Additional Statement appended to Oral History of Gaylon Babcock, August 30, 1971

Enough time has elapsed since this interview of February,
1964, that there is no doubt in my mind that one could believe
that Harry Truman was actually the best Democratic President to
serve in this century. Although my background and beliefs are
Republican, I supported Franklin Roosevelt in 1932. But I now
think I made a mistake in supporting him, because I had not fully
analyzed his record as governor of New York and the plans of
Herbert Hoover for resolving the Depression. I am satisfied that
if anyone has followed the course of events in Harry Truman's career,
he has found that Truman's underlying philosophy is that of a
"crony" government. His Presidential hero was Andrew Jackson, who
is known as a great proponent of the "spoils system" in government.

Harry reminds me of a boy who is involved with his cronies in
stealing apples from an orchard. He does not actually take the
the apples, but watches the gate while his henchmen perform the act.

In summary of the record of Harry Truman, I would like to
draw two conclusions. To a Democrat, he might be considered
the best President of this century; to a Republican he might
be thought of as the "best" of the "worst Presidents" of this
century.