Harry Truman, The Most Average Person to Ever Become President
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Published 2024-04-29
Mr. Beat tells the story of the most "average" dude to ever become president. As it turns out, he probably wasn't so average after all.
Produced by Matt Beat and Beat Productions, LLC. All images/video by Matt Beat, Shannon Beat, Dean Davison, found in the public domain, or used under fair use guidelines. Music by @ElectricNeedleRoom, (Mr. Beat's band), Otis McDonald, Bad Snacks, Dan Henig, and Ofshane. Creative commons credits: Kbh3rd and Karen Montgomery.
Here's an annotated script with footnotes: docs.google.com/document/d/1GFTEvc23y-sWU931V4DNNj…
Here is a song I made about Harry Truman: • The Harry Truman Song
Sources/further reading:
Truman by David McCullough
Purchase here: amzn.to/49o4gQR
The Presidency of Harry S. Truman by Donald R. McCoy
Purchase here: amzn.to/49qEj3b
Truman’s Triumphs- The 1948 Election and the Making of Postwar America by Andrew E. Busch
Purchase here: amzn.to/42rLshD
Man of the People: A Life of Harry S. Truman by Alonzo L. Hamby
Purchase here: amzn.to/3UmG90w
Harry S Truman: The American Presidents Series: The 33rd President, 1945-1953
Purchase here: amzn.to/4d1iBpa
pendergastkc.org/article/harry-truman-and-penderga…
millercenter.org/president/truman/life-in-brief
web.archive.org/web/20190503151956/https://www.sen…
www.trumanlibraryinstitute.org/truman/truman-speak…
www.knoxfocus.com/archives/harry-truman-goes-senat…
www.presidency.ucsb.edu/people/president/harry-s-t…
www.trumanlibrary.gov/education/trivia/biographica…
www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/truman-papers
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_Harry_S._Truma…
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#ushistory #truman #presidents
“Three things ruin a man…Power, money, and women. I never wanted power, I never had any money, and the only woman in my life is up at the house right now.”
That was a quote not from me, Mr. Beat, but from a dude who was never supposed to be president. But he was!
A dude who never even sought to be a LEADER, but who history FORCED to be one of the greatest leaders in American history.
A dude who failed at multiple business ventures and even went bankrupt.
A dude who, after he was president, moved back into the same house he lived in back when he went bankrupt, and then went into debt again because his only income was an Army pension of $112.56 a month. That’s less than $1300 a month in today’s money.
A dude who never wanted the job, and a dude who no one had heard of before he was 50 years old.
Here is the story of Harry Truman, the most average person to ever become president.
0:00 Introduction
1:16 Growing up in Missouri
6:25 Ground News sponsorship
8:16 Farm Life
11:03 War Hero
14:34 Getting Political
17:12 Mr. Truman Goes to Washington
21:56 In Through the Back Door
37:23 Retirement
41:30 Exceeding Expectations
Corrections:
41:11. He was admitted to the hospital on December 5th. He died on December 26th. I'm sorry about that
All Comments (21)
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Which U.S. president should I cover next? Correction: I misspoke at 41:11. He was admitted to the hospital on December 5th. He died on December 26th. I'm sorry about that. My Harry Truman song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SyKAOkXbQ4 My Korean War song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA2AAqJlHQE My Harry War song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ Don't forget to try out Ground News! Go to ground.news/mrbeat to become a smarter news consumer. Subscribe through my link for 40% off unlimited access this month.
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Being the leader of the first country to develop nuclear weapons, it’s interesting to think that Harry Truman was for a brief time the most powerful person in human history.
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Harry Truman being heavily in debt makes him the most relatable president of all time in my book.
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If I had a nickel for every person who had poor eyesight yet wanted to join the military so badly they studied the eye chart to pass the eye exam, I’d have a lot of nickels.
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The irony his mother was a confederate sympathizer and her son would be the president to desegregate the United States military history is truly a great teacher
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"I never gave anybody hell. I just told the truth and they think it's hell." Harry S Truman
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Truman being unpopular during his time as president but being praised as being one of the greatest presidents after he passed away proves how ahead of the time he was.
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"No, I fired MacArthur because he didn't respect the office of the Presidency, not because he was a dumb sonovabitch, although he was. But that's not against the law for Generals." We really need another Harry Truman in office today. He said what he meant and did what he thought was right. That's rare in any President.
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Thank you for the kind words
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One of the things I loved about Truman is he always played "The Long Game". While politicians today aren't interested in anything that won't affect the next election, Harry seemed to know the most effective leaders plan for a world without them in it. There's an old Greek Proverb that speaks well to Truman's approach to governance; "Society grows great when old men plant tress whose shade they shall never enjoy."
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You know, sometimes, it's better to have more average, "lame" or boring people in these places. We are often so focused on the extraordinary that we don't realize that what we already have is actually not that bad. Truman, for all his flaws, was exactly that, and I hope we see more of common sense politicians like him in the future.
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The case of 'we never knew how good we had it' in terms of presidency
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“Judge” in Missouri at that time was an administrative position, not a legal job.
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Truman holding the Newspaper saying "Dewey defeats Truman" is one of my favorite pictures ever. I remember that picture from my history book and it stayed with me all these years. And thank you Mr. Beat for the video. I always liked Truman a lot but I never really thought about just how much he shaped the world we live in today. Not bad for a man who never wanted to be president........
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It’s kind of sad that Truman is vilified and hated strictly because of the bomb. Especially with the recent Oppenheimer film. When you consider all the truly evil Presidents we’ve had, it’s sad that a man like Truman gets most of the undeserved hate.
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Didnt expect him to sound like that, I think hearing teddy roosevelt speak gave me the impression all presidents had high pitched voices
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My grandmother lived near Truman when he retired she said he was sometimes on his porch and would wave at her on her way to school. She once even threw her shoe into his back yard so he could talk to him. My friend’s father has similar stories about seeing him on his way to school. IDK what my point is, but truman is a beast
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“Only those who do not seek power are qualified to hold it.” -Plato
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My name is Harry S. Truman, the S stands for S.
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I thought the biggest blemish of Oppenheimer was portraying Truman as just a carefree "good ol' boy." Yes, he could be obstinate, but he was whip-smart and had a firm character.
