Modesty is not something that we usually associate with politicians, and especially not with Presidents. But that is a term which applies to some, including two of my favorites: Harry Truman and Gerald Ford.
In looking at their lives and their Presidencies it is interesting to consider the many similarities.
As suggested by the title of this post, neither man wanted to be President. Harry Truman was quite happy as a Senator and had no desire to advance further. Indeed he strongly fought against being nominated for Vice President during the 1944 campaign. Gerald Ford’s only ambition was to be Speaker of the House and by 1973 he’d decided that goal wasn’t going to happen and had planned to retire in 1977.
If you look at the two men one year before they became President neither seems a likely candidate. In April 1944 Truman was a Senator while in August 1973 Ford was a member of the House. Both had achieved success, Truman was one of the better known members of the Senate (thanks in large part to the Truman committee) and For was House minority leader. But few looked at either as being likely for a national ticket. Yet one year later they were President.
As President both came to power in difficult times and had to make difficult decisions. Truman came to power in the ending days of World War Two and was faced with the decision to drop the Atomic Bomb while Ford came to power after possibly the worst Constitutional crisis in US History and had to decide what to do about Nixon. Truman then had to face the beginnings of the Cold War, the Berlin Crisis and the Korean War. Ford faced a series of major domestic and international events ranging from the collapse of Southeast Asia to an economic slump at home.
At the time both men made decisions that were very unpopular. Ford’s decision to pardon Richard Nixon led to a 25 point drop in his popularity while the events in China and Korea made Truman very unpopular with a large segment of the country. Yet today both men are greatly admired for making decisions that most now recognize as correct.
Upon leaving the Presidency, both men remained humble and kept out of the spotlight as much as possible.
Today I think it is worth reflecting on how lucky we were to have these men lead the country when they did.