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Senate Investigator. With a long memory for the waste of World War I, with a veteran's patriotism and a politician's shrewd eye for the main chance, Harry Truman organized the Senate investigating committee which soon bore his name. Overnight, he became the watchdog of the war effort, scourging shortages, prodding production, forcing the manufacturers, the Army & the Navy to toe the mark. By the summer of 1944, Harry Truman had shown that he was playing no political tricks with his committee. The record made him a Vice Presidential possibility.
How he got the nomination is political history known to every voter. Jimmy Byrnes did not get it because P.A.C. would not take him. Henry Wallace did not get it because Southern Democrats would not take him. Harry Truman got it because he was palatable to all.
Presidential Beliefs. What kind of President will Truman be? During the campaign, when the possibility of his becoming President was often discussed, some political pundits labeled him the "Democratic Coolidge." He will probably earn his own proper label in time. One thing can be said with certainty: he will be a great change from Franklin Roosevelt.
Harry Truman is a man of distinct limitations, especially in experience in high-level politics. He knows his limitations. He is frank with himself and his friends in visualizing himself as the ordinary, honest politician grown to stature through patience, hard work and luck. He believes in strict party responsibility, a politician's reward for work done, and complete loyalty to friends. (He never forsook Tom Pendergast, even after Boss Tom had gone to Leavenworth.) He is no theorist. In his Administration there are likely to be few innovations and little experimentation.
Some facts about him:
¶ He has a settled conviction against personalized government, is unlikely ever to have to face the charge of "one-man government." His overtures to Congress are not mere gestures. He means them. And, at the moment, members of Congress, who generally like Harry Truman as a good fellow, and a good Senator, undoubtedly mean their pledges of support from both Republican and Democratic sides.
¶ He hates the palace politics that sometimes marred the Roosevelt Administration. He has no use for political bickering and, so far as his friends know, has never played one man off against another. To Harry Truman, the complete politician, a promise is a promise, something to be kept.
¶ He is a whole-souled Democrat, and there will be no flirting with Republicans or independents from minor parties when jobs arise. Jut-jawed Bob Hannegan, his longtime friend, will now have a firm hold on all patronage.
¶ He will not disturb the present top team of military men which is running the war. Like many another member of Congress, he has a feeling of almost reverential respect for General Marshall.
¶ Never an athlete, he is in top physical shape. He recently underwent a thorough clinical examination, passed all the tests. On doctor's orders he took up walking as exercise, sloughed off five pounds.