I figured I"d ask Pop about this. "That's interesting. What did you think about Truman's decision to enter the Korean War?" I asked. Almost immediately he acknowledged the drop in popularity saying " Oh yeah! It seemed that almost everyone turned their backs on him! I even stopped liking him. But, looking back on it, like a lot of other people do, I think he was still a good president. You could really trust him!" Similarly, Eleanor found Truman to be just as honorable in character. Perhaps these were the real facts, but I was a bit skeptical figuring this idealized notion of a politician was simply the nostalgia induced bias. So, I asked "How so? What made him so good?".
With a very adamant tone in his voice, one not very characteristic of his normally placid state, he said "Today is government for sale. Back then you didn't have all these high priced lobbyists and huge contributions. Because of that, whatever a politician said he wanted done was really just that rather than what his financers wanted. If they have the money, they can get what they want now. It seems like there's a lot more puppet politicians today." Eleanor had much to add to this laudation of Truman. "Those years during Truman's presidency were when I really started to become aware of politics around me; and what a time to do it! For a young girl just starting to be wary of politics, many of Truman's characteristics acted in a way that set personal standards for future presidents to match. He was very strong and it showed in a lot of his decisions, like standing up to communism. He stayed strong against communist states and wouldn't let anyone undermine his authority; not even Douglas MacArthur in Korea. I guess it was this strength and ability to stick to his principles that made him so great to me." .
Each proceeded to inform me of other presidents they looked highly upon, including the likes of Lyndon B. Johnson, JFK, and even Bill Clinton; although, none matched the praise received by Truman.
