The daily monitor leader. [volume] (Mount Clemens, Mich.) 1942-19??, 1945-11-27
. BEHIND THE SCENES
IN WASHINGTON .

Harry Truman would rather
be a senator again than be Pres
ident. He said SO frankly to his
old cronies when he went to the
Capitol for the unwilling of his
portrait in the vice-presidential
collection.
1t isn't the kicking around
that Harry Truman gets for his
policies that bothers him. Every
politician expects to be criti-
cized for his official acts, and he
learns to take that. 1t is the
criticism for being a human be-
ing that hurts most.
A PRESIDENT HAS TO
TAKE PUNISHMENT
He serves as best man at the
wedding of an old friends and
Is criticized. 1t was a gracious
act that any man would do for
any other man. If anyone else
had done it. everything would
have been all right. Truman
would have have been criticized
if he had refused. Either way,
President has to take this pun
ishment.
Twelve years of Roosevelt, in
which the President was confin-
ed to a wheel chair and there
fore supposedly could not asso-
ciate with any but the best peO-
pie, may have built up a false
picture of how men in the White
House should behave. But to-
day the clustered saint concept
should be no good. A President
ought to be able to get out and
see for himself what makes with
the citizenry. @
Harry Truman sees more peo-
pie, transacts more business, and
makes more decisions in a day
than his predecessor did in q
week. He gets up earlier. Yet
because he takes time off to
relax and have a little fun, some
people don't like it and are pref
ty nasty in saying so. From the
hustings, the word comes back
that Truman is slipping. Not
necessarily because of his poll
cies, but because of his personal
behavior.
What in the world do the
American people expect of their
President? Can't he play q
game of poker or hoist a high
ball now and then? Shouldn't
a man be a better President for
having the common touch?
1t was because Truman was
criticized for gadding around the
country too much that he cancel
led a number of speaking en-
gagements in the South. The At
tlee conferences on the atomic
bomb provided a convenient ali
bi. But even so It's q pity that
the President had to give in to
shallow criticism of this kind.
GIVE HIM A CHANCE
FOR SOME PRIVATE LIFE
Thoughtless people forget the
responsibilities which hang over
a Presidents weary head. What
to do with the atomic bomb Is
a decision that must largely be
made by the President. That
one responsibility is bigger than
most people have In a whole
lifetime. A President has many
others.
It would be simple good busi-
ness, therefore, to permit the
President to enjoy a little more
private life. Any man who is
President must operate in high
gear when he's on the job. To
keep In condition he should be
permitted to idle in neutral and
have his oil changed frequently.
Kept running constantly, fatigue
sets in and decisions are hard
to grind out. When fatigue be.
comes exhaustion 1t Is impos-
sible to make any decisions at
all, and that Is still worse for
the public interest.
Incidentally, the gags about
piano playing and the haber-
dashery store, while good when
new, have now become q bit
stale. How about forgetting
them and giving the man .
break?