President Truman Rejected Revolving Door

Someone sent me this today to share with all of you.  –GFS

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Subject: HST: A Voice From The Past


When President Truman retired from office in 1952, his income was
substantially a U.S. Army pension reported to have been $13,507.72 a year.
Congress, noting that he was paying for his stamps and personally licking
them, granted him an "allowance" and, later, a retroactive
pension of $25,000 per year.

When offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined, stati ng,
"You don't want me. You want the office of the president, and that doesn't
belong to me. It belongs to the American people and it's not for sale."

Even later, on May 6,1971, when Congress was preparing to award him the
Medal of Honor on his 87th birthday, he refused to accept it, writing, "I
don't consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any
award, Congressional or otherwise."

We now see that some past presidents have found a new level of success in
cashing in on the presidency, resulting in untold wealth. Today, many in
Congress also have found a way to become quite wealthy while enjoying the
fruits of their offices. Political offices are now for sale.

Was good old Harry Truman correct when he observed, "My choice early in

life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician. And to
tell the truth, there's hardly any difference.

(I, for one, think that piano player more honorable than our current
politicians.)