The POTUS Club is the most elite club in the world. Made up of ex-Presidents of the United States of America, both living and dead, it charges no dues, membership cannot be revoked, and they almost never meet, except to attend the funeral of another member.
Though members do talk to each other. The current president, regardless of party, will seek counsel from other members. The Oval Office can be a very lonely place and the perspectives of others who have sat in the chair and dealt with the same pressures can be essential.
And out of an excess of empathy, members bend over backwards to not publicly criticize each other, to the extent they can. Members know the job is impossibly hard without POTUS members sniping at each other too.
Members hold themselves to high standards of etiquette with fellow members. Because of these high standards, it makes their treatment of Harry Truman just plain baffling, and appalling too
Truman made the most difficult decision of any president ever: he decided to use atomic weapons, a new technology, against Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which ended World War II. All the members know how important, and tough was Truman’s decision. They should doubt their own strength of character to make the same decision.
You would think members of the POTOS Club would be all over supporting Ol’ Harry, but you would be wrong. Their betrayal has been one of silence, which is the most damning, shameless betrayal of all. They don’t condemn his decision, but won’t support it either.
There have been 11 presidents since Truman. One, Eisenhower, openly disagreed with the decision, 18 years after the fact. George H. W. Bush, implicitly supported the decision by directly saying, during the 50th. anniversary of the bombings, that he would never apologize for the bombings. Bush #41 fought in World War II. He is our last president to fight in World War II. He understands the stakes involved.
Both Nixon and Carter went to the memorial park in Hiroshima. Nixon went before he was president and Carter went years after he left office. Obama went to Hiroshima in May. None of these pre-presidents, post presidents or current presidents made statements that would offer solace to Truman. Again. Truman is left swinging in the wind. Abandoned.
It would be fascinating to me if journalists would confront the fourformer presidents and the current president with a simple question: “Do you support Truman’s decision to use atomic weapons at Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Yes or no?”
The POTUS Club of living presidents would be split in an unexpected way. I would guess that the two Republican presidents would say support Truman. I would guess that the two former Democratic presidents and our current Democratic president would squirm and not directly answer the question. Harry Truman was a Democrat. He made the most difficult decision of any president ever. The POTUS Club, by a 3-2 vote, with two Republicans voting yes, and with the three Democrats voting no, would leave Truman swinging in the wind. Abandoned. This is a stunning fact to me. Welcome to America in 2016.