Outstanding Sports Photo
The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, May 8, 1984 - Page 13
Anniversary of Truman
rememberedtoday
To celebrate today's 100th An-
niversary of Harry Truman's birth,
Associated Press editor Wes Cook
offers his recollections of the late,
president he once covered.
Two months after Harry Truman was
sworn in as president, he wrote to Bess
that he was "listening to the ghosts
walk up and down the hallway and even
right in here in the study" of the White
house.
In that letter of June 12, 1945, Truman
told his wife, "I sit here in this old house
and work on foreign affairs, read repor-
ts and work on speeches - all the while
listening to the ghosts ... the floors pop
and the drapes move back and forth - I
can just imagine old Andy (Andrew
Jackson) and Teddy (Theodore
Roosevelt) having an argument over
Franklin, (the late President
Roosevelt).
"OR JAMES Buchanan and Franklin
Pierce deciding which was the more
useless to the country. And when
Millard Fillmore and Chester Arthur
join in for place and show, the din is
almost unbearable. But I still get some
work done."
In his almost eight years as
president, Harry Truman left his own
mark on the institution he respected so
highly.
The 100th anniversary today of
Truman's birth evokes for me and per
haps thousands of others who have
visited or done research work at the
Truman Library and Museum
memories of the plain-speaking man
from Independence.
I REMEMBER vividly being greeted
enthusiastically on several occasions by
Truman as he left his office in the
library and walked into the research
section. His handshake was firm. His
eyes had an almost mischievous glint
as he knew he had taken you by sur-
prise.
Twice during my early research in
1964, I was invited to accompany him to
the auditorium where he would greet
school children or other visitors and an-
swer their questions. On the'way, he
would pause in the library stacks con-
taining his presidential and senatorial
papers, remove one or two examples,
and offer a brief, concise history on the
correspondence.
Standing in the wings of the stage,
Truman would peek around the curtain
at the audience and, following his in-
troduction, walk rapidly to center
stage.
GREETED WITH applause,
Truman thanked his audience and
asked them: "Have you got any
questions? ... There is no place in the
world where you could cross-question a
former president . .. in the same way
that you have the opportunity to. do.
Stand up and ask your questions. I'll
give you the right answer if I can. If I
can't, then you can go hunt it up."
"What is your personal opinion of Mr.
President Lyndon Johnson?"
"He's a good one and he's going to be
re-elected." Laughter and applause.
"Does that answer your question?"
"WELL I hope not," the questioner
said loudly. Truman laughed with
others in the audience.
"All right, all right. Who's next? Yes,
young man."
"What made you decide to use the
atomic bomb?"
"TO END the war, and that's what it
did. It kept 250,000 of our youngsters
See TRUMAN, Page 14
This photograph of Dan Pelekoudas, taken by Daily photographer Brian
Masck at a March 1983 Wolverine basketball game, was named Outstanding
Sports Photograph of 1983 in United Press International's Michigan awards.
He will be honored at UPI's May 18 banquet in Bay City.
I
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WHEN WORDS FAIL Y0-Ueeii.
SAY IT WITH...n
SIGLET (snig' lt> n.
Any word that doesn't appear
.& Tt's the only place you'll find in the dictionary, but should.
Ljust the right words to de- NAPJERK (nap jurk) n
scrie lfe~ ndecriableevets.The sudden convulsion of the
Created by Bich Hall of HBO's oyut soeisaott
"c"E't''y eserafof" ody just "one is ot to
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the News, sniglets are outra-
geously funny and uncannily apt: ERDU (uhr' dew) n.
The leftover accumulation of
rubber particles after erasing
_a mistake on a test paper
SEXPEBSSHOLES
(eks pro' holz) n.
People who try to sneak more
eta wxma lsdoesn 'i than the "eight items or less"
d'.10 u 01 into the express check-out line.
H A&FRIE 14.90 paperback at bookstores
Collier Book
A-U 1TSion of MaICi lBIa ...
This is a free introductory seminar
for upcoming tests and an
opportunity to meet UTPS
faculty members!
We will be administering LSAT/
GMAT/GRE mini tests with a review
session Tuesday, May 8, on the
U of M campus on the third floor of
the Michigan League in Room D.
LSAT / GRE - 3:30 - 5:00P.M.
GMAT - 6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
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