As President Obama becomes more and more involved in his reelection campaign a number of print commentators have described his game plan as using the “Truman Strategy.” That is, he’s going to run against a “do-nothing” congress. Now, there is no doubt that the current congress has certainly been a do-nothing bunch but if that is all the President has he is in serious trouble.
First, perhaps not widely known and a potential pitfall for the President, the American economy was experiencing tremendous growth in the year before the 1948 election. Truman oversaw an economy that was expanding at a 6.8 percent rate. Current growth is 1.5 percent and the International Monetary Fund just downgraded its forecast for US economic growth to only 1.8 percent in 2012. If the economy doesn’t improve it’s pretty unlikely that the do-nothing congress approach will be enough.
More pertinent to the argument, however, is the fact that President Obama simply isn’t another Harry Truman, not even close. I certainly hoped he would be when I voted for hm. Well, to be honest, I really hoped for a second Franklin Roosevelt but I was more than willing to settle for a Truman. What I got was a reincarnation of Jimmy Carter, an inexperienced president heading an amateurish administration, but lacking the down home warmth and charm of the real Carter. I got a dynamic orator (but an orator who seemed curiously aloof) who had either no idea how, or no intention to, translate his campaign promises into action.
The do-nothing congress campaign probably helped Truman but so did the fact that he was seen as a different type of person, a strong man who made tough decisions and stood behind them He wasn’t known as, “give ‘em hell Harry” for nothing. He had a small plaque on his desk that said, “The Buck Stops Here,” and he meant it. As has President Obama, Truman faced a wide range of serious issues from communist infiltrators in his government to labor unrest in a transitioning economy to a growing threat of international communist expansion. Still, he desegregated the military, was instrumental in seeing that the U.S. joined the United Nations and unsuccessfully pushed for a national health plan. He obtained bi-partisan support for the Truman Doctrine and, along with Gen George Marshall, created the Marshall Plan, a blueprint to rebuild western Europe’s economy.
Harry Truman was not Roosevelt’s first choice for Vice President in 1944; he was Roosevelt's fourth choice and was placed on the ticket only as a compromise made to secure the nomination for Roosevelt. He was not well liked by Roosevelt and was not included in Roosevelt’s inner circle. Truman became president upon Roosevelt’s death, only 89 days after being sworn in. He had no idea the atomic bomb even existed yet, within a matter of weeks, he had to decide whether to use it, quite possibly the most controversial decisions of the war.
So, President Obama is not Harry Truman but if he really wants to run a Truman-like campaign he’d be well advised to become a little more like Truman. He should listen a little less to his economic advisors and spend a little more time acquainting himself with history, particularly the history of Truman’s administration. Truman was the only twentieth century president who did not have a college degree but he knew his history and he possessed wisdom that was uncanny and inspired. Most of all he had determination, courage and he really did know that the buck stopped with him.