WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release) — U.S. Senator Carl Levin, D-Michigan, on Thursday, May 8, praised the record of Harry Truman in endorsing a bill to name the main train station in Washington D.C. after him. He said:
“Mr. President, I am truly delighted that my colleagues from Missouri, Senators McCaskill and Blunt, have today introduced legislation to name Washington, D.C.’s Union Station after our 33rd President, Harry Truman, legislation of which I am proud to be an original cosponsor.
“It is long overdue that we honor President Truman in this way. While much, in life and in politics, loses its luster as time passes, the Truman Presidency has only grown in stature and historical significance over the decades. There are many reasons for this, but let me focus on just a few.
“First, history has shown the significance and wisdom of Truman’s leadership in forging America’s post-war foreign policy consensus. Truman, and America, understood the hard lesson of the Second World War: that a failure to engage in the world could have tragic consequences for our nation, for our friends and allies, and for humanity. He understood the importance to the free world of helping to rebuild our chief enemies in that war, Germany and Japan. And he understood the importance of working across party lines to build and maintain a consensus for these policies so that they did not depend on any one president or party to continue. We in Michigan are especially proud of the role that our Senator Vandenberg, a Republican, played in helping to build this consensus along with a Democratic President. Their hard work resulted in one of our nation’s most lasting and important achievements, ensuring America’s enduring role in leading a rising tide of freedom around the world.
“A second aspect of the Truman legacy is his commitment to open, ethical and responsive government. He achieved public notice in the Senate as chairman of a committee tasked with fighting fraud and waste in defense contracting during World War II. He was among the earliest Washington politicians to call for lobbying reform. And ever since Truman’s time, any government official who has sought to deflect responsibility or accountability in that time-honored political tradition of buck-passing has suffered in comparison to the Truman policy that ‘The Buck Stops Here.’
“Lastly, Mr. President, I will mention this: Harry Truman was a simple man. He was regularly described as “plain” – and to his detractors, this was no compliment. But he wore it as a badge of honor. He understood that this nation was built on the hard work, dedication and commitment of ordinary working people – because he came from ordinary working people. He talked straight, often bluntly. He demonstrated that one could rise to the highest office in the land based not on clever rhetoric or by currying favor, but by charting the best course for our nation and clearly explaining that course to the people we all serve. He proved that wisdom is in the power of our ideas – nothing more and nothing less.
“It was a train that carried Harry Truman on his ‘Give ’em Hell, Harry!’ whistle-stop tour during the 1948 campaign. It was from a train that he held up that famous headline – ‘Dewey Defeats Truman’ – that serves to this day as a rallying cry for the underdog. He rode the train from Union Station a lot, going home to be with his beloved wife, Bess. So naming the train station of our nation’s capital, within sight of the Capitol where he served so well, is a fitting tribute. I join my Missouri colleagues in urging the Senate to adopt this legislation, and pay due honor to President Harry Truman.
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Preceding provided by Senator Carl Levin