esrosedotblog

PRESIDENTS I HAVE KNOWN

It's a bummer that this is not Presidents' Day or even President's Day because I was going to go on a bit about my favorite presidents.

I wouldn't go on too long as there are really only three in my lifetime.

I will do them in order of personal impact.

The first would be Harry S. Truman who I saw, in the flesh, in Philadelphia when Kennedy ran for the office. He was tan and tall and had a smile a yard wide.

He had incredible charisma. I think that is not generally thought of him. But he did.

He was a tough talker and a straight shooter although I suspect that he had not always been. A straight shooter.

Like Clinton, he had the air of the operator.

They said Al Smith was 'the happy warrior'. Well, Truman would fit the bill too.

The next favorite would be Clinton.

Enough said. He is still in charge. The most influential man in the world. I believe it.

Then there is Roosevelt; Franklin, of course. He was a god in my house as a kid. We had a bust of him on the desk with a small flag affixed. Only Kennedy rated this treatment at a later time for a different reason.

People sobbed when FDR died. We got in the car and visited relatives. It was very upsetting.

And he was a great leader in the worst of times.

I remember John and I going to see Campobello, his country cabin just over the border in Canada.

It was awe inspiring. One of his wheel chairs was there. It was as though they had just left and would come back any minute.

There were not even any docents in sight. None. We had run of the place.

We turned a corner and there was a radio playing in one of the rooms.

We went closer.

It was 'himself' giving a speech.

Notice that I have not said anything about their politics or their policies or philosophy.

It was their heart that shown from them. They were for us and of us.

I would like to see such a leader some time before I move out of here.

I am waiting.