Truman's Conscience

Happy Birthday Mr. President

On this day in 1917 our 35th President was born. Along with his two brothers, Robert Francis Kennedy & Edward Moore Kennedy, Harry S. Truman, Franklin Delano Rosevelt, Martin Luther King, Jr., and finally my father, who was named for Woodrow Wilson, they define who I am politically. We here at Truman's Conscience felt today would be a great day to celebrate what they all stood for.

As this blog is dedicated to the legacy of President Harry S. Truman, it is an ideal time to remember that it is the ideals they all represented and the principles that governed their actions that drive the progressive movement today. On January 20th, 1961 JFK helped us define those progressive ideals with a profoundness that still rings loud and clear to those of us who want to act on behalf of our country:

"So let us begin anew, remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.

Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us. Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations
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Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce.

Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah -- to "undo the heavy burdens...and let the oppressed go free. And if a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion, let both sides join in creating a new endeavor, not a new balance of power, but a new world of law, where the strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved.

All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin."

Indeed, let us continue what he began. The power in those words he uttered some 47 years, 4 months and 9 days ago still reverberate with the same power and clarity today. As John F. Kennedy helped define the youth and vigor of a generation he inspired, the tragic end he met in his prime makes it all the more surprising to note that today would have been his 91st birthday. So, with his sense of ideals and the hope he inspired let us celebrate his day of birth. For not only is it a celebration of his birthday, it is a celebration of who we are.