We’ve seen sanctimony to the nth degree practiced by ex-Presidents such as Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. It makes us all wish for a time when President’s were honorable…
When President Harry Truman retired from office in 1952, his income was primarily a U.S. Army pension reported to have been $13,508 per year. Congress, noting that he was paying for his stamps and personally, licking them, granted him an “allowance” and, later, a retroactive pension of $25,000 per year.
When offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined, stating, “You don’t want me. You want the office of the President, and that doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to the American people and it’s not for sale.”
Even later, on May 6, 1971, when Congress was preparing to award him the Medal of Honor on his 87th birthday, he refused to accept it, writing: “I don’t consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any award, Congressional or otherwise.”
Was good old Harry Truman correct when he observed, “My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician. And, to tell the truth, there’s hardly any difference!
(Slick, Thanks for the info)