seen from China
seen from Russia
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Bulgaria
seen from Malaysia
seen from Germany
seen from Kuwait
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Russia
seen from Russia
seen from Italy
seen from Türkiye
seen from Portugal
seen from Malaysia
seen from Russia
seen from Malaysia
seen from Portugal
Do you think that Joe Biden was more popular when he was the VP than when he was the president?
Yes, without a doubt. I don't think it's crazy to suggest that in 2015/2016, Joe Biden was one of the most popular/admired politicians in the country and easily the most popular incumbent Vice Presidents in memory -- possibly dating back to Vice President Alben Barkley, Harry Truman's well-liked Veep (and the originator of the actual term "Veep").
Spruille Braden
“Dear President Truman,
I am 9 years old and I think it was a disgrace that in Washington 51 children were not let in to a hotel because 4 children were colored. The capital is supposed to be for freedom.” May 28, 1948.
Collection HST-OFF: Official Files (Truman Administration)
Series: Official Files
File Unit: Official File 93B
Transcription:
A genuine American hero finally receives his due in an authoritative new biography from Caliber and historian David L. Roll, George Marshall: Defender of the Republic.
During the Civil War, the state of Missouri was as divided as the nation itself with half of the state supporting the Union and the other half sympathizing with the Confederacy. While the Show-Me State never seceded or formally joined the Confederacy, it was a slave state, a rebel hotbed, and the very definition of a border state. Throughout the war, Missouri was governed by two competing factions -- a loyal Union government and a shadow Confederate government -- and was effectively a state embroiled by a regional civil war during the national civil war.
The family of Missouri's only President, Harry S. Truman, was decidedly pro-Confederate. While the Civil War was raging, Truman's grandmother's farm was looted and burned by Union troops -- an indignity that Truman's family never forgot. When Truman joined the National Guard in 1905 and visited his grandmother's home in his military uniform, the Southern-sympathizing granny was repelled. "Harry, this is the first time since 1863 that a blue uniform has been in this house. Don't bring it here again!"
Those Confederate beliefs continued to run strong through the Truman family well after the Civil War. Decades later, when Truman was President of the United States, he proudly welcomed his elderly mother, Martha, to the White House. When her son invited her to sleep in the Lincoln Bedroom, the President's mother -- then in her 90s -- steadfastly refused and said that she would rather sleep on the floor.
"To hell with them. When history is written they will be the sons of bitches -- not I."
-- President Harry S. Truman, on his political opponents, personal diary entry, December 1, 1952
Lewis B. Schwellenbach
Just saw Oppenheimer and I was a bit disappointed with how they portrayed Truman. He came across pretty poorly IMO. It was only one scene but I wondered what you thought.
I understand your disappointment and it certainly wasn't a very in-depth portrayal of Truman, but according to the book that the movie was largely based on -- American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) -- the meeting that Oppenheimer had with President Truman went down pretty much as depicted in the film.
As Bird and Sherwin write in American Prometheus:
(O)n October 25, 1945, Oppenheimer was ushered into the Oval Office. President Truman was naturally curious to meet the celebrated physicist, whom he knew by reputation to be an eloquent and charismatic figure. After being introduced by Secretary [of War Robert P.] Patterson, the only other individual in the room, the three men sat down. By one account, Truman opened the conversation by asking for Oppenheimer's help in getting Congress to pass the May-Johnson bill, giving the Army permanent control over atomic energy. "The first thing is to define the national problem," Truman said, "then the international." Oppenheimer let an uncomfortably long silence pass and then said, haltingly, "Perhaps it would be best first to define the international problem." He meant, of course, that the first imperative was to stop the spread of these weapons by placing international controls over all atomic technology. At one point in their conversation, Truman suddenly asked him to guess when the Russians would develop their own atomic bomb. When Oppie replied that he did not know, Truman confidently said he knew the answer: "Never." For Oppenheimer, such foolishness was proof of Truman's limitations. The "incomprehension it showed just knocked the heart out of him," recalled Willie Higinbotham. As for Truman, a man who compensated for his insecurities with calculated displays of decisiveness, Oppenheimer seemed maddeningly tentative, obscure -- and cheerless. Finally, sensing that the President was not comprehending the deadly urgency of his message, Oppenheimer nervously wrung his hands and uttered another of those regrettable remarks that he characteristically made under pressure. "Mr. President," he said quietly, "I feel I have blood on my hands." The comment angered Truman. He later informed David Lilienthal, "I told him the blood was on my hands -- to let me worry about that." But over the years, Truman embellished the story. By one account, he replied, "Never mind, it'll all come out in the wash." In yet another version, he pulled his handkerchief from his breast pocket and offered it to Oppenheimer, saying, "Well, here, would you like to wipe your hands?" An awkward silence followed this exchange, and then Truman stood up to signal that the meeting was over. The two men shook hands, and Truman reportedly said, "Don't worry, we're going to work something out, and you're going to help us." Afterwards, the President was heard to mutter, "Blood on his hands, dammit, he hasn't half as much blood on his hands as I have. You just don't go around bellyaching about it." He later told [Secretary of State] Dean Acheson, "I don't want to see that son-of-a-bitch in this office ever again." Even in May 1946, the encounter still vivid in his mind, he wrote Acheson and described Oppenheimer as a "cry-baby scientist" who had come to "my office some five or six months ago and spent most of his time wringing his hands and telling me they had blood on them because of the discovery of atomic energy."
