President Harry Truman lived for nineteen years after leaving the White House in 1953. He and his wife Bess returned to Truman's hometown of Independence, Missouri, where Truman spent his post-presidential years guarding and constructing his legacy and place in history. He also continued to comment on political events of the day. Truman selected Independence as the site for his presidential library and oversaw its construction. Upon its completion, Truman spent a good deal of time at his office there, until health concerns in the mid-1960s limited his mobility and forced him to remain at home. At the library, Truman relished receiving important guests, meeting scholars who were studying his presidency, and speaking to groups of visiting school children. His trademark feistiness remained intact; he told one young history professor that he had better go home and read his books before trying to interview him again.
Truman remained active in American politics after he left the White House. Eisenhower's handling of the presidency annoyed and angered Truman, who regularly criticized the administration's policies and politics in public appearances. But, Truman found time to relax and rest in his post-presidential years. He was never far from his favorite bourbon and enjoyed clanking glasses with the old friends, political allies, and dignitaries who came through Independence. While his health permitted, he took regular walks around town.
Harry S. Truman died on December 26, 1972, of old age rather than any specific sickness. Bess vetoed plans for an elaborate state funeral and arranged an Episcopalian service in the auditorium of the Truman Library. Truman was buried in the courtyard of his presidential library with a simple stone epitaph that he himself had prepared.
Compare that to retirement of one of the worst presidents in U.S. history. one who caused an economic collapse, one who went to war on a false pretext, one who said that he never thinks about the man who created the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York, one who had an approval rating of 19% when he left office, one who massacred English when he spoke, and one who was an idiot savant.
Politico has reported that former President George W. Bush makes between $100,000 and $175,000 for every speech he gives and that he has given at least 200 speeches since leaving office in 2009. A bit of simple math translates that activity into more than $30 million for the former president in speech fees alone. Compare that to the relatively paltry $400,000 a president makes a year while in office, and you can see why presidents look forward to their retirement.
According to Politico, paying ex-presidents to give speeches really took off with Gerald Ford which makes sense, since Ford didn’t ever really plan to run for president and likely figured he would stay in the House much longer than he did. Ford took umbrage when he was criticized for making money off of his former job, saying that as a private citizen he could leverage his past however he pleased.
Not long after Ford started hitting the lecture circuit, the Washington Speakers Bureau, home to many speakers including George W. Bush and his wife Laura, was founded in 1979. Agencies such as this have played a major role in the skyrocketing fees that high-powered speakers now command.
“Whenever you have a middleman, that adds to the cost,” said Lance Strate, a communications professor at Fordham University. The desire among agencies to maximize fees and the added ability to negotiate that comes with having professional representation means organizations are more likely to see speaking fees grow. In addition, the agency system simply provides more access to influential figures like ex-presidents which in turn means more groups are able to get the political elites they want- but only if they are willing to pay the high prices they demand. And, generally speakers and those who hire them are silent on just how much money speakers get paid for these engagements.
But why exactly are organizations willing to pay so much for an hour of a former politician’s time? It is not for the speech contents. The speeches are generally bland, not thought-provoking, not news-worthy and not controversial. For example, in one speech to a bowling industry group, Bush stated the earthshaking idea that “bowling is fun.”
“The speech is kind of secondary to … just being able to have a big name at your event,” Strate said. “It might get reported on some form of TV or cable news, which further adds to the prestige and the publicity of the event.”And even if it doesn’t end up on the evening news, almost every conference will put their speeches on YouTube, where there is always a chance it will go viral.
The important question in all of this is why people will pay for hear a an unintelligent and failed president spout generalization and inanities. This the cult of celebrity run amuck. Harry Truman must be turning over in his grave.
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Lest we forget, former President George W. Bush and Yale graduate once said the following:
They misunderestimated me.
You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test.
Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?
For every fatal shooting, there were roughly three non-fatal shootings. And, folks, this is unacceptable in America. It's just unacceptable. And we're going to do something about it.
There's an old saying in Tennessee -- I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee -- that says, fool me once, shame on --shame on you. Fool me -- you can't get fooled again.
To those of you who received honors, awards and distinctions, I say well done. And to the C students, I say you, too, can be president of the United States.
Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country.
It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it.
I have a different vision of leadership. A leadership is someone who brings people together.
I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace.
It is clear our nation is reliant upon big foreign oil. More and more of our imports come from overseas.
You can fool some of the people all the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on.
I think we agree. The past is over.
Africa is a nation that suffers from incredible disease.
I'm the commander -- see, I don't need to explain -- I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being president.
If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator.
I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family.
I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority.
We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories ... And we'll find more weapons as time goes on. But for those who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong, we found them.