Harry S Truman Quotes in Give 'em Hell, Harry! (1975)

Harry S Truman: The good Lord may have built the Earth in six days but that surely was before labor unions.

Harry S Truman: Say, Rose, there's a story going around about me these days. It says that some old party hen is supposed to have cornered Bess at some party, and said, "Mrs. Truman, isn't there anything you can do to get the President to stop using the word 'manure'?" And Bess is supposed to have replied, "It took me forty years to get him to use that word!"

Harry S Truman: No man can get rich in politics unless he's a crook. It cannot be done.

Harry S Truman: No, sir, I don't give 'em hell, I just tell the truth and they think it's hell.

Harry S Truman: Well, this is the kind of morning that starts out with all the right things happening to make it all go wrong.

Harry S Truman: Yeah? Oh yes, General Marshall. Bradley agrees? No, alright, fire the son-of-a-bitch!

[last lines]

Harry S Truman: You know, one of our founding fathers Benjamin Franklin spoke very movingly of this moment, he said that in a free society the rulers are the servants and the people are their superiors and sovereigns therefore to return among the latter was not to degrade them but was to promote them. Well, my promotion is to be one of you. You!

Harry S Truman: Great man, Herbert Hoover, in my opinion, honestly. He did a great job at the World War I. Feeding all those poor unfortunate starving peoples over there in Europe and Asia then we rewarded him with this job. And on the Depression we all turned to Herbert Hoover but the Depression that was not created by Herbert Hoover, it was created for him.

Harry S Truman: Oh, Herbert Hoover is in town! Now that's one of the problems with this job I've got. When you leave it, you need to find something else to do. Really, think about it. It's healthy for a man trying to find work when he has been president of the United States.

[first lines]

Harry S Truman: And finally, Margaret, to be a good president I fear that a man cannot be his own mentor. He cannot live the sermon on the mountain, he has to be a Machiavelli, a Caesar, a Borgia, an anctuous religio, a liar. A what-not to be successful so I probably won't be. But I'm having a lot of fun trying the opposite approach. Maybe it'll win. Lots of love, dad.

Harry S Truman: And let me tell you something: Richard Nixon is a no-good lyin' son-of-a-bitch!

Harry S Truman: I never saw myself as president, I was just in the right place at the wrong time. Lots of folks in this country could do a better job than me but it became mine to do. And as long as you put me here you're gonna get the very best I've got. I've always thought of myself as a very ordinary man. I have no special personal endowments at all, but I don't waste my time worrying about what I don't have, I just try to do the best with what I do have. And I certainly don't waste time trying to figure out how to say something or even do it. I think the important thing is to get it said and done. And I certainly don't waste time comparing myself to other men like Mr. Churchill and Mr. Roosevelt. There's no need to do that, every man on this Earth does things a little differently. In fact, I'll give you an example of what I mean by that. Now, I'm sure you've all heard of the all-time great American snob, the Lady Astor. She was a transplanted Virginian and she acquires such a strong British accent that even the British couldn't understand her. Let alone stand her. But I had not run to the lady, I stood there at some function. I think it was down in Williamsburg, Virginia and she made some rather unkind remarks about my Missouri accent. Well, I cut her short by saying: "At least, my accent was natural". But Mr. Churchill, the point of my story, Mr. Churchill does things just a little differently now. He ran into the lady in some party in London, the kind of party Winston truly enjoys and he derives much of his joy from imbibing rather large ammounts of brandy. Well, he was seated next to lady Astor and she ought to give the Prime Minister a little lecture and she said: "Mr. Prime Minister, I think you are quite drunk!". Well, Winston looked at her and said: "You're quite right my lady, I am quite drunk but you're quite ugly and tomorrow morning I'll be undisputedly sober.

[pause]

Harry S Truman: Well, you see what I mean, don't you?