"Sometimes he [Harry S. Truman] lost his temper and didn't think much about what he was saying. But he was never mean or dishonest.
"In fact, his honesty was legendary. When he wrote letters home to his mother and sister, as he did almost every day, he paid for the stamps himself. The franking privelege--which allows senators and presidents to send their mail free--was meant for government business, he said. He never used it for his personal letters.
. . . .
When a Republican who was a political rival left his briefcase at the White House, some of Truman's Democratic aides wanted to go through it and see what it held. President Truman was horrified."
Joy Hakim
All The People 1945-2001
Oxford University Press 2003
p. 14-15
Having barely passed history in highschool, sometime in my adult life I became facinated with men and women of past decades--particularly with their character. They weren't perfect role models, as this anecdote attests to. But they certainly set standards worth reaching toward.
Legendary honesty. Really? That's quite a reputation. I can't help but think of Jesus' words recorded in Luke 16:10 NIV: "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will be dishonest with much."
We crave this honesty in our government officials--and spend a fair amount of time complaining about its absence. But . . . I, for one, need to check my mirror.
Guilty and Forgiven,
Lonnie
Joy Hakim wrote a series of history books for children. Rather than cover to cover boredom, they were fun and an inspiration to me.
