Did you know?
- Thread starter Johnny West
- Start date
When Harry S. Truman left the White House in January 1953, there were no parades, no security motorcades, and no lavish retirement plan waiting for him. Instead, the former president and his wife Bess boarded a regular train from Washington, D.C. to their hometown of Independence, Missouri. He sat among fellow passengers, carried his own luggage, and quietly returned to private life as just another citizen.
Truman’s departure from public office was a striking contrast to today’s presidential retirements. He refused offers of lucrative corporate positions and declined commercial endorsements, believing that profiting off the presidency was undignified. At the time, there was no presidential pension, and his only income came from a modest Army pension of about $112 a month. Despite having led the nation through the final months of World War II and making monumental decisions like the use of the atomic bomb, Truman asked for nothing more than to go home.
What’s even more remarkable is that Truman had no Secret Service protection once he left office. In fact, it wasn’t until after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 that former presidents were given lifelong Secret Service protection. Truman would later receive it retroactively, but in 1953, he walked the streets of Independence alone, often seen strolling downtown or taking morning walks with no entourage in sight.
His humble return earned him deep admiration from many Americans. It reflected his deep belief in the office of the presidency as a temporary duty, not a lifetime of privilege. Truman reminded the nation that even those who have held the highest power should remain accountable to the people and grounded in ordinary life.
Truman’s departure from public office was a striking contrast to today’s presidential retirements. He refused offers of lucrative corporate positions and declined commercial endorsements, believing that profiting off the presidency was undignified. At the time, there was no presidential pension, and his only income came from a modest Army pension of about $112 a month. Despite having led the nation through the final months of World War II and making monumental decisions like the use of the atomic bomb, Truman asked for nothing more than to go home.
What’s even more remarkable is that Truman had no Secret Service protection once he left office. In fact, it wasn’t until after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 that former presidents were given lifelong Secret Service protection. Truman would later receive it retroactively, but in 1953, he walked the streets of Independence alone, often seen strolling downtown or taking morning walks with no entourage in sight.
His humble return earned him deep admiration from many Americans. It reflected his deep belief in the office of the presidency as a temporary duty, not a lifetime of privilege. Truman reminded the nation that even those who have held the highest power should remain accountable to the people and grounded in ordinary life.
Kathleen
Well-known member
Once upon a time, I wanted to be where it was small and remote.... Sometimes, I still ponder that!Reminds me of a line from the Eagles song, Hotel California:
"We are programmed to receive
You can check out any time you like
But you can never leave"
Did you know:
You can ride the rails in a 2 or 4 seat open air cart? Looks like some beautiful scenery.
7 different locations across the US. Friends went last weekend. We plan to go to the Elk River WV one sometime soon.
www.railexplorers.net
You can ride the rails in a 2 or 4 seat open air cart? Looks like some beautiful scenery.
7 different locations across the US. Friends went last weekend. We plan to go to the Elk River WV one sometime soon.
Experience the magic of the railroad like never before
Ride the rails on pedal-powered rail bikes in one of our spectacular locations, a unique, family-friendly experience.
The Pandawa Beach Road, located in Bali, Indonesia, is a scenic route carved into the limestone cliffs. It offers stunning ocean views and leads to the beautiful Pandawa Beach. The road is particularly famous for the large statues of the Pandava brothers, mythical heroes from the Hindu epic Mahabharata, carved into the cliff face. The road's dramatic setting, combined with the cultural significance of the statues, makes it a popular tourist destination....
dansdiamond
Food Sound Eng.
Luckytrim
Grill Master
... wrong thread, Dan , lol !
Warning: having 2nd thoughts about posting this. Sad sad sad. You might want to skip this one.
Very Very sad . A group of thirteen years old girls went camping in America in July 1945. They swam at a river in Ruidoso, New Mexico. The girl in front of the picture is called Barbara Kent. What the girls did not know is that nearby, the Manhattan Project detonated a nuclear bomb as a test…
In an article, Kent described what happened that day:
“We were all just shocked … and then, all of a sudden, there was this big cloud overhead, and lights in the sky,” Kent recalls. “It even hurt our eyes when we looked up. The whole sky turned strange. It was as if the sun came out tremendous.” A few hours later, she says, white flakes began to fall from above. Excited, the girls put on their bathing suits and, amid the flurries, began playing in the river. “We were grabbing all of this white, which we thought was snow, and we were putting it all over our faces,” Kent says. “But the strange thing, instead of being cold like snow, it was hot. And we all thought, ‘Well, the reason it’s hot is because it’s summer.’ We were just 13 years old.”
The flakes were fallout from the Manhattan Project’s Trinity test, the world’s first atomic bomb detonation. It took place at 5:29 a.m. local time atop a hundred-foot steel tower 40 miles away at the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range, in Jornada del Muerto valley. The site had been selected in part for its supposed isolation. In reality, thousands of people were within a 40-mile radius, some as close as 12 miles away. Yet those living near the bomb site weren't warned of the test. Nor were they evacuated beforehand or afterward, even as radioactive fallout continued to drop for days…
Barbara Kent and all her friends developed cancer. Every single one of the girls you see in that photo, died before the age of thirty. The only one who lived longer was Kent. And she, too, developed and survived several bouts of cancer. People often forget of the heavy price paid not only by those the atomic bombs were dropped on in Japan, but even by those who lived nearby as they were first developed.
Dapo Michaels one, fascinated by science, who worked in the project. Wasn't aware of the effect and long term effect. When he saw it, his brain paid him back. He went crazy out of shame, felt responsible and blamed himself. Within a few years he was not able to live at home anymore and went to a mental hospital and died..
Very Very sad . A group of thirteen years old girls went camping in America in July 1945. They swam at a river in Ruidoso, New Mexico. The girl in front of the picture is called Barbara Kent. What the girls did not know is that nearby, the Manhattan Project detonated a nuclear bomb as a test…
In an article, Kent described what happened that day:
“We were all just shocked … and then, all of a sudden, there was this big cloud overhead, and lights in the sky,” Kent recalls. “It even hurt our eyes when we looked up. The whole sky turned strange. It was as if the sun came out tremendous.” A few hours later, she says, white flakes began to fall from above. Excited, the girls put on their bathing suits and, amid the flurries, began playing in the river. “We were grabbing all of this white, which we thought was snow, and we were putting it all over our faces,” Kent says. “But the strange thing, instead of being cold like snow, it was hot. And we all thought, ‘Well, the reason it’s hot is because it’s summer.’ We were just 13 years old.”
The flakes were fallout from the Manhattan Project’s Trinity test, the world’s first atomic bomb detonation. It took place at 5:29 a.m. local time atop a hundred-foot steel tower 40 miles away at the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range, in Jornada del Muerto valley. The site had been selected in part for its supposed isolation. In reality, thousands of people were within a 40-mile radius, some as close as 12 miles away. Yet those living near the bomb site weren't warned of the test. Nor were they evacuated beforehand or afterward, even as radioactive fallout continued to drop for days…
Barbara Kent and all her friends developed cancer. Every single one of the girls you see in that photo, died before the age of thirty. The only one who lived longer was Kent. And she, too, developed and survived several bouts of cancer. People often forget of the heavy price paid not only by those the atomic bombs were dropped on in Japan, but even by those who lived nearby as they were first developed.
Dapo Michaels one, fascinated by science, who worked in the project. Wasn't aware of the effect and long term effect. When he saw it, his brain paid him back. He went crazy out of shame, felt responsible and blamed himself. Within a few years he was not able to live at home anymore and went to a mental hospital and died..
Last edited:
In 2024, Ruth Gottesman, a 93-year-old educator and philanthropist, made history by donating $1 billion to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx. The donation, one of the largest ever to a U.S. medical school, was made using Berkshire Hathaway stock inherited from her late husband, billionaire investor David “Sandy” Gottesman. She was given full freedom to decide how the funds would be used—and chose to make medical education free for all students at the institution, permanently.
Her decision aims to eliminate the burden of student debt, which often deters talented individuals from pursuing a medical career or forces them to prioritize high-paying specialties over service in underserved areas. By removing tuition costs, Gottesman hopes to attract more diverse applicants and improve healthcare access in communities that need it most. Her gift is not only historic in size but also in its potential to reshape the future of medical education and public health in America.