Harry Truman

Two New Presidential Libraries And Museums Opening In June And July!

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For all those who care about and devote their lives to the study and analysis of the American Presidency and its occupants, celebrations are in order, as two new Presidential Libraries and Museums are opening within about two weeks of each other in June and July 2026.

On June 19, Juneteenth, the Barack Obama Presidential Library and Museum in Chicago will be dedicated, and then the next day, it will be open to the public. It will be the first Presidential Library totally digitized, although hard copies will be available at a separate facility. The Center will be located in Jackson Park on the South Side of Chicago, adjacent to the University of Chicago campus. A landscaped urban park and a new branch of the Chicago Public Library will be on the property.

On July 4, the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum will be opened in Medora, North Dakota, which is connected to Theodore Roosevelt through his times in the mid 1880s that he spent in the “Badlands” area of North Dakota, escaping from the death of his wife and mother on Valentine’s Day 1884.

The Sagamore Hill National Historic Site in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York, was the home of Theodore Roosevelt throughout his life, along with his birthplace at 28 East 20th Street in Manhattan, New York City, and both are open to tourists and scholars. But now, there will be a true Presidential Library in a state that Theodore Roosevelt claimed had a great impact on him, and that he would not have been President without the experience as a rancher.

It must be pointed out that every President since Herbert Hoover has an official Presidential Library and Museum, and both Donald Trump and Joe Biden are in early stages of planning such projects.

Earlier Presidents have historic sites, but not officially part of the National Archives and Records Administration, and in many cases, are based on their homes, including:

George Washington–Mount Vernon, Virginia
John Adams and John Quincy Adams–Quincy, Massachusetts
Thomas Jefferson–Charlottesville, Virginia
James Madison–Charlottesville, Virginia
James Monroe–Fredericksburg, Virginia
Andrew Jackson–Nashville and Knoxville, Tennessee
James Buchanan–Philadelpia, Pennsylvania
Abraham Lincoln–Springfield, Illinois
Andrew Johnson–Tusculum, Tennessee
Ulysses S Grant–Starkville, Mississippi
Rutherford B Hayes–Fremont, Ohio
Grover Cleveland–Princeton, New Jersey
William McKinley–Canton, Ohio
Woodrow Wilson–Staunton, Virginia
Warren G Harding–Marion, Ohio
Calvin Coolidge–Northampton, Massachusetts

This author, scholar, and blogger has visited the historic sites and homes of George Washington, John Adams and John Quincy Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Abraham Lincoln, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt in NY, William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson in Virginia and DC, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.

Trump’s Women Cabinet Members The Worst Combination EVER Of Any President!

Ronald 27 Comments

There have been 72 Women Cabinet Officers since the first one, Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins (1933-1946) was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and continued in the early months of the Presidency of Harry Truman, therefore the longest serving woman Cabinet officer.

Some have been outstanding in their performance, with only the first two being appointed before 1975. Jimmy Carter was the first to have multiple women appointments. Bill Clinton was the first to have five such appointments, and George W. Bush had six, while Barack Obama had eight, which Donald Trump has matched between his first term and the first year of his second term.

Some have been really outstanding and exceptional, while many have been at least noncontroversial.

But Donald Trump, particularly in his second term, has three such Cabinet members who are outrageously horrific, arrogant, nasty, confrontational, divisive, and many other possible negative images.

These are:

Pam Bondi, Attorney General
Kristi Noem, Secretary of Health And Human Services
Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence

All three have caused outrage, and demands that they resign, be fired, or be impeached, a level of fury never seen before!

Bondi and Noem have appeared before committees in the House of Representatives and Senate, and have infuriated legislators, mostly Democrats, but also some Republicans, with their refusal to take responsibility for their blunders and errors.

The fact that Pam Bondi has NOT apologized to victims of Jeffrey Epstein, and has slow walked releasing many of the Epstein records; and Noem has refused to apologize for the horrific ICE murder of Rene Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota, and labeling them “domestic terrorists”, has caused great outrage.

And Gabbard, as Director of National Intelligence, has been engaged in activities not her position, including interfering in yet another outrageous investigation of the Georgia vote in the Presidential Election of 2020, a sign of the desire of Donald Trump to interfere in the upcoming Midterm Elections of 2026 and the Presidential Election of 2028.

These women Cabinet Officers have no shame and no goal except to be total sycophants to Donald Trump, and all three should be forced out of office by resigning, being fired, or being impeached!

Supreme Court Finally Upholds The Constitution, And Rebukes Donald Trump On Tariffs!

Ronald 22 Comments

After acting totally submissive toward Donald Trump in his first year of his second term, finally the Supreme Court majority, including two Trump appointees—Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, along with Chief Justice John Roberts and the three Democratic women justices–have delivered a solid rebuke to Trump on the subject of protective tariffs.

This is long overdue, as the Court has developed a reputation as the most extreme right wing Court in a century, and Chief Justice Roberts presides over a majority which usually has no desire to challenge executive power of the President.

This dangerous trend, hopefully, will continue to be challenged in future cases, particularly on birthright citizenship rights, which are contained in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified after the Civil War.

Donald Trump does not care about the reality that protective tariffs are a disaster, as they were in causing the Panic of 1893 and the Great Depression of the 1930s, because Republican Presidents Benjamin Harrison (prodded on by future President William McKinley’s promotion of high tariffs) and Herbert Hoover stubbornly imposed them on the American people, destroying the economy.

With the economy not doing well, despite Trump’s delusional statements, this repudation of Trump’s tariffs should be seen as a blessing by him, as well as the American people.

But instead, Trump is railing against his own Republican Justices who have “defied” him, and one wonders how it will show up in his State of the Union Address next Tuesday.

Will he openly condemn Roberts, Gorsuch, and Barrett in his speech, or will he be diplomatic and maybe just lightly tease them?

This should be a very interesting moment of confrontation between the Supreme Court members who show up and the President of the United States!

It reminds one of past clashes of Presidents and Supreme Courts, including under Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson with Chief Justice John Marshall; Abraham Lincoln with Chief Justice Roger Taney; Franklin D. Roosevelt with the majority conservative Court and Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes during the New Deal; and other controversies involving Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Richard Nixon and Barack Obama and Supreme Court decisions!

The $175 Billion raised in tariffs this past year were a financial burden on the American consumers, and should be returned to the American people with a refund per taxpayer of $1700, as suggested by Illinois Governor JD Pritzker. However, it seems that Trump has no concern of the damage done to the average American, while constantly engaged in grift for personal gain, having enriched himself in the past year, a crime against the Constitution!

Analyzing Age Of Democratic Presidential Nominees 1828 To The Present!

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The issue of age has been in the forefront of Presidential politics, as a result of the clear decline in office of both Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the two oldest Presidents ever elected.

When Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980, just weeks short of age 70 at the Inauguration in January 1981, it was a controversial issue, particularly right after the failed Assassination attempt of March 30, 1981, which clearly had some effect on his health over time, as signs of early Alzheimers seemed evident to many in Reagan’s last two years, including to his son Ron Reagan.

It had been pointed out that Dwight D. Eisenhower, leaving the Presidency in January 1961 at age 70 and three months, had stated that no one older than himself should be President.

But as it turned out, we have now had three “elderly” Presidents in the past half century—Reagan, Trump, Biden.

This issue has caused this author and blogger to conduct research on the age of Democratic Presidential nominees, whether winner or losers of the Presidency, going back to the beginnings of the Democratic Party under Andrew Jackson in the 1828 Presidential Election through the Presidential Election of 2024.

The record shows the following for all Democratic Presidential contenders, including first time for those nominated more than once. Altogether, 36 individuals have been Democratic Party nominees, but only 15 have ever been elected President, including two who first succeeded upon the death of the incumbent President—Harry Truman after Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson after John F. Kennedy.

1828–Andrew Jackson—61
1836–Martin Van Buren–54
1844–James K. Polk–49
1848–Lewis Cass–66
1852–Franklin Pierce–48
1856–James Buchanan–65
1860–Stephen Douglas–47
1864–George McClellan–38
1868–Horatio Seymour–58
1872–Horace Greeley–61
1876–Samuel Tilden–62
1880–Winfield Scott Hancock–56
1884–Grover Cleveland–47
1896–William Jennings Bryan–36
1904–Alton Parker–52
1912–Woodrow Wilson–56
1920–James Cox–50
1924–John W. Davis–51
1928–Alfred E. Smith–55
1932–Franklin D. Roosevelt–51
1945–Harry Truman 60 Upon Succession
1952–Adlai Stevenson–52
1960–John F. Kennedy–43
1963–Lyndon B. Johnson–55 Upon Succession
1968–Hubert Humphrey–57
1972–George McGovern–50
1976–Jimmy Carter–52
1984–Walter Mondale–56
1988–Michael Dukakis–55
1992–Bill Clinton–46
2000–Al Gore–52
2004–John Kerry–61
2008–Barack Obama–47
2016–Hillary Clinton–69
2020–Joe Biden–78
2024–Kamala Harris–60

Of course, age longevity and overall good health is much improved over what it was in the 19th and 20th centuries, but the clear indication is that most Democratic Presidential nominees were under the age of 60 when first nominated for those who had more than one nomination.

Nine of these Democratic nominees were in their 60s, and only Lewis Cass in 1848 (66), James Buchanan in 1856 (65), and Hillary Clinton in 2016 (age 69), were above the age of 62.

And all by himself is Joe Biden in 2020 (age 78)!

So the two oldest Democratic nominees were the last two who ran against Donald Trump, the oldest Republican nominee, although both Clinton and Biden had tried for the nomination of their party when younger, Clinton in 2008 at age 61, and Joe Biden in 1988 at age 46 and again in 2008 at age 66.

Nine of these Democratic nominees were in their 30s and 40s, with the youngest being William Jennings Bryan in 1896 (36) and George McClellan in 1864 (38), and six of the other seven being elected President–James K. Polk in 1844 (49); Franklin Pierce in 1852 (48); Grover Cleveland in 1884 (47); John F. Kennedy in 1960 (43); Bill Clinton in 1992 (46); and Barack Obama in 2008 (47). Only Stephen Douglas in 1860 (47) failed to win the Presidency, and ironically died just four months after the inauguration of his opponent, Abraham Lincoln.

The remaining 17 Democratic nominees were in their 50s, with only five winning the White House—Martin Van Buren 1836 (54); Woodrow Wilson 1912 (56); Franklin D. Roosevelt 1932 (51); Lyndon B. Johnson 1963 upon Succession (55); and Jimmy Carter in 1976 (52).

In summary, 15 Democrats have been elected President, with 11 of them being in their 40s or 50s, and the only exceptions older are: Andrew Jackson (61); James Buchanan (66); Harry Truman (60) upon Succession; and Joe Biden (78).

So in conclusion, it is clear that the best strategy for the Democratic Party in 2028 is to nominate a candidate ideally younger than 61, or at the most age 64, but with 11 potential nominees being in their 50s in 2028, as compared to 4 between 39 and 49 in 2028, and 4 between 61 and 64 in 2028.

The Total Preposterous And Outrageous “Prager University” Presidential Rankings Survey!

Ronald 20 Comments

The Right Wing Propaganda Organ known as “Prager University”, which is NOT a university, but a well financed attempt to distort the reality of American history, extol the virtues of unbridled capitalism, work against “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion”, and undermine science, has come out with a 2026 Ranking of American Presidents.

Anyone who would believe the virtues or veracity of this listing needs their heads examined, as it is a total distortion of the office of the Presidency to the extreme imaginable!

All Presidents except William Henry Harrison (one month) and James A. Garfield (6 months) are included, but with the decision NOT to include Donald Trump, even though he finished his first term five years ago, but using the excuse that he is presently in office, so not to be placed in the listing for now.

One can be certain when a later version of this so called “Ranking” is published in the future, Donald Trump will end up very high on the list, probably in the top five, based on the crazy order of the Presidents compiled by the propagandists promoting this pure trash of a listing.

So without listing every President, let’s look at the most significant cases of total distortion.

The survey starts off with George Washington Number 1 and Abraham Lincoln Number 2, but after that, the listing goes totally awry.

Ronald Reagan is Number 3, which is a major distortion of reality, but then is followed by, of all people, Calvin Coolidge at Number 4. That is an example of how wacky this survey is, when examined in detail. No one who has any intelligence would rate Coolidge as anything more than in the bottom third of the Presidents.

The rest of the top 10 are in order—Thomas Jefferson, Dwight D. Eisenhower, James Monroe, James Madison, John Adams, and Theodore Roosevelt. Monroe, Madison and John Adams in most cases would be in the middle of the second ten, not the top ten, but otherwise, not terrible, except to put Coolidge above the Founding Father Presidents and Theodore Roosevelt, as well! How crazy can one get?

Harry Truman is rated Number 12, behind Grover Cleveland at Number 11, which seems ridiculous, followed by Andrew Jackson as Number 13 and James K. Polk as Number 15, both who have otherwise collapsed to lower than Number 20 with recent reevaluations that have caused their rapid decline. Ulysses S. Grant is Number 14, higher than the rise he has gained in legitimate rankings.

John F. Kennedy ends up Number 18 and Franklin D. Roosevelt as Number 20, with of all people, William Howard Taft in between as Number 19, clearly totally lacking in reality.

The Two Bushes, HW and W are Numbers 21 and 22, with Bill Clinton behind them as Number 23, followed by the largely unimpressive many Presidents that have been ranked low for many decades in surveys.

But once we reach the 31-42 range, the bottom of the list, we discover Lyndon B. Johnson Number 35 behind Herbert Hoover Number 33, as well as behind Gerald Ford Number 27 and Richard Nixon Number 29. How crazy can one get to come up with such rankings?

And it gets worse, as Woodrow Wilson is Number 37, followed by Barack Obama Number 38, Jimmy Carter Number 39, and then followed by two Presidents who belong in the bottom, Andrew Johnson Number 40 and James Buchanan Number 41. One might be harshly critical of Wilson, who has declined in rankings in recent years, but to put him in the bottom six of all Presidents is preposterous! And placing Obama and Carter in this bottom group is outrageous beyond belief and reality!

But one might ask, well, who is the absolute bottom at Number 42, and it is, unbelievably, Joe Biden! Whether one admires Joe Biden’s Presidency or not, to put him dead last is the height of craziness, not based on facts!

Notice that the three recent Presidents who demonstrated compassion, empathy, common decency and humanity, morals, ethics, and had no corruption—Obama, Carter, Biden—end up in the bottom five of these listings, which is testimony to how disgraceful this listing of Presidents really is!

This so called “Prager University” Poll is total garbage, and no serious scholar or intelligent citizen would accept the presposterous and outrageous compiling of this propaganda organ, that deserves to be disposed of as extremist and lunatic in nature!

Presidents Day 2026: Need For Updated Assessment, And One Scholar’s Viewpoint!

Ronald 30 Comments

Presidents Day is tomorrow, Monday, February 16, a good time, after a full year of the second Presidency of Donald Trump, and one retirement year of Joe Biden, to reassess rankings of Presidents, particularly recent Chief Executives.

C Span is likely in process of reassessing its rankings of Presidents, last done in 2021, as Joe Biden became President, and Donald Trump became, at the time, a former President who had been defeated for reelection, but mounted an illegal, unconstitutional attempt to overthrow the results of the Presidential Election of 2020 through the US Capitol Insurrection of January 6, 2021.

There can be disagreement over many Presidents and their rankings, but with the reality that in recent years, the following Presidents have seen their stock rise in assessments of scholars, in chronological order:

Ulysses S. Grant
Harry Truman
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Lyndon B. Johnson

At the same time, the following Presidents have seen their stock fall lower in assessments of scholars, in chronological order:

Andrew Jackson
James K. Polk
Woodrow Wilson
Ronald Reagan

In the view of this scholar, author, and blogger, the thought is that the following recent Presidents will be likely to benefit the most in the future in rise in rankings from where they are presently, in chronological order:

Gerald Ford
Jimmy Carter
Barack Obama
Joe Biden

But the debate over Presidential performance will continue, certainly, to be heatedly debated for the long term future.

The US Senate: Highly Undemocratic, And More So In Future With 15 States Having 70 Percent Of Population, But Only 30 Seats In Senate

Ronald 2 Comments

The future of American democracy is in danger from more than Donald Trump and an extremist right wing majority on the US Supreme Court.

The US Senate, considered the greatest legislative institution in the world, has, from its inception, been highly undemocratic in nature, with its idea of states rights, and every state having the same amount of representation.

So in a nation that now has 340 million people, we have the 15 smallest states in population, all tending to be Republican for a long term, have about 41 million people combined, and have 30 seats in the Senate.

At the same time, California, the largest populated state with about 39 million people, has 2 seats in the Senate.

So the estimate is that by 2040, only 15 years from now, 70 percent of the United States will be represented by just 30 US Senators, while the remaining Americans, disproportionately whiter, older, and more rural, will have 70 US Senators.

This will make progress and revival of policies and programs, that are now rapidly being demolished, ever the harder to achieve.

This means the great advances of American democracy from the time of Democratic and Republican Presidents, including Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, George H W Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden will, in many cases, be permanently impossible to revive, due to the deleterious effect of Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump on American democracy and the rule of law.

Further Reflection On Trump’s Destruction Of “The People’s House”! :(

Ronald 11 Comments

With another 24 hours having passed, and the destruction of the East Wing of the White House, “The People’s House”, in full swing, without any hearings or approval by a Washington Landmarks Commission, this author and blogger is feeling more outraged and disgusted by the hour, and blood pressure is rising.

Who gives any President the right to abuse his position, and destroy a landmark historic building without any intervention to delay it and consider it carefully, instead of just charging ahead as if he is the Emperor, who makes decisions unilaterally?

Imagine if such destruction was to take place suddenly at the Vatican in Rome, or the Parthenon in Athens, or Buckingham Palace in London, or the Louvre in Paris, or a multitude of other historic and significant sites of history!

To create a 90,000 square feet (more than two football fields) Ballroom that will be larger than the rest of the White House structure, is a monstrosity that will harm the reputation and significance of the residence where the American President lives while in office!

What would Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Jacqueline Kennedy, all involved in throughtful renovations over the past century and more, say if they were here?

What would John Adams, the first President to occupy the White House, or James Madison, who fled during the War of 1812, when the White House was heavily damaged by the British, but began the needed renovation on the building, say?

What would Abraham Lincoln, who was always concerned that the Confederate States of America might attack the White House, think about his distant successor who had no regard for History and Architecture, and just wanted to glorify himself?

This is a travesty of injustice, and will condemn Donald Trump for all time, as the absolute worst American President, no matter what else occurs!

It is a disgrace that as we are about to commemorate, not celebrate sadly, the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, that we are seeing the complete reshaping of an historic building which should have been left as it was for the long haul of history!

Renaming Defense Department As War Department A Bad Sign For Future!

Ronald 2 Comments

Pege Hegseth, the Fox News weekend host, now heading the Pentagon, has brought the “wrecking ball” to that government agency, and has promoted renaming the Department of Defense as the Department of War.

That was the name of the department that deals with military and security matters from 1789 to 1947, but renamed the Defense Department under President Harry Truman in 1947.

But Donald Trump and his crony, Hegseth, want to promote a war like imperialistic image, and are aggressively engaged in hostile actions toward nations in the Western Hemisphere, including attacks on speculated “drug boats” of Venezuela and Panama regarding the Panama Canal Treaty, as well as pushing the idea of Canada becoming the “51st state”, thereby causing the worst relations with our northern neighbor in more than a century and a half of peaceful neighborliness.

Additionally, there is growing fear of Trump and Hegseth pushing for control of Greenland, taking it away from Denmark, which it has been part of for the past two centuries, thereby causing tensions with NATO.

Additionally, Hegseth has attempted to force journalists who report on the Pentagon to agree to limitations on freedom of the press, but the good news is that journalists of the left and the right have refused enmasse to agree to such limitations.

The idea of reviving the Department of “War” needs to be repudiated in every way possible, and the idea of US invasion of sovereign nations and territories needs to be repudiated vehemently by all civilized nations, as there should not be any caving in to the concept of US imperialism being revived!

Preposterous Idea: Nobel Peace Prize For Trump, Or Addition To Mount Rushmore!

Ronald 51 Comments

Donald Trump, and those who support him without any qualms, are promoting preposterous ideas, that indicate total delusion.

The idea of a Nobel Peace Prize for Trump is hilarious, as he has no credentials to win such an award, and it seems clear that the Nobel Committee will not consider giving an authoritarian who is Fascist and mentally deranged, such an award.

The fact that Trump is also a convicted felon, and was impeached twice, and has had multiple bankruptcies, and have lied so often that he has no idea of truth, only adds to the craziness of the concept of a Nobel Peace Prize.

Also, the idea of Trump being added to Mount Rushmore National Monument in South Dakota, is immediately a joke.

Of course, then South Dakota Governor, and current Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, was the loon who came up with that idea, which led to her gaining a position in the Trump Administration as close to the worst single appointment of a long list of many. Noem is a danger in her position, and an embarrassment to the idea of women in government!

For one thing, no one can be added to that monument, without creating damage to the tenuous condition of that site.

But also, if there were to be the equivalent of a second Mount Rushmore being created somewhere else on American soil, Trump would not be on the list to be considered.

Instead, the likelihood would be a combination of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman or Lyndon B. Johnson, Ronald Reagan, and Barack Obama!

Reagan would be the Republican to add, not Trump!

This is silly season, overall, with the craziness of the Nobel Peace Prize and Mount Rushmore being bandied about as proper awards for Trump, and it will never happen!