Truman

I’ve spent a lot of time this year reading about Missouri and celebrating our bicentennial.

One man continues to fascinate me.

Harry Truman.

He’s considered the last common man to occupy the White House.

He’s certainly different than those presidents who have followed him in regards to celebrity like status.

His last day in office, Harry and wife, Bess simply got in their car and drove home to Missouri by themselves.

No limousine, no helicopters and no secret service.

He became just another American citizen. He had served his nation and had entered retirement.

In 1958, in Seattle, Washington, he was staying at the Olympic Hotel.

He was taking his daily walk, a morning ritual he followed almost his entire life.

A young Associate Press reporter was there and graciously, Truman allowed the newsman to walk with him.

Unheard of in these times.

Same reporter, ten years later, now a national network TV correspondent was in New York City to meet another morning walker, President-elect Richard Nixon.

This time they were surrounded by secret service agents and a large noisy group of newsmen, along with a cameraman, sound man, and a lighting technician.

Our presidents seem to have evolved into celebrity personalities since the days of Harry S. Truman.

I don’t know about you, but I prefer the simpler time, when Harry and Bess made their way to the family car and took a drive, home to Independence.

See you out there.