Truman Presidential Podcast: Masonic Presidential Addresses

As many of you know, my favorite president also happens to have been a prominent Mason, Harry S. Truman. In addition to being an United States Senator and United States President, he also was the Grand Master of Masons of Missouri, a 33° Scottish Rite Mason, and a Noble in the Imperial Shrine. He was also an every man. He was a guy who failed many times but instead of sitting down, licking his wounds, he would get right back up again.

One of the places I have always wanted to visit is the Truman Presidential Library in Independence, MO. From what some people have told me, it's one of the best presidential libraries in the country. I just recently started to explore the Truman Library's website. During my searches, I've discovered a podcast series with actual recordings made of him during speeches and visits.

Four recordings are of interest to many of us. President Truman addressed the Imperial Council Session of the Shrine of North America, a group of Masons at a breakfast at the Statler Hotel honoring Frank S. Land (doesn't sound like pancakes were present), at the 100th anniversary of the cornerstone laying of the Washington Monument, and finally, at the dedication of the large statue of George Washington at the George Washington Masonic Memorial. You can download the iTunes version of the three speeches here, here, here, and here. I was really interested that a sitting president would address the Shrine. In fact, throughout the podcast series (which you should subscribe to by clicking here), President Truman addresses a number of civic and patriotic organizations.

In his speech to the Imperial Shrine, President Truman highlights the need for a strong international response in the growing threat of undemocratic regimes. I was a little shocked and confused by the seemingly political speech at an assembly of Masons but, at the same time, it was refreshing to hear discussions of international relations during the transition period just after the Second World War. The transcript can be found here.

In his speech to an assembled breakfast crowd of Masons, President Truman gave an informal address at an annual Frank S. Land breakfast (Land being the founder of the Order of Demolay). It takes a while to get through the introductions of his staff but ultimately, we get to a rather good and interesting discussion of both Freemasonry and also, the stones and arrows great presidents have lobbed at them during and after their terms. I really enjoyed his discussion of a prominent Philadelphia newspaper's opinion of George Washington.

Dedication of George Washington Statue at the GWMMM

President Truman was also the main speaker at the dedication of the George Washington statue at the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia. It's a great speech concerning our first president and really worth a listen.

At the 100th Anniversary of the Cornerstone Laying

In the final speech, President Truman is speaking at the Washington Monument for a centennial celebration of the laying of its cornerstone as well as in honor of the 172nd anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It's an incredibly informative speech.

I am so thankful to the Truman Library for having so many resources available to the curious researcher. I have been getting a better understanding of Truman with each page I read.

You can learn more about my thoughts on Truman by watching Episode 65 of the Masonic Roundtable.



And I also recommend two books, Truman by David McCullough and Brother Truman by Allen Roberts.

And I'll leave you with one of my favorite President Truman quotes:

"In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves... self-discipline with all of them came first."

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

The Masonic Roundtable Discusses CIVL #190 with Special Guest, Nick Laine

As many of you have seen over the years on this space and on others, I am a CIVL evangelist. CIVL, or Castle Island Virtual Lodge, is the world's first lodge to meet online. (You could read more about my first visit here.)

I was fortunate to invite my friends, the knights of the Masonic Roundtable, to attend a meeting. I think each of them experienced a profound re-imagining of what Masonry is. We were also very blessed to have CIVL's current Lodge Education Officer in attendance to explain the specifics of the lodge for our viewers. You can get the full scoop, including their thoughts, by watching the video below.



You can read the show notes here.

I really love each visit to CIVL. I love it so much that I think I will seek plural membership in the future.

What do you think of CIVL? Do you love it? Hate it? Are somehow indifferent? Leave a comment below.

The Masonic Roundtable: Episode 8 - Fundraising

Last night's Roundtable I had to miss because of my lodge's third degree (which was spectacular, BTW). Thankfully, we had a proper host show up, Tom Accuosti from the Tao of Masonry. Tom and I go way back.

Last night's episode was on fundraising. It's an interesting discussion. Personally, I feel that lodges should only fundraise for external causes. Fundraising and dues as an interlocking discussion. Obviously, we must cover shortcomings in our budgets but frankly, those shortcomings should come from dues and banked money from dues over the years.

My usual statement is that the public should not be paying for Masonry. Masonry isn't public. Most of our activities are for the individual brothers. By having the public pay for us, we admit that 1) we don't value the Fraternity enough to cover our own expenses and 2) we expect others to pay for it.

This doesn't mean that we can't fundraise. My own lodge hosts a yearly waffle breakfast where all the proceeds go to high school scholarships. I think this is good and it also gets the public in to support their local students. It's a great feeling knowing that the community is coming together to help out our students. But, again, this is for an external cause, not keeping the water bill paid and lights on.

Great show, guys! I really enjoyed it. I'll see you next week. And Jason, glad to see you have a blog going. Visit the 2 Foot Ruler blog here.