Kansas City, May 6, 2010
by Jean Carnahan

As I looked through the program at the many recipients of this prestigious award, I am both honored and humbled to be among them.

I know how Charlie Brown felt when he and Lucy and Linnus were lying on a hilltop, looking up at the cloud formations.

Charlie Brown says, “What do you see in those clouds?”
Lucy replies, “I see the outline of Raphael’s Madonna.”
Linnus says, “I see the southwest wall of the Sistine Chapel.”
Charlie says nothing.
Finally, Lucy says, “Well, Charlie Brown, what do you see?”
Charlie Brown replies, “I was going to say a horsey and a doggie, but I don’t think I’ll bother.”

There are so many books, speeches, quotations that attempt to define Harry Truman. One of my favorites comes from a British newspaper back in 1946. They wrote President “Harry Truman is the living, kicking symbol of what everyone likes about America.”

They were right.

David McCullough put it this way. He wrote, “Harry Truman was what the Founding Fathers had in mind for our country. He came directly from the people. He was America.”

Even today his grit and goodness, his commonsense and courage are admired around the world. I have stood in Athens, Greece, where an 18-foot bronze statue of Truman stands in that ancient city among the Greek gods and orators of the past, a symbol of their gratitude for his aid in rebuilding their country.

Harry is remembered in more humble ways, too. The organic farmers in the State of Maine salute him with their annual “Harry S. Truman Memorial Manure Toss and Horseshoe Pitch” in which contestants compete to see who can heave a 25-pound shovel load the farthest.

The organic farmers are fans of Truman’s because of his fondness for using the word “manure” –a usage that Bess encouraged, as you remember, to keep him from using a more descriptive term.

Harry is remembered far and wide because he had a down home quality that connected him with his fellowman, whether he was in a foxhole in France, on the campaign trail, in the Oval Office, or at a summit of world leaders.

I am pleased that our family had some small, but meaningful connection with Harry Truman. I recall my husband telling of getting in his family’s old green Plymouth and driving several hours from south Missouri to St. Louis to hear Truman speak at Keil auditorium on October 30, 1948.

It was the finally speech of his whistle stop tour that took the President more than 21,000 miles in 33 days, delivering more than 300 speeches in 250 cities to 6 million people.

Despite his effort, things didn’t look good that year. Politicians, pollsters and pundits had written him off. One leading newspaper speculated about who “President Dewey” might appoint to his cabinet.

Another wrote, “[Truman] was a game little fellow, who went down fighting with all he had.”

That was the atmosphere that final weekend before the election.

Mel and his father arrived at Keil Auditorium late and had to park some distance away. They walked through the drizzling rain, working their way through the 10,000 people standing outside the auditorium that couldn’t get in.

There were already 12,000 inside, where every seat was taken and people were standing along the walls. Because Mel’s father was the Democratic candidate for Congress in south Missouri, they had to put them someplace. So they had them sit on the stage behind the podium. That’s where they heard the last campaign speech that Harry Truman would ever give in his own behalf.

The speech had a profound effect on a 14-year-old boy from the Ozarks. From that time on, he knew what he wanted to do with his life and he never wavered from that call to public service he felt at such a young age.

Meanwhile I was a teenager growing up in Washington DC. Later that same year I would meet Mel and he would tell me this wonderful story of having been on the stage just feet from the President to hear the most exciting speech he had ever heard.

He also told me of his own hopes for serving in Congress someday. But the tide and turn of events meant he would never realize that dream. Sadly, fifty years later, it would be me—not him—who would take Harry Truman’s seat in the U.S. Senate.

As the old saying goes: “Life is not the way it’s supposed to be; it’s the way it is. It’s how you cope with it that makes the difference.”

Today our son now serves in the Congress and my daughter Robin is running for the U.S. Senate. It all began on that stage back in 1948, when a teenage boy was inspired by the two men he admired most: his father and Harry Truman.

I don’t tire of telling that story of Truman’s 1948 campaign victory. And people don’t tire of hearing it, because it shows the incredible triumph of the human spirit in the face of almost certain defeat.

Anyone who has had to faced naysayers or hopelessness finds consolation in Truman’s struggle and optimism. We still smile—regardless of our political party—when we see a picture of Harry, holding up that newspaper the day after the election. We still delight in hearing that recording of him mimicking H.V. Kaltenborn’s election night predictions.

Truman taught us not to let others define who we are or what we can accomplish. He showed us that we don’t have to be victims, we can be victors.

Clark Clifford, a speechwriter and staffer for Harry Truman wrote why he thought Truman won in 1948. “It was the remarkable courage of the man—his refusal to be discouraged, his willingness to go through the suffering of that campaign, the fatigue, the will to fight every step of the way, the will to win. It wasn’t Harry Truman the politician who won; it was Harry Truman the man.”

I’ve always felt that you could tell a lot about a person by some of the small things they do that seem trivial and ordinary at the time. I have a photocopy of the appointment calendar that Truman kept when he was running for the Senate in 1934. It’s one of those small pocket-size books that men carried in their shirt pocket back in those days. He carried it with him as he travelled around the state in his sound car with the loud speaker horns on top and campaign signs on the sides. That summer of ‘34 was the hottest on record and, of course, cars weren’t air conditioned back then. So he spent a lot of time riding along with the windows rolled down and his shirt sleeves rolled up.

There is a lot to learn about Truman from what he chose to include in those daily entries and I don’t know that anyone has written about that. It might be an interesting study to pursue. I thought I would share with you some observations I made.

Occasionally there were notes indicating who was for him in a certain town and who was against him. And how many turned out to hear him. Obviously, loyalty was important to Truman—a trait that he valued in others as well as himself.

He kept a careful accounting of his expenses: the amount paid for gas and oil—apparently the car was an oil guzzler from the number of entries posted. He also made note of what he spent on meals, including the amount given in tips to waitresses. Even then, Harry was concerned about working people.

There were even notations that read: “Call Bess.” That was a long-distance call. I remember years later that we didn’t make many long-distance calls. They were costly and were only made for something important. But family was important to Harry and he took time out at the end of a tiring day to keep Bess (or “the Boss,” as he called her) posted.

When I went to the Senate in 2001, I had the privilege of sitting at the desk that Truman occupied after he won that 1934 race. More than once I lifted the lid, looked at his signature inscribed in the bottom and wondered what Harry might do, or say, had he been there for some of those tough votes.

We know that during his time in Washington the country was facing some problems similar to those we face today—an intractable war, a stumbling economy, and divisions within and threats without.
Certainly, we can’t say for sure, but we can extrapolate from what Truman did then as to what he might do today.

I have no doubt, for instance, that Harry would be all over the unscrupulous military contractors for doing many the same thing today as they did during World War II.

As a U.S. Senator he headed the Truman Committee, calling nearly 1800 witnesses during 432 hearings and writing 51 reports. His pursuit of war profiteers saved the country some $15 billion in waste, fraud and abuse.
He made changes in the military that ruffled a few feathers. He chose to integrate the military at a time when 80% of the country disapproved. He didn't do it because it was the popular thing to do but because it was the right thing to do.

Harry most certainly would have been in the thick of the health care battle. During his presidency, 40% of the counties in the United States had no access to a local hospital. There was also a shortage of doctors, nurses, and clinics across America, especially in the rural areas.

Teddy Roosevelt had brought up health care and FDR had talked about it; but Truman was actually the first to propose a plan.

No matter what he undertook, he was guided by two core principles: determination and duty. Even when he was a young boy, wearing those heavy, metal rim glasses, he was determined to read everything he could put his hands on.

Later, as a young man determined to do his patriotic duty, he memorized the eye chart in order to pass the physical exam, so he could serve in World War I.

When the love of his life, Bess Wallace, turned down his marriage proposal, he persisted until she agreed to be his wife.

In 1945, when the “moon, stars, and all the planets” fell upon him—as he described the time following FDR’s death—he dutifully assumed the presidency, and proceeded to end the war and lead the recovery. His firm determination and strict sense of duty made him the man we still remember and honor.

So what might he say to us personally and as a nation today? From what we know of Harry Truman, I feel his message to us would be something along these lines. Don’t give up on life, or family and friends even when there are doubts and disappointments.

Don’t give up on democracy because some magnify its faults and failings.

Don’t give up on capitalism because some, (and he might insert here: “some s.o.bs”), take advantage of the system.

And, don’t give up on making this a more perfect union, even when current divisions tear at the fabric of who we are as Americans.

If there is anything to learn from the Election of 1948, it’s that we must confront the obstacles before us and press on with hope and fortitude.

Let me close with one final personal remembrance. After Truman retired, my father-in-law, who was still in Congress, wrote him a letter in 1956 and enclosed some clippings from the Congressional Record he thought would be of interest to the President. The secretary working for my father-in-law asked by what title she should address the former President. So in the letter he asks Truman that question.

Some years ago, the Truman Library provided me with a photocopy of Truman’s response. I think it tells us one final thing about Harry Truman that is worth remembering.

He starts: Dear Congressman Carnahan and thanks him for the articles. Then he writes: “Tell your secretary not to worry—she addressed me in exactly the right manner. Of course, you know, I was Presiding Judge and a lot of people here in Jackson County call me ‘Judge.’

“I was U.S. Senator for ten years; President of the Senate for two months; and President of the United States for almost eight years, so any title that anybody chooses to use is satisfactory.” And, then he writes in long hand beneath that: “or no title at all.”

Truly, the “Man from Independence” was one of us—always was—and with the help of the Truman Foundation and your many good works, he always will be.