents preceding him.

However, a measure of his greatness may rest on what he did after he left the White House.

The only asset he had when he died was the house he lived in, which was in Independence Missouri . His wife had inherited the house from her mother and father and other than their years in the White House, they lived their entire lives there.

When he retired from office in 1952, his income was a U.S. Army pension reported to have been $13,507.72 a year.

Congress, noting that he was paying for his stamps and personally licking them, granted him an 'allowance' and, later, a retroactive pension of $25,000 per year..

After President Eisenhower was inaugurated, Harry and Bess drove home to Missouri by themselves. There was no Secret Service following them.

When offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined, stating, "You don't want me. You want the office of the President, and that doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the American people and it's not for sale."

Even later, on May 6, 1971, when Congress was preparing to award him the Medal of Honor on his 87th birthday, he refused to accept it, writing, "I don't consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any award, Congressional or otherwise."

As president he paid for all of his own travel expenses and food.

Modern politicians have found a new level of success in cashing in on the Presidency, resulting in untold wealth.

Today, many in Congress also have found a way to become quite wealthy while enjoying the fruits of their offices.

Political offices are now for sale. (sic. Illinois)

Good old Harry Truman was correct when he observed,

"My choices in life were either to be a piano player in a whore house or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference!

There is not ONE in office now, who would follow in his footsteps.