>>> DURING THE PAST YEAR, WE
HAVE MADE NOTABLE PROGRESS IN
STRENGTHENING THE FOUNDATIONS OF
PEACE AND FREEDOM ABROAD AND AT
HOME.
WE HAVE TAKEN IMPORTANT STEPS IN
CURING IS THE NORTH ATLANTIC
COMMUNITY AGAINST AGGRESSION.
WE HAVE CONTINUED OUR SUCCESSFUL
SUPPORT OF EUROPEAN RECOVERY.
WE HAVE RETURNED TO OUR
ESTABLISHED POLICY OF EXPANDING
INTERNATIONAL TRADE TO
RECIPROCAL AGREEMENT.
WE HAVE STRENGTHENED OUR SUPPORT
OF THE UNITED NATIONS.
WHILE GREAT PROBLEMS STILL
CONFRONT US, THE GREATEST DANGER
HAS RECEDED.
THE POSSIBILITY WHICH FACED US
THREE YEARS AGO THAT MOST OF
EUROPE AND THE MEDITERRANEAN
AREA MIGHT COLLAPSE UNDER
TOTALITARIAN PRESSURE.
TODAY THE FREE PEOPLES OF THE
WORLD HAVE NEW VIGOR AND NEW
HOPE FOR THE CAUSE OF PEACE.
>> THAT WAS PRESIDENT HARRY
TRUMAN’S STATE OF THE UNION
SPEECH IN 1950 DETAILING HOW THE
UNITED STATES LAID THE
FOUNDATIONS OF THE POST-WORLD
WAR II ORDER.
IT’S SOMETHING JOE HONES IN ON
IN HIS NEW BOOK WHICH IS OUT
TODAY ENTITLED "SAVING FREEDOM:
TRUMAN, THE COLD WAR, AND THE
FIGHT FOR WESTERN CIVILIZATION."
AND JOINING US NOW TO DISCUSS
TRUMAN’S INFLUENCE AND IMPACT ON
TODAY’S INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM,
PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL ON
FOREIGN RELATIONS RICHARD HAASS
AND U.S. NATIONAL EDITOR AT THE
"FINANCIAL TIMES" ED LUSE.
TRUMAN WAS UNDERESTIMATED AND
DERIDED.
TALK ABOUT HOW THAT HAPPENED IN
YOUR OWN FAMILY.
YOUR MOM COULD BE A BIT DEVICE I
HAVE AT TIMES.
>> THAT’S ONE WAY TO PUT IT.
IT’S SO INTERESTING.
WE TALK ABOUT HOW THE PRESS
BARONS OF MANHATTAN AND THE
WASHINGTON INSIDERS LOOKED DOWN
ON HARRY TRUMAN.
HARRY TRUMAN ALSO HAD DIFFICULTY
WITH AMERICANS.
OBVIOUSLY, WHEN HE LEFT THE
WHITE HOUSE, HE HAD A 22%
APPROVAL RATING.
MY FAMILY WERE DYED IN THE WOOL
DEMOCRATS, YELLOW DOG DEMOCRATS
AS WE CALL THEM IN THE SOUTH,
FROM DALTON, GEORGIA, AND
WORSHIPED FDR.
MY MOM WAS BORN IN REALLY THE
HEART OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION IN
1932, AND THEY WOULD NOT HAVE
SURVIVED WITHOUT FDR, WITHOUT
THE NEW DEAL.
I REMEMBER ASKING HER LATER,
WHEN I BECAME A TRUMAN FAN, WHAT
THEY THOUGHT OF HARRY TRUMAN,
BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, HERE IS A
GUY, HERE IS A COUNTRY GUY, A
FARMER, A BAPTIST AND A DEMOCRAT
JUST LIKE THEM.
MY MOM LAUGHED AND SAID, WELL,
YOU KNOW, OLE HARRY, I DON’T
THINK HE WAS UP TO THE TASK.
>> NO!
>> A SIMPLE COUNTRY GUY.
AND AGAIN THAT’S A DEMOCRAT AND
A BAPTIST IN A GROUP OF FARMERS
TALKING THAT WAY ABOUT HARRY
TRUMAN.
BUT RICHARD HAASS, FOR ME, ONE
OF THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY THINGS
IS HOW HE WAS UNDERESTIMATED IN
HIS OWN TIME AND EVEN FOR 20, 30
YEARS LATER IT WASN’T UNTIL
MAYBE THE MID ’80s, IF I’M
REMEMBERING CORRECTLY, THAT
HISTORIANS START TODAY TAKE A
SECOND LOOK AT LOOK AT TRUMAN
AND SAYING HE WAS A NEAR GREAT
OR A GREAT PRESIDENT.
IT’S EXTRAORDINARY WHAT THIS MAN
FROM MISSOURI ACCOMPLISHED IN
TWO OR THREE YEARS.
>> THAT’S EXACTLY RIGHT, JOE.
HE WASN’T A NATIONAL FIGURE WHEN
HE GOT CHOSEN AS VICE PRESIDENT.
HE THEN BECAME PRESIDENT EARLY
ON, GIVEN FDR’S DEATH.
AND AT THE TIME ALMOST LIKE
RODNEY DANGERFIELD, HE DIDN’T
GET A WHOLE LOT OF RESPECT.
AS EVERY DECADE BOSE ON HE IS
SEEN AS ONE OF THE GREAT FOREIGN
POLICY PRESIDENTS IN HISTORY.
I WOULD ARGUE THE GREATEST OF
THE POST-WORLD WAR II PRESIDENTS
WHEN IT CAME TO FOREIGN POLICY.
MY QUESTION FOR YOU IS GOING
BACK TO MARK TWAIN, THAT HISTORY
DOESN’T REPEAT ITSELF BUT IT
RHYMES.
WHAT RHYMING DO YOU SEE BETWEENH
TRUMAN WHAT HE DID AND THE REST
OF THE POST-WORLD WAR II ORDER,
WHAT IF ANY RHYMING DO YOU SEE
BETWEEN THAT AND TODAY?
>> I SEE A LOT.
FIRST OF ALL, 12 PRESIDENTS
BETWEEN HARRY TRUMAN AND BARACK
OBAMA FOLLOWED THIS SAME
INTERNATIONAL ANALYTICAL
CONSTRUCT.
EVERY PRESIDENT THAT STRODE
AROUND THE WORLD STAGE, THEY
WERE WALKING AROUND ON A STAGE
WHERE HARRY TRUMAN, GEORGE
MARBLE, DNATCHISON, THEY BUILT
THE ARCHITECTURE AND STRUCTURE
OF THAT STAGE.
WE HAVE MOVED AWAY FROM THAT THE
PAST FOUR YEARS WHERE WE HAVE
HAD A PRESIDENT CONTEMPTUOUS OF
OUR NATO ALLIES, A PRESIDENT
VERY ENGAGING AND MOST OF US
WOULD SAY OVERLY WARM IN A
CONCERNING SORT OF WAY TOWARDS
RUSSIA’S LEADER, EX-KGB AT, AND
HAS IN THE RESPECTED THE
NATIONAL ORDER THAT BENEFITTED
AMERICA.
SO JOE BIDEN IS GOING TO HAVE
THAT TASK TO REBUILD THOSE
RELATIONSHIPS.
I THINK HE IS GOING TO BE ABLE
TO DO THAT.
I THINK ALSO YOU HAD HARRY
TRUMAN IN 1945 AFTER HE TOOK
OVER HAD A LOT OF CHALLENGES
WITH A COUNTRY COMING BACK FROM
WAR, UNCERTAIN FUTURE.
JOE BIDEN IS FACING -- YOU KNOW,
IT WASN’T REALLY FACING THE WAR
THAT HARRY TRUMAN HAD TO END IN
1945, BUT HE IS FIGHTING A
BATTLE AGAINST A PANDEMIC THAT
RIGHT NOW IS RAGING ACROSS
MIDDLE AMERICA.
WE HAVE AN UNCERTAIN ECONOMY.
WE NOW, OF COURSE, HAVE SOME
PEOPLE ON WALL STREET WALL STREE
EXPECTING THE FIRST QUARTER OF