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Lawrence J.
Haas
Read Larry's bio and previous columns
October 20, 2008
Truman’s Tenure
Provides Hope, and Caution, About Obama
Upon hearing from Eleanor Roosevelt that her husband, the president, had
died, Vice President Harry Truman asked, “Is there anything I can do for
you?”
The First Lady responded with a question of her own: “Is there anything
we can do for you, Harry? For you are the one in trouble now.”
Indeed, the “little man from Missouri” assumed office at an especially
perilous time and under extremely difficult circumstances. He faced
extraordinary challenges at home and abroad, he suffered by comparison
to his revered predecessor, and FDR had kept him in the dark about such
essential matters as the Manhattan Project, which would eventually
produce the atomic bomb.
These days, President Bush speaks fondly of Truman, hoping his own
legacy follows the path of our 33rd president’s. Like him,
Bush will leave office with little public support but believing he has
crafted a national security approach that provides a road map to victory
over America’s mortal enemies. Bush hopes that, as with Truman,
historians will look more positively on him than contemporary critics.
Truman’s presidency, however, may prove instructive less for how we
evaluate our departing president than for how we approach our likely
incoming one. Truman’s growth in office offers a measure of hope about
the inexperienced Barack Obama. But the difficulties of Truman’s tenure
suggest how an Obama presidency could easily end in failure.
A
day after FDR’s death, Truman told reporters that he felt as if “the
moon, the stars and the planets had all fallen on me.” Who could blame
him? In the coming years, he would face the challenges of rebuilding
Europe, restraining the Soviet Union and creating a new national
security strategy and apparatus – all while facing an American
electorate that was first skeptical of the communist threat, but then
crazed enough to be swept away by McCarthyist hysteria.
The burdens did not, however, prove too great for the former haberdasher
from Independence, Missouri. Truman deftly positioned the United States
for global leadership by promulgating the Truman Doctrine, adopting
George Kennan’s containment strategy for the Cold War, pushing the
Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe through a Republican-run Congress,
airlifting goods to Berlin to stare down the Soviets, fighting the
Korean conflict to an appropriate standstill and firing the wildly
popular but intransigent Gen. Douglas MacArthur
Presuming he wins, Obama can anticipate his own extraordinary set of
problems. On the domestic front, he must restore a deeply unsettled
economy, reverse surging deficits and debt, fashion an energy policy
that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil while addressing climate
change, and rein in health care costs that are bankrupting employers,
employees and the public sector.
On
the international front, he must build consensus for an effective
strategy to confront the dangers of radical Islam, ensure continued U.S.
progress in Iraq, refocus our efforts in Afghanistan, address the North
Korean nuclear threat and confront the multiple challenges of Iran –
including its nuclear program, its sponsorship of terrorism, its designs
for regional hegemony and to its growing ties to Venezuela’s
anti-American strongman, Hugo Chavez.
Obama will assume office with less national experience than Truman. The
former is serving just his first term in the Senate. The latter was in
his second when FDR tapped him for the 1944 ticket, and he had built a
national reputation by exposing war-time profiteering.
Unlike Truman, however, Obama admits to not a hint of self-doubt. He’s
clearly bright and, by all accounts, extremely self-disciplined. He will
have strong Democratic majorities in the House and Senate with which to
work.
Nevertheless, success is no sure thing. As Truman’s did, Obama’s
proposals will reveal the splits within the Democratic Party between
liberals and moderates, jeopardizing his health, energy and other plans.
As during Truman’s time, bitterness over their minority status will
encourage Republicans more often to oppose rather than work with the
Democratic president.
But another failed presidency is about the last thing America needs
right now. How might we prevent it? By invoking, as often as possible,
the spirit of this year’s Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner,
the October 16 event that honored the former Democratic presidential
candidate.
In
an evening of humor and high-mindedness, Obama and John McCain trade
good-natured barbs and then complimented one another with unusual grace
– Obama honoring McCain’s service to America, McCain praising Obama for
inspiring millions of people across the land.
That night, Obama and McCain offered a shared view of themselves as
Americans first, political opponents only after that. If, in the
challenging months ahead, we adopt this posture and demand the same of
our elected officials, we’ll be fine. We cannot afford to do anything
less.
© 2008
North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.
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