Harry S. Truman

1884–1972 · 33rd President of the United States

Truman was the last U.S. president who never earned a college degree, and he spent a lifetime compensating with books — a habit that began with the four-volume Great Men and Famous Women his mother gave him in 1894 and with a boyhood claim to have worked his way through the Independence public library. He genuinely believed that biography and history were leadership training, and said so often, which is why a sentence he never quite wrote sits so comfortably in his mouth. He took office in April 1945 on Franklin Roosevelt’s death, served until January 1953, and retired to Independence, Missouri, where he kept reading and writing.

Traced to source

8 quotes we’ve traced to Harry S. Truman

“A politician is a man who understands government, and it takes a politician to run a government. A statesman is a politician who's been dead 10 or 15 years”

Verified

“Can't somebody bring me a one-handed economist?”

Attributed

“If you can't convince them, confuse them”

Disputed

“If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen”

Disputed

“It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it's a depression when you lose yours”

Disputed

“Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers”

Disputed

“Political correctness is a doctrine, recently fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and promoted by a sick mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a piece of shit by clean end”

Disputed

“The Buck Stops Here”

Disputed

Not actually Harry S. Truman

Often misattributed to Harry S. Truman

Famous lines widely pinned on Harry S. Truman that we’ve traced to someone else.

“Always be sincere, even if you don't mean it”

actually Unknown — an anonymous American gag line

“If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog”

actually Samuel Gallu

“Imperfect action is better than perfect inaction”

actually Origin unknown

“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit”

actually Father Strickland

“It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it's a depression when you lose yours”

actually Unknown — first recorded as an anonymous street saying

“Political correctness is a doctrine, recently fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and promoted by a sick mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a piece of shit by clean end”

actually No verified author — an anonymous internet joke

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