James Holland

And so...

What do you do?

And so Truman's saying, well, I think we should bail them out because if we can stabilize them, then they'll be prospering.

That will actually help us, but it'll help stabilize global economics, which will stabilize global politics, which will help America in the long run.

And we can afford to do it right now.

So this is an investment effectively for future income, for future riches.

And so he makes this incredible speech.

and lays it out.

And the interesting thing is, Truman has actually lost the midterms the previous November.

You know, on paper, a lame duck president, but this is still an era of bipartisan politics.

And actually, the loss of the midterms means that he's, in a way, liberated because he's got nothing to lose anymore.

And so, he's just able to pursue things that he really believes in.

And he really believes in this big order, which, as we will see, his origins really come from Roosevelt.

But...

You know, he asked lots of rhetorical questions in this speech.

You know, he points out that production and incomes are increasing.

Unemployment is at an all-time low.

Modern conveniences are increasingly accessible to ordinary Americans.

They had been in the 1920s.

You have to enter the car and all the rest of it.