The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #113248   Message #2404838
Posted By: Uncle_DaveO
04-Aug-08 - 09:58 AM
Thread Name: BS: Good Ole Harry Truman
Subject: BS: Good Ole Harry Truman
I just got what's below. Food for thought/discussion!

"Good Ole Harry Truman"

When President Truman retired from office in 1952,
his income was substantially 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.

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.'

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.

Good old Harry Truman was correct when he
observed, 'My choice early in life was either to be
a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician. And
to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference!'