Cult of Mediocrity?

Harry Truman meant his fireside chat to be a success. A man well aware of his limitations, he nevertheless hoped to transcend them. He had reached a turning point in his presidential career; he wanted to round the corner with banners flying.

A common man, he put his trust in the common people. "The men and women who made this country great and who kept it free," he said, "were plain people with courage and faith. Let us justify this heritage."

There was much eloquent plainness, sincerity and humility in the speech. He did not thunder and roar; he heaped no scorn. When he criticized, he showed moderation. "I have indicated my opposition ... to the antilabor bills pending in Congress," was the way he put it. When he described how General Motors walked out on his fact-finding board, he said only: "You have seen how General Motors has refused to cooperate."

Of his legislative proposals, he said: "I had hoped that the Congress either would follow my recommendation or at least propose a solution of its own. . . . When I speak of my recommendations and proposals, I also want to make it very clear that I have no pride of authorship in them at all."

Too Many Cooks. The President had worked hard on the speech. He had decided on making it long before he went back to Independence for the holidays. There he had mulled it over while visiting his family. It was written, with the help of six advisers and speech writers, on a four-day Potomac River trip on the presidential yacht Williamsburg. It was revised for the sixth time on the day of delivery.

There had been dissension among his advisers. Some wanted it to be stronger in tone. Others, worried about political repercussions, urged that it be toned down. Harry Truman listened to all, took the middle course.

Some of the advice looked suspiciously ill-chosen. There was good reason to believe that Harry Truman, who has repeatedly stated that he wants the Government to interfere as little as possible, would shudder at the thought of sabotaging the free enterprise system. Yet many observers believed that his fact-finding proposal, with its implications of pegging wages to a company's earnings, would do just that in the long run. And here was Harry Truman asking his citizenry to rise up and demand it.

After mulling over the speech, thoughtful Columnist Walter Lippmann wrote: "The blunt truth is that the men nearest [the President] do not have enough brains, and have practically none of the wisdom which comes from experience and education, to help him to be the President of the United States. . . . There is an American myth and legend . . . that the 'plain people' like mediocre men in their government. . . . This is a politicians' fable. . . . The cult of mediocrity, which is a form of inverted snobbery, is not democracy. It is one of the diseases of democracy."

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