Truman's Story Offers Hope for Bush

[alarimer]

An unpopular war raging inconclusively overseas. A truculent North Korea defying U.N. resolutions and flaunting its military ambitions. A sharply divided Congress squabbling bitterly over foreign policy. And a beleaguered second-term president in his last two years in office, struggling to keep his administration afloat in the face of anemic approval ratings.

George W. Bush in 2006? Try Harry S. Truman in 1950.

Truman's last two years in the White House were interminable for him, the press, Congress and the nation at large. It's easy to forget that when the curtain came down on his presidency, Truman's poll ratings stood at a meager 31 percent. Only Richard M. Nixon, who resigned with the dark cloud of Watergate hanging over his head, suffered a lower rating, 23 percent. Even Jimmy Carter, whose presidency was held hostage along with 52 Americans in Iran, left with a rating of 34 percent.

And yet Truman may offer President Bush hope. As Truman said, "The only thing new in the world is the history you don't know." Just a few years after leaving the White House, after retreating to his hometown of Independence, Mo., Truman's stock began to rise. The magnitude of his times was appreciated. In a tribute to Truman at the opening of the Truman Library five years after he left the White House, U.S. Chief Justice Earl Warren pointed out that the years in which Truman reigned were "recognized as one of the most momentous periods of our country and the world."


more of this tripe if you can stomach it

http://www.startribune.com/562/story/893753.html



Bush the new Truman- I don't think so. Remember the buck stops here? Bush never takes responsibility for his own actions. Actions that resulted in the deaths of thousands of US troops and hundreds of thousands of civilians in Iraq. He invaded a country under false pretenses. He lied about WMDs. How does this compare to Truman? Bush has strength of character? NO he has a dry drunk's rigid adherence to "his way or the highway" and a refusal to change his mind or listen to those smarter than he (see Iraq Study Group). His administrations refusal to heed warnings from the Clinton Administration allowed 9/11 to happen. Bush will be remembered for allowing the ethinc cleansing of an American city and "heckuva job Brownie". George Bush is not fit to carry Harry Truman's shoes. A more apt comparison might be Herbert Hoover.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. It's an illusion and not germane to *.

Truman failed in business and in politics throughout his life, but still persevered because he learned from his mistakes and accepted them with humility. He took responsibility for his errors in judgment and tried again. He admitted his mistakes.

To paraphrase Lloyd Benson, "Mr. Bush, you are no Harry Truman".

[Double T]

2. When 'WE' see him in drag, you'll me 100% correct............

comparing bush with Hoover.

[theoldman]

3. And I always compare myself to Clark Gable.

We both have big ears. The only comparison that Bush can make is the low ratings.

[alarimer]

4. Yes

This guy is grasping at straws I think.

[Larkspur]

5. No way will Bush be in the same league as Truman. Nixon's league is more like it

George W. Bush is Richard Nixon ver 2.0.

Harry Truman fought war profiteers, helped the American economy successfully reincorporate the return of GI's to the domestic workforce, and instituted the Marshall Plan in Europe. Truman was a hawk in foreign policy but he had a lot of other good attributes that Bush never had. There is no way Harry Truman would support tax cuts for the wealthy few, especially during war time.

[reprobate]

6. Not Nixon. Adolph! Look at all the parallels between them.

9/11 vs. Reichtag fire.

Patriot act vs. Enabling Act.

NSA spying vs Gestapo tactics.

Many, many more. fill in your own planks.

And let's not forget who financed cousin Adolph's re-militarization.....anyone remember grandpa Prescott and his Union Bank of NY? You know, the one our government confiscated for trading with the enemy in 1942.