Evening star., 1953-01-20
As Mr.. Truman Goes Home

There will come a day when Harry Tru-
mans rightful place in the history of his times
can be fxed-assuming, of course, that the
historians of the future, If there be any, are
not wholly absorbed in the task Of piecing to-
gether the story of how man contrived to de-
stroy himself in the atomic age.
That hour of history's judgment however,
is decades away. Anything that is said now as
Mr. Truman steps down and heads homeward,
can be no better than guess. For this genera
ton is much too close to the events and the
decisions of the past eight years to distinguish
between those that may bear the stamp Of true
historical significance and those others which
will have been largely forgotten before another
inaugural day rolls around.
It is reasonable guess that history will
not greatly concern itself with items of inflated
contemporary importance-the mink coats, the
five-percenters, or the scandals in the RFC and
the Bureau of Internal Revenue. Nor is it prob
able that much attention will be paid to the
shrill and sometimes divisive performance of
Mr. Truman, the whistle-stop politician. This
is not to say that these things have been with
out Importance. Unquestionably they played
significant and perhaps decisive part in the
turning out of the Democrats last November,
but they do not belong in that category of
events which alter the face of the world and
shape the destiny of men.
For its judgment in this latter respect,
history will turn to the Truman performance
in the realm Of international affairs. On March
IL, 1947, the Truman doctrine" was proclaimed
"a doctrine which may have saved Greece and
Turkey from communism and which, perhaps
more Importantly, heralded the end of our
traditional peacetine indifference toward the
course of events in the rest of the world. Other
momentous steps lay ahead-the Marshall Plan,
the Atlantic pact, NATO, and, finally, the de-
cision to fight in Korea and the accompanying
realization that we must repair the neglect of
our military establishment. Meanwhile of
course, China had been lost, setback, for us, of
serious proportions. This is failure that will
have to be balanced against such success as
may ultimately be achieved in the West: Obvi-
ously, however, this balance cannot be struck
now.
Mr.. Truman, of course, did not devise these
and the related projects by himself. No doubt
much of the preliminary work was done by his
subordinates. Still, when the time for decision
came it was he who had to decide. Thus the
responsibility for what was done was his. And
by the same token, he will be held responsible
for the results Of the steps that were taken in
his name during his administration-be those
results for better or for worse.
No one knows how many years must pass,
or how much trouble We will see, before the
historians can render their judgment. Mean
while, as Mr.. Truman returns, with his wife,
to his Missouri home, there is one thing
that can be said Those who have watched
him in the White House, and who have any un-
derstanding of the awesome burdens he was
obliged to assume when "the moon the stars
and all the planets" fell on him nearly eight
years ago, will never doubt that when he
thought the chips were down he stood out coura-
geously for the things he believed to be right
and best for his country. The washington which
saw this side of the man will join in saying:
Good-by and best wishes to you and to yours.