Tuesday, June 14, 2011

o'needs to read'n learn - Harry and Bess Truman take a Road Trip

Friday, April 23, 2010


Matthew Algeo, "Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure: The True Story of a Great American Road Trip"
Publisher: Chicago Review Press | 2009 | ISBN 1556527772 | PDF | 256 pages | 4.2 MB
online audio book preview by the author:
http://www.archive.org/details/MatthewAlgeoHarryTrumansExcellentAdventure
     On June 19, 1953, Harry Truman got up early, packed the trunk of his Chrysler New Yorker, and did something no other former president has done before or since: he hit the road. No Secret Service protection. No traveling press. Just Harry and his childhood sweetheart Bess, off to visit old friends, take in a Broadway play, celebrate their wedding anniversary in the Big Apple, and blow a bit of the money he'd just received to write his memoirs. Hopefully incognito.
     In this lively history, author Matthew Algeo meticulously details how Truman's plan to blend in went wonderfully awry.  Fellow diners, bellhops, cabbies, squealing teenagers at a Future Homemakers of America convention, and one very by-the-book Pennsylvania state trooper -- all unknowingly conspired to blow his cover.  Algeo revisits the Trumans' route, staying at the same hotels and eating at the same diners, and takes readers on brief detours into topics such as the postwar American auto industry, McCarthyism, the nation's highway system, and the decline of Main Street America.  By the end of the 2,500-mile journey, you will have a new and heartfelt appreciation for America's last citizen-president. 
values - Primer for Today's Politicians: "Harry & Bess Take A Road Trip"
From: drude Sent: Monday, April 19, 2010
WE WILL NEVER SEE THIS HAPPEN AGAIN.. and nothing even close to it!
     Harry Truman was 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!


----- Original Message -----
From: bb Sent: Monday, June 13, 2011 Subject: Fw: Harry and Bess Truman
I look at Harry Truman as our last honest President.  He was certainly not loved while in office but history has told us how great he was.  We were blessed to have Harry when we needed him.  -- J
Harry & Bess Truman.
Hi Folks. Harry was my Commander and yes we need some one like him in there. God Bless us.
We will never see this again.
Thought you'd enjoy this!
     It's one you want your Children and Grandchildren to read.
     They won't believe this happened, but it DID.
Harry & Bess
(This seems unreal.)
     Harry Truman was 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 (cf. 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!
     I say dig him up and clone him!
Never let anyone become your priority, while you remain only their option.


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