Harry S.

Truman
and
the American Presidency
through QUOTES
Heesoo Kim
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ted_States_2014.svg/1200px-Seal_of_the_Executive_Office_of_the_President_of_the_United_States_2014.svg.png

On
the Office
of
the Presidency
 THE ELECTION
“A President needs political
understanding to run the
government, but he may be
elected without it.”
<Memoirs Vol. 2> Harry S. Truman
KEY POINTS:
● Belief that luck plays an important part of election (including his own!)
● Abruptly became the president while serving as a vice president under President Franklin D. Roosevelt
after Roosevelt died from cerebral hemorrhage
● Ex. Henry Clay, who passed up the offer of vice presidency twice in his certainty of being elected
president and thus missed the chance of assuming the highest office when the sitting president died.
Truman giving inaugural speech
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 THE OFFICE VS. THE MAN
“When you get to be
President, there are all those
things, the honors, the
twenty-one gun salutes, all
those things. You have to
remember it isn’t for you. It’s
for the Presidency.”
<Truman> David McCullough Truman’s Oval Office
Image credit: http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/west-wing/oval-office/oval-office-truman-recreation.jpg

KEY POINTS:
● The importance of separating the president--the man--from the Office of the Presidency
● The need for recognition that the honors and compliments received as a president is not given to the
man, but rather is given to the Office of the Presidency
 THE JOB OF A PRESIDENT
“All the president is, is a
glorified public relations man
who spends his time
flattering, kissing, and kicking
people to get them to do what
they are supposed to do
anyway.”
<Letter to His Sister> Harry S. Truman
KEY POINTS:
● Public relations is a major part of the job of a president
● Constantly cajoling politicians to do their jobs
Truman addresses the Congress in 1947
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“I sit here all day trying THE SCOPE OF THE
to persuade people to do PRESIDENCY
the things they ought to
have the sense to do
without my persuading
them. That’s all the
powers of the President
amount to.”
Harry S. Truman

KEY POINTS:
● Limited power of a president Image credit:
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● Presidency, not dictatorship
● Truman was a Democratic president in a heavily Republican controlled congress and was often
frustrated by Republicans in his endeavors.
 THE PAST
AND
THE PRESENT
“Most of the problems
a President has to face
Image credit:
https://oneclassblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/1123676.jpg have their roots in the
past.”
KEY POINTS: Harry S. Truman
● During his tenure as the Vice President, Truman was
often excluded by FDR from foreign policy matters and was not informed of important matters
● Truman studied history to be more informed about the present and how he should handle matters of
international relations
Source: Avi Shlaim, “The United States and the Berlin Blockade”
 On
Government
and
Politics
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2014/03/09/10-religious-surprises-in-the-us-congress/140308-religion-congress-tease_o7pszd
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Long hand note of President Harry S. Truman
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SENIORITY &
https://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/stud
y_collections/trumanpapers/psf/documents/lo
nghand//hst-psf-naid735381-01-01.jpg

HIERARCHY
IN THE GOVERNMENT
“Term limits would cure both
senility and seniority--both
terrible legislative diseases.”
<President’s Secretary’s Files>
Harry S. Truman

KEY POINTS:
● Opposed hierarchy in the government (which arises when
accounting for seniority)
 THE (UN)PRODUCTIVITY
OF
THE CONGRESS
“If you tell Congress everything
about the world situation, they get
hysterical. If you tell them nothing,
Cartoon of gridlock in the US Congress
Image credit:
they go fishing.”
https://harris.uchicago.edu/files/styles/hero/public/Gridlock.jpeg?itok=HwSkopfJ
Harry S. Truman
KEY POINTS:
● Lack of productivity in Congress without an immediate threat or sensationalism
● Derisive of the Congress and of the politicians (despite being a politician himself!)
● Again, note that the Congress was gridlocked during Truman’s tenure, with Republican Congress
opposing Democratic Truman on many issues
 THE EFFICIENCY OF
THE GOVERNMENT

KEY POINTS:
● The time overhead in
Image credit:
https://www.careerride.com/image/Aug/2017/dictator-democracy.jpeg
bureaucracy for making
decisions and implementing
decisions is a natural part of
“When you have an efficient a democracy
government, you have a ● Decisions are made quickly
only in dictatorships where
dictatorship.” no one gets to question the
Harry S. Truman decisions of the dictator
 On
the Past
and
the Future
Presidents
 Monroe as a
“I consider Monroe a pretty
minor president. In spite of President
the Monroe Doctrine. That’s
the only important thing he
ever did more or less on his
own, when you really get
down to it.”
Henry S. Truman

KEY POINTS:
● Truman exhibits the tendency to look down on the past presidents
● Superiority complex?
● Still, recognizes the contributions of other presidents and shares
admiration for these contributions
 The Marshall Plan
and Peace
“The Marshall Plan will go
down in history as one of
America’s greatest
contributions to the peace of
the world.”
Harry S. Truman

KEY POINTS:
● Supports the aiding of rebuilding the
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war-torn countries in Europe
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/US-Marsh
allPlanAid-Logo.svg/2000px-US-MarshallPlanAid-Logo.svg.png
 Derision
“He’ll sit here, and he’ll say, ‘Do this!
Do that!’ And nothing will happen. Towards
Poor Ike, it won’t be a bit like the Others
Army. He’ll find it very frustrating.”
Harry S. Truman

KEY POINTS:
● For all of the derision that Truman has for the politicians,
he also exhibits similar derision towards Eisenhower, who
is not a politician but instead is a military general
● Truman recognizes that the office of presidency does not
grant the power to force people to act against their will;
rather, the president needs to cajole people to act in
desired manner
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 Convictions
“Nixon is one of the few in the
history of this country to run Part 1
for high office talking out of
both sides of his mouth at the
same time and lying out of
both sides.”
Harry S. Truman

KEY POINTS:
● Truman does not like Nixon
● Disliked trait: playing for both sides and not
sticking to a single message or morals
● Truman admires people who stick to their
convictions and who don’t try to game the
Image credit:
system https://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/nixon.jpeg
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Convictions
Part 2
“One of the presidents we could
have done without… The reason I
have a certain amount of grudging
respect for John Tyler is that he
knew his own mind and stuck to his
decisions.”
Harry S. Truman
KEY POINTS:
● Similar to the quote about Nixon, Truman once again expresses admiration for people who stick to
their convictions and not play the masses
“Andrew Johnson wasn’t too Hostility towards
bad, but he was overwhelmed the Congress
by a hostile Congress.”
Harry S. Truman

KEY POINTS:
● Truman exhibits hostility towards the
Congress. This is likely due to him having
served as a Democrat president in a
Republican controlled Congress
● Feels empathy for Andrew Johnson's’ plight

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Presidential Self-Conceptions:
Likes, Dislikes, and Traits of Truman
- Traits admired by Truman:
- Conviction and sticking to one’s own morals and beliefs
- Traits disliked by Truman:
- Only saying things to score political points and walking back on one’s words (i.e. lying to the
public)
- Traits exhibited by Truman:
- Patronizes everyone (e.g. the Congress, past presidents, presidential candidates)
- Ability to recognize the need for certain institutions and practices despite how much he is
frustrated by them and how much he finds them tedious
Presidential Self-Conception:
Truman’s Thoughts on the Presidency
- Decision making process in a democracy
is tedious, but it is necessary for the
survival of democracy, since efficiency in
making decisions can only occur with a
single person (or a select group of people)
making all of the decisions
- The president exists to serve the majority
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of people who do not have people in the
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ent/uploads/2016/07/Truman-Speech-1-1024x651.jpg Washington D.C. to lobby for them
Thank You!