Harry Truman

Imagining A Harry Truman-Donald Trump Meeting!

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It has been 80 years since Harry Truman ascended to the Presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt on April 12, 1945.

Truman stood up for the accomplishments of FDR’s New Deal, most notably Social Security and labor rights.

Truman also faced the challenge and threat of the Soviet Union, and by utilizing the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and challenging successfully the Berlin Blockade of 1948-1949 with an Airlift, he upheld the promotion of democracy from the totalitarian threat of Joseph Stalin.

Truman was known for speaking his mind, and had the nickname “Give Them Hell Harry”, and could use salty language against those he saw as detrimental in their ideas and policies, including for example, Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin of the infamous “Red Scare” during Truman’s second term!

So try for a few minutes to think of what it would be like had Harry Truman had the opportunity to meet his “namesake”, meaning another future President whose last name had the first four letters shared—meaning Donald Trump!

The verbal confrontation and stern, glaring demeanor of Truman toward Trump would have been legion for the ages, as he would not be tolerant in any fashion of the personality, views, or actions of Donald Trump, which are diametrically opposite of Truman!

Truman would be very voluble and outspoken in the extreme and “give Trump hell”, as Truman did in his Presidential campaign of 1948.

And had, in theory, Truman had Trump as his opponent, he would have verbally “slaughtered” him nationwide, and put him back where he belongs, in obscurity as a totally failed President, who has been rated absolutely last in the American Political Science Association Poll that ranked Presidents in 2024!

Trump Use Of Executive Orders At All Time High, And Way Beyond The Norm!

Ronald 34 Comments

Donald Trump is setting records for the use of the power of Executive Orders, and the use of this tactic is seen as leading the nation toward an authoritarian dictatorship, with Congress and the Courts unable or unwilling to intervene to halt, or control the use of that tactic.

The all time record of Executive Orders is with Franklin D. Roosevelt, who served longer than any other President, 12 years and 39 days, and utilized executive orders a total of 3,721 times.

Woodrow Wilson was second with 1,803, followed by Calvin Coolidge with 1,203; Theodore Roosevelt with 1,081; Herbert Hoover with 968; Harry Truman with 907; William Howard Taft with 724; Warren G. Harding with 522; Dwight D. Eisenhower with 484; and Ronald Reagan with 381, closing out the top ten.

Recent Presidents—Bill Clinton with 364; George W. Bush with 291; Barack Obama with 276; and Donald Trump first term 220.

Notice that Executive Orders have been used much more often by Republican Presidents, who, except for Theodore Roosevelt, tend to be more conservative.

So far, in two months of his second term, Donald Trump has issued at least 100 Executive Orders, the fastest clip in American history, and may end up surpassing all Presidents, except possibly FDR and Wilson, if the rate continues at the same clip!

Just today, Trump has issued an Executive Order attempting to have the President control federal elections, an abuse of the right of state and local governments to do so!

As Donald Trump Is About To Give His State Of The Union Address, His Public Opinion Ratings Are Lowest Except For His First Term!

Ronald 17 Comments

As Donald Trump gets ready for his State of the Union Address on Tuesday evening, his public opinion ratings (Gallup Presidential Job Approval polls) are the lowest of any President since 1945, except for his first term first month!

From Harry Truman to Trump, below are the ratings, in order of high to low!

Harry Truman 87
Lyndon B. Johnson 78
John F. Kennedy 72
Gerald Ford 71
Dwight D. Eisenhower 68
Barack Obama 67
Jimmy Carter 66
Richard Nixon 59
Bill Clinton 58
George W Bush 57
Joe Biden 57
Ronald Reagan 51
George H W Bush 51
Donald Trump 45 (2025)
Donald Trump 44 (2017)

So Donald Trump is not gaining approval for his radical, anarchistic, and disruptive domestic and foreign policies, with a majority of Americans uneasy about the direction of the nation!

Talk Of A Trump Third Term And Putting Trump On Mount Rushmore Pure Lunacy!

Ronald 13 Comments

The lunacy and craziness around Donald Trump continues, with talk of a Trump third term, which will never happen, as it would require a new constitutional amendment and a repeal of the 22nd Amendment!

Both would need a two thirds vote in the House of Representatives and in the US Senate, followed by three fourths of the states (38) ratifying by a majority in both houses of the state legislatures in 49 states plus the one house legislature in Nebraska.

Additionally, Florida Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna has, crazily, proposed that Donald Trump be put on Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt!

First of all, putting anyone else on Mount Rushmore is a massive job, and highly unlikely ever to occur!

But if such a suggestion was to be followed through on over time, it should be Franklin D. Roosevelt, not Donald Trump!

And if one was to propose a Republican President, it would be more reasonable to put Dwight D. Eisenhower or even, although not something this author and blogger would promote, Ronald Reagan!

As it is, Mount Rushmore has a Federalist (Washington); a Democratic-Republican (Jefferson); and two Republicans (Lincoln and TR), so the argument for an additional President should be for a Democratic President, with FDR clearly the major example, or possibly Harry Truman!

All this is silliness, as there will never be additions to Mount Rushmore!

And with Trump rated either number 45 or at best number 43 tied with Franklin Pierce and above James Buchanan and Andrew Johnson, in surveys of historians and political scientists, it is truly delusional to consider him worthy of being on Mount Rushmore!

The way Trump is beginning his second Presidency will only insure that he will be number 45 in all rankings of intelligent, educated scholars, and with any American who has a brain, and ethics and morals!

Donald Trump Trying To End All Progress Of Civil Rights Movement Of 1950s And 1960s, Wiping Out History Of Equality!

Ronald 29 Comments

It is shocking, but not surprising that Donald Trump is aiming at ending all civil rights laws and enforcement, going back to the time of Lyndon B. Johnson, and really even back to earlier efforts and support of Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and John F. Kennedy.

It is also an attack on the advancements that came under later Presidents and Congresses, to promote equal opportunity, and overcome generations of discrimination and bias by state and local governments.

It is reviving the hatred and prejudice enunciated by generations of the Ku Klux Klan, and such individuals as Orval Faubus of Arkansas, Ross Barnett of Mississippi, Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, and most notably, George Wallace of Alabama.

It is a bold move to reinstall Jim Crow laws that dominated from the Gilded Age to the era of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

It is the final surrender of the Republican Party, which had promoted civil rights at a time when Southern Democrats were advocating segregation and defiance of the federal government.

Now, we have a wealthy New York real estate magnate proudly promoting what he has believed his entire life, to bring back the racism and nativism that he has advocated, with so many excusing him or saying that he is not such, when he most clearly is so!

And to top it off, Trump is attempting to remove Birthright Citizenship from Native Americans, the original and only “true” Americans, as well as discriminating against Latinos and Asian Americans as well, as he considers only “white” people from Europe as “true Americans”!

When and how will this crazy revival of hate and prejudice be stopped dead in its tracks?

When will the Republican Party remember the basis of their existence in the mid 19th century, when they were a party of racial equality?

Joe Biden, Despite Low Public Opinion Ratings At End Of Presidency, Will Rise In History!

Ronald 3 Comments

President Joe Biden leaves office in three days, with low public opinion ratings, despite his multitude of accomplishments in his one term of office.

This is a sad state of affairs, but clearly, the American people at large are not very knowledgeable or good at making judgments about Presidents as they leave office.

History records that Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Jimmy Carter left office under the cloud of negativism.

But now, Truman is generally rated 5th or 6th among all Presidents in ratings of Presidential scholars and experts.

Eisenhower is generally rated 5th or 6th among all Presidents, either ahead or behind Truman.

Lyndon B. Johnson, despite Vietnam, is rated in the bottom of the top ten, and in one survey, ahead of John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.

Jimmy Carter is rated in the mid 20s, but it is clear his stature will rise, possibly to the bottom of the first third, or 15 Presidents.

Joe Biden has already been rated number 14 in one scholarly survey, and despite low public opinion ratings now, it seems assured he will remain in the top third or fifteen of the Presidents.

Sadly, American public opinion is ill informed and ignorant in many respects, and when it comes to being asked who are the greatest Presidents, invariably, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan are rated at the top, not Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Many experts would say that while Kennedy and Reagan consistently are in the lower part of the top ten Presidents, that both are somewhat overrated.

So it will probably, sadly, take until Joe Biden’s life has ended, before he will be completely appreciated for all the good he did!

Major Accomplishments Of Jimmy Carter Under Attack By Donald Trump!

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Jimmy Carter’s funeral briefly united America around the greatness of this President in ways many had forgotten.

Among his multiple achievements that now are under attack by Donald Trump are:

The Panama Canal Treaty, which resolved a basic wrong in the proper way.

The Department of Education, which was separated from its original home, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare under Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Major Environmental Accomplishments, the most of any one term President, at least until Joe Biden.

The basic characteristics of Morality, Ethics, Compassion and Decency that Carter represented.

And now, Trump has raised the flag to full staff at Mar a Lago, against the 30 day mourning period for any President who has died, and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has ordered the flag in the US Capitol raised for the Trump inauguration, defying the respect due to Carter having been President.

In 1973, Harry Truman had died on December 26, and when Richard Nixon was reinaugurated on January 20, 1973, the flag remained at half staff, but now that respect is being defied!

Jimmy Carter’s Legacy Could Be Affected By Donald Trump!

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Jimmy Carter’s legacy could be affected by Donald Trump, becoming President in 16 days.

Trump is threatening Panama over the control of the Canal Zone, which by treaty was agreed to be handed back to Panama during the Carter Presidency, and occurring peacefully in the year 2000.

Carter presided over the creation of the Department of Education, but ever since, Republicans have called for the closing of a federal agency on education, and now, it is a real threat to the survival of the cabinet agency during the Trump Administration.

Carter promoted the environment as a major goal of accomplishment, and warned of the dangers of long term dependence on oil, coal and gas, advocating nuclear and solar energy. Now, Trump is declaring war on the environment, and failing to see the dangers of climate change and global warming.

Carter promoted the importance of immigration for the future growth of America, while now, Trump is preparing to deport millions of immigrants.

Carter advocated high ethical standards and the importance of compassion and empathy, and Trump is the polar opposite of that.

Even now, Trump is complaining that Carter’s death has created a 30 day period of mourning, with the flags flown at half staff until January 28, therefore including the inauguration date of Trump on January 20. Who can say that he will not, possibly, order the return of the flags to full staff at his inauguration, as unseemly as that would be?

It should be pointed out that Richard Nixon’s Second Inauguration in 1973 included the flying of the flag at half staff for former President Harry Truman, who had passed awwy on December 26, 1972, and yet, Nixon did not complain publicly or make an issue of the flag being at half staff for his second inauguration.

In these ways and more, Jimmy Carter and Donald Trump are as diametrically opposite in dramatic and sad ways as is imaginable!

Jimmy Carter’s Historic Foreign Policy Accomplishments!

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Now that Jimmy Carter has passed away, the true analysis of his Presidency can begin, in a way it could not do, while he was still alive.

Just as Harry Truman’s death led to “Truman Mania” over the next five to ten years, the same will happen in the next decade for Carter, and his historical ranking will rise from the mid 20s to the top 20, possibly as high as number 15, the top one third.

Carter’s foreign policy accomplishments are massive, most the case with the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel, accomplished only after 13 tortorous days, between Menachem Begin of Israel, and Anwar Sadat of Egypt, with Carter’s prodding.

But also, there are other major foreign policy accomplishments, including the Panama Canal Treaties, recognition of the Chinese government after 30 years of refusing to do so, and promotion of human rights as a factor in foreign policy.

Carter will look as a giant in retrospect, despite the Iran Hostage problem, which although disturbing, led to the ultimate freedom of American hostages, rather than their deaths. And the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, while seen as a negative for Carter, actually, in the long run led to the downfall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Carter will shine in the future as compared to the many foreign policy disasters of Republicans Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump!

Both Biden And Harris Strongest Supporters Of Organized Labor Since FDR And Truman!

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Both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have had strong labor union support, emphasized on Labor Day this past Monday.

Biden has had a strong record of support of organized labor, and walked the picket lines recently, which no earlier President has done.

Harris made clear his commitment to support of labor and its basic rights in campaign events, and already, both Biden and Harris have a record of stronger support than any President since Franklin D. Roosevelt, who promoted the National Labor Relations (Wagner Act) in 1935, and Harry Truman, who vetoed (unsuccessfully) the Taft Hartley Act of 1947.