S Gave No Excuses

S’s dad was a Mid-West farmer that moved his family like Nomads when he was young. (Excuse 1)

Eventually the family planted roots in a small town with a good Sunday school, which was a good thing. However, being somewhat nomadic and “working class,” little S didn’t get to attend traditional school until the age of 8.  (Excuse 2)

After high school S worked as a timekeeper in the railroad industry and was forced to sleep in “hobo camps” up and down the rail line to save money. (Excuse 3)

He bounced around from such “glorious” jobs as clerks and even as a mail room boy only to end up back at the family farm from age 22 to 33. (Excuse 4)

Then war broke out. (Sound familiar?)  (Excuse 5)

But S was “blind as a bat” with “coke-bottled-glasses” and wouldn’t be accepted into the military. (Excuse 6) So he memorized the eye chart, passed the vision test and was accepted in service!

After the war, S and his military buddy opened a nice little business that did fine for three years, only to fail in a tough recession. (Excuse 7)

(“QUIT, S! YOU’RE A FAILURE! GO BACK AND LIVE ON THE FAMILY FARM. LIFE IS NOT FAIR. LIFE IS TOO HARD. THESE TOUGH TIMES WILL LAST FOREVER! IT’S FUTILE TO TRUDGE AHEAD!)

But S was a good dude. For 13 years he worked to pay off his debts while also striving to correct the failed government policies he felt contributed to the decline in the economy.

His character and work ethic were recognized and in 1934 S was elected to the U.S. Senate. In 1940 he was re-elected.

In 1944 he was chosen as FDR’s running mate. In 1945 he became the 33rd President of the United States. In 1948 he was elected to his second term.

“S” is more widely known as Harry S Truman. (What most would consider to be a middle initial was, in fact, Truman’s full middle name and he requested that no period be placed after the letter “S” since it was his name.)

Truman had his ups and his downs as President but he ended WWII, fought back North Korea, implemented the Truman Doctrine, helped found NATO and began the desegregation of the military.

Perseverance Takes Effort. Take The Effort.
S did the right thing. He worked hard. He got back up every time he was knocked down. You should, too. You can. Would you like a little help?

If you’re in sales, you’ll persevere “more better” with the help of my “Friend Down Under.” Check him out.