Hi to all friends and family,
I’m sorry for being a day late. I started editing this story when I became distracted by a bass guitar project I’m working on that took the rest of the day . . . (Note to self: Don’t even look at a musical instrument before finishing what you already started).
This story illustrates dad’s wealth of historical knowledge. I think he would have become a historian/professor had he not chosen the journalism career path. For those who may not know, the term “bully” as used to describe Teddy Roosevelt is used, in this and the historical sense as an endearment or, used as an adjective, very good or first-rate: “The statue really looked bully”. “Bully for you” is another way to use the word in a friendly sense. The word as used in this story was in common use around the turn of the 19th/20th century and before. Look it up in your dictionary if you’re curious about the words’ history . . .
Remember, this article was written before the 2004 presidential elections when George W. Bush was re-elected. Notice, dad doesn’t even come close to mentioning that president.
Speaking of ‘bully’ (Go ahead, Figure out how I’m using the term for this paragraph), I wonder . . . Okay, I don’t really wonder, what dad would have thought of our current president. I recall dad calling for the impeachment of Richard Nixon for his ‘extra-presidential’ activities. I’m pretty sure dad would be as shocked and appalled as many of us are at our current presidents’ ‘extra-presidential’ activities.
By the way . . . I totally agree with dad’s choice for number one president. Harry Truman was a truly gentle and thoughtful man who had to make some hard choices.
What do you think? Go ahead; make comments in the “Comments” section at the end of this story. All stories are open for discussion.
Thanks for reading,
David T
p.s. You can write comments below each story. Comments are very much appreciated.
“Presidents, Good and Bad””
By Don Tschirhart
Excerpted from the unpublished book “It’s a Wonderful World II: A Retired Reporter Looks At Life“
Presidents, Good and Bad
The death of Ronald Reagan made me think about all the presidents America has been blessed with.
Like cream rising to the top of the milk, it seems the best leaders rise to the top when crisis situations face our country.
I wonder: Aside from the incumbent, which of the 42 former presidents would I vote for if all were nominees in November, 2004.
My vote would have to go to Harry Truman who had to make the toughest decisions of any president after taking over when Franklin Roosevelt died in office.
For nearly eight years at the end of World War II Harry did a marvelous job.
This simple man from Independence, Mo., ordered atom bombs be dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki saving untold thousands of American and Japanese lives. He helped Japan become a democracy. He discharged millions of service persons with little economic inflation.
Truman was mainly responsible for establishing the United Nations and the Marshall Plan which saved Europe from Communism. He saved Turkey, Greece and the Mideast oil fields from “Uncle” Joe Stalin with his Truman Doctrine. When Communist North Korea invaded its southern neighbor, he ordered US troops to stop them.
He told coal miners not to strike. When that didn’t work he used the Taft-Hartley Labor Act, which he hated, to end the strike. Truman even called popular radio commentator Walter Winchell an “SOB” for criticizing the singing of his daughter, Margaret.
He said in his autobiography that after making big decisions he’d have a good night’s sleep, satisfied there was nothing more he could do. He even slept through his 1948 election upset of New York Gov. Thomas Dewey.
Truman’s predecessor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, is best known for helping the country emerge from the Great Depression and for choosing good leaders to fight World War II. I remember how his fireside talks gave hope to discouraged Americans.
A great Revolutionary War general, George Washington deserves high marks for out-maneuvering and defeating the British despite a vacillating legislature that would not fund his army adequately.
As first president, Washington refused the mantle of kingship and steadied the course for a befuddled country that knew little about independence.
Ronald Reagan has to come next. He came into office when the nation was almost as divided as before the Civil War because of Vietnam and the Iran hostage crisis.
Maybe because US morale and self-pity was so close to the bottom the only way was up, but Reagan’s infectious humor, his love for America, his upbeat attitude and his Americans-can-do-anything theme pulled most of the country together.
His tax cuts and economic policies changed the way Americans do business.
Thomas Jefferson has to be high up in anyone’s list of presidents. A chief designer of the Declaration of Independence, he had the ‘moxie’ to buy the Louisiana Territory at a bargain price and order Lewis and Clark to explore the new land.
Probably Abraham Lincoln is the sentimental favorite. He was determined to save the Union, refusing to budge to the South’s demands.
But his cabinet appointees and Army generals left much to be desired. His poor choices probably prolonged the Civil War by two years. The assassination of this tall man, who would walk miles to return a penny he had not earned, startled the victorious Union.
What about the popular Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy.
Teddy Roosevelt was a “bully” man, but he did little to change the nation except boost passage of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and establish the National Park System. Ike [Eisenhower] was a great general who did a “nice” job as president by keeping the country on an even keel. His eight years were good for the nation, but they were not spectacular.
Kennedy, like Reagan, rallied the country when it was needed. His short time in office set a different upbeat tone for the country.
He kept the Soviet Union from setting up a base in Cuba and challenged the country to fly to the moon in a decade. But his time was so short, it is difficult to assess his presidency.
I’m sure readers have their own favorites.
Don Tschirhart
