Palin Ain't no Truman

Sarah Palin's comparison, in her acceptance speech, of her career to similar to that of the late, great President Harry S. Truman is entertaining but delusional. "He was a haberdasher and farmer", she waxed, with an unorthodox background who came from a small town where honest and dignity reigns and where people "love their country".

Here are the facts:

1. Truman was born in 1884 and reportedly attended his first political convention at age 16 in 1900.

2. He became an artillery officer who served in Europe during the First World War.

3. Truman was a very successful farmer.

4. Truman was also a very successful livestock dealer.

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5. Truman became a successful businessman who ran a haberdashery in Kansas City.

6. Truman was elected a country court judge and served on the bench from 1925 to 1934, eventually presiding over the bench.

7. In 1934, Truman was elected as a U.S. Senator and for the next ten years undertook a distinguished career in Washington DC representing the people of Missouri.

8. As a result of his achievements and vast political network in the U.S. Senate, Truman was selected by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1944 to be his running mate. In 1945, the two won election and within months of taking office, FDR died.

At this point, Truman was 60 years old and had more than four decades of political and public and business successes as a veteran, business success in many sectors, a judge, chair of many commissions and agencies and as a distinguished U.S. Senator. He was well-traveled and globally-oriented.

He was ready, before becoming Vice President, to be President of the United States. He finished the war, negotiated treaties with heads of state in a dangerous world and served as judge and jury in life-and-death situations involving excruciating decisions such as whether to drop the atom bomb on Japan or adopt the Marshall Plan to rebuild America's enemies.

Palin's self-comparison is either dishonest or ignorant or both. The facts are if she's the little guy from Independence, then I'm a banana.

Comments

[miles120]

Thankfully someone has FINALLY stated what I've been screaming at the television for four days. I watched David Gregory interviewing the Governor of Utah during the convention. The governor made the same talking point, and Gregory let it pass without any challenge. Is the media so ignorant of history, or are they all willing to be stenographers?

Any politician who makes such an ignorant comparison as justification for his/her campaign should be held to task. The electorate needs to consider these talking points to be disingenuous and patronizing.

[ATruthBeKnown]

You go girl ..... Right on target !!!!!

[Chubbie88]

I practically ripped the TV off the wall when Palin compared herself to Truman. Unfortunately, the writer doesn't do Truman justice in this piece. Just two things: 1) The job of "Judge" was an administrative job sort of like county commissioner. You failed to mention that Harry Truman did more to win WWII than all but a handful of Americans. Google "Truman Committee."

[oafishcad]

The only thing Sarah Palin's speech proved is that she can read a speech written by President Bush's speech writer. What a Maverick!

[zedthewizard]

that's one of the hundreds of questions that will require an answer. how are you like truman? they can't prepare her for all of the "mistakes". the press get's nervous when there is a serious disaster waiting to happen.

[tuttlemsm]

Why do Republicans always compare themselves to Democratic Party heroes like FDR, Truman and JFK?

[silverball]

thanx for asking because i can't figure that our either...even sarah compared herself to geraldine ferraro and hillary clinton???...DUH...the best they've got is lincoln...and he is currently spinning in his tomb in springfield, il because this is a party he would NOT recognize, nor would he be apart of...read doris kearns goodwin's "team of rivals" to understand how great men lead....

[0whole1]

With Truman, I suspect it's because he took decisive action without caring about polls. Thing is, Republicans want that sort of decisiveness without having the accompanying moral compass that makes "going against the tide of opinion" a virtue instead of a shortcoming.

For instance, if public opinion is all for not allowing racial integration of the armed services but you think it's right then "you're going against the tide."

On the other hand, if you start a war despite public opinion and evidence....well, that's something else. Criminal for one thing. Arrogant and idiotic for another.

Cowchips McGee currently in office likes to trot out the ol' "history will judge me" line. He's getting that from Truman, since Truman had really low approval ratings while in office, but as time went by, folks looked at his record -- Marshall Plan, etc. -- and thought, jeez, the upstart did a great job after all. But history was judging Truman on his accomplishments. What has Cowchips accomplished, that made *anything* better than it was before?

Truman had all the smarts, just none of the education; Cowchips had all the education and none of the smarts. The only thing he has in common with Truman is poor approval ratings.

In fact, I would pay money to hear what Truman would have thought of this joker. I think lumping him with Nixon when he said Nixon, "didn't know the difference between a lie and the truth" would be the *nicest* thing he'd say.