Selected Quotes by Harry Truman
Harry Truman- Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 – December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States. He served from 1945 to 1953. He is a member of the Democratic Party and previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was previously a senator from Missouri from 1935 to January 1945.
He assumed the presidency after Roosevelt's death. He implemented the Marshall Plan to rebuild the economy of Western Europe. He established both the Truman Doctrine and NATO to contain the expansion of Soviet communism. He proposed numerous liberal domestic reforms, but only a few were enacted by the conservative coalition that dominated the Congress.
Truman was elected to the United States Senate from Missouri in 1934. Between 1940 and 1944, he gained national prominence as chairman of the Truman Committee, which was aimed at reducing waste and inefficiency in wartime contracts. Truman was elected vice president in the 1944 presidential election and assumed the presidency upon Roosevelt’s death. It was only when Truman assumed the presidency that he was informed about the ongoing Manhattan Project and the atomic bomb. Truman authorized the first and only use of nuclear weapons in war against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Investigations revealed corruption in parts of the Truman administration, and this became a major campaign issue in the 1952 presidential election, although they did not implicate Truman himself. He was eligible for reelection in 1952, but with poor polling he chose not to run. Truman went into a retirement marked by the founding of his presidential library and the publication of his memoirs. It was long thought that his retirement years were financially difficult for Truman, resulting in Congress establishing a pension for former presidents, but evidence eventually emerged that he amassed considerable wealth, some of it while still president. When he left office, Truman's administration was heavily criticized, though critical reassessment of his presidency has improved his reputation among historians and the general population.
Selected Quotes by Harry Truman:
“Education is our first line of defense. In the conflict of principle and policy which divides the world (today), America’s hope, our hope, the hope of the world, is in education.”
Harry Truman, Intelligence/Wisdom
“What may have been sufficient yesterday is not sufficient today. New and terrible urgencies, new and terrible responsibilities, have been placed upon education.”
Harry Truman, Intelligence/Wisdom
“Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.”
Harry Truman, Intelligence/Wisdom, Management
“To take full advantage of the increasing possibilities of nature, we must equip ourselves with increasing knowledge.”
Harry Truman, Intelligence/Wisdom, Nature
“No nation can maintain a position of leadership in the world of today unless it develops to the full its scientific and technological resources. No government adequately meets its responsibilities unless it generously and intelligently supports and encourages the work of science in the university, industry and in its own laboratories.”
Harry Truman, Intelligence/Wisdom, Government
“There is not really anything new, if you know what has gone before. What is new to people is what they do not know about their history or the history of the world.”
Harry Truman, Intelligence/Wisdom, Society
“I think this country is great on account of its small educational institutions, more than anything else. In institutions such as these the teachers and professors can give individual attention to each member of class.”
Harry Truman, Intelligence/Wisdom, Society
“There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know.”
Harry Truman, Intelligence/Wisdom, Society
“For our day, and our children’s day, education must become a continuing adventure in human understanding, shared by all.”
Harry Truman, Intelligence/Wisdom, Society
“If peace is to endure, education must establish the moral unity of mankind.”
Harry Truman, Intelligence/Wisdom, Society
“The inherent dignity of man can only be exemplified through equality of opportunity for all. In striving toward that objective we look to the American school as a standard bearer.”
Harry Truman, Intelligence/Wisdom, Opportunities
“Without a strong educational system democracy is crippled. Knowledge is not only key to power. It is the citadel of human freedom.”
Harry Truman, Intelligence/Wisdom, Society, Power, Freedom
“We must remember that we cannot insulate our children from the uncertainties of the world in which we live or from the impact of the problems which confront us all. What we can do and what we must do is to equip them to meet these problems, to do their part in the total effort, and to build up those inner resources of character which are the main strength of the American people.”
Harry Truman, Goals, Society
“The unfettered soul of free man offers a spiritual defense unconquered and unconquerable.”
Harry Truman, Freedom
“Keep working on a plan. Make no little plans. Make the biggest plan you can think of and spend the rest of your life carrying it out.”
Harry Truman, Planning
“In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves… self-discipline with all of them came first.”
Harry Truman, Success
“A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.”