THE TRUMAN SHOW….This is interesting: a librarian at the Truman Library has discovered a previously unknown diary that Truman kept in 1947. Here’s the entry for July 25, recounting a conversation with Dwight Eisenhower:
Ike & I think MacArthur expects to make a Roman Triumphal return to the U.S. a short time before the Republican Convention meets in Philadelphia. I told Ike that if he did that that he (Ike) should announce for the nomination for President on the Democratic ticket and that I’d be glad to be in second place, or Vice President. I like the Senate anyway. Ike & I could be elected and my family & myself would be happy outside this great white jail, known as the White House.
Different times. Is it even conceivable that a president today would voluntarily step down because he doesn’t much like being president and it might be best for the country anyway? Nope.
(The story also mentions some anti-semitic entries in the diary. However, I don’t know enough about Truman to know if this is news or not.)
UPDATE: More excerpts here.
