Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Men and women of my time(2)

 Memorable Automobiles from The Past:

 President Truman and his wife Bess drove this car from DC to Kansas City just after President Eisenhower was sworn into office.  1953 Chrysler


For today:

There was Harry Truman. Haberdasher, Soldier and President. I was in Kansas City at a friend’s home, when I had the privilege of being introduced to a former Secret Service Agent. At that time he was head of security at the Truman Library. As we talked he said, “Mr. Truman was the same in private and in public. He was not a sham, but an honest man.”  He had been personal security for Presidents Hoover and FDR also.  He did not down grade either of the other Presidents, but didn’t brag on them either, I noticed.

WE all know Truman was the VP when FDR died and became president. WWII was hurting the USA, we were not losing the war, but were losing troops and ships. Most of you who are  reading knew someone in that war. I had Brothers, uncles and cousins there.

This is one thing dad and I disagreed on, but I never argued. Dad did not like Truman because he fired General MacArthur. I thought Truman was right, MacArthur was a great general, but insubordinate and that is wrong militarily.

We all know it was under Truman when the ‘Atomic Bombs’ were used. Terrible weapons, but they did shorten the war and save thousands of American soldiers’ lives.

You must admit his slogan: “The Buck Stops Here”, has become the calling card of many successful business men. Truman was never afraid to ‘Accept and OWN’ his decisions, it is hard to find that quality in today’s world.  In today’s world our politicians seem to prefer ‘passing the buck’.

The 1948 election, Truman vs Dewey, Truman won the election BUT this Chicago paper headline will never be forgotten. Using the poll results The Chicago paper had this headline.

For your information:

Upon leaving the presidency in early 1953 after Dwight Eisenhower was elected, President Truman and his wife Bess packed up their brand new 1953 Chrysler and drove themselves back home to Independence. While this may seem bizarre now, Secret Service protection wasn't given to former presidents until 1965.

Above is Truman's car. It was found years ago and the owner would not sell it. He liked it as it was.  I cannot find anything that shows it was ever sold and restored, that is an amazing story of its own. 

NiteShipslog

PS:  Quotes that sing:

Some of us think holding on makes us strong, but sometimes it is letting go. 

Hermann Hesse

5 comments:

betty said...

Wow,that car would be worth a lot of money, restored or not. I wish our present elected officials would take responsibility for actions done. I would respect them more if they did so.

Betty

Mevely317 said...

Wow. That car is something else! I'm embarrassed to admit, I know little about Truman and others who came before my time. Oh, he was Commander in Chief when I was born, but I paid no attention to politics until Nixon came along.
As ever, thank you for furthering my education!

yaya said...

I like the year 1953..my birth year! Good to know these facts about Truman and wow, to have that car is cool but I would love to see it restored. But maybe it would take away from the magic of it? Have a good weekend! Love the quote too. Yes, letting go can be hard.

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

I always admired President Truman and think he did a good job while in office. My folks were Truman fans and I remember them talking about him. Good post today ! More officials could look to him for some guidance.

Anonymous said...

If the Truman-Dewey election was today, there would be no peaceful transfer of power. Dewey probably had ample reasons to sue for a re-count, but he put the country first. I do not approve of elections being re-tried for years and years. Peace and continuity are important in a Democracy. The people are tired of endless politics.