NOTE:  The following document is not copyright.  It is a speech of
former President Harry S. Truman.  It is now the only document included
in this online collection written entirely by someone else.  It is included
because of its influence on my life.  As national president of Hi-Y (a
YMCA high school organization), I was in attendance at the national
YMCA Youth in Government Assembly in Washington in June of 1952. 
One of the Assembly events was a visit to the Rose Garden at the White
House for remarks by President Truman.  This is the transcript of those
remarks.  His reference to precinct work prompted me to enter politics at
that level, his reference to studying government prompted me to become a
political science major, and when he said that "in a few years you will be
responsible for the operation of the Government" I set out to prove him
right.  An autographed picture hangs on my office wall.  Always curious
if a draft of this speech existed anywhere, I was unable to recall the
precise occasion and date.  Going through some old papers the other day,
I came upon an Assembly brochure, and tracked down the speech text. 
Here it is, as timely as ever.  NJ, January 22, 1995

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184.  Remarks to the Members of the National YMCA and Government
Assembly.  June 26, 1952.  Public Papers of the Presidents.  Harry S.
Truman, 1952, p. 448.

Thank you very much.  You are really doing something for the benefit of
the country.  You are finding out how government works, and what
government under our system means by actual experience.

Now this one person before you here has been from precinct to President
all along the line.  I have been in elective public office for 30 years. That
is one of the reasons I am retiring. I think that is long enough for a man
to serve his country. I am going to continue to serve the country,
understand, but I will do it in a little freer way than I do now.

Learning about government is absolutely essential to people your age,
because it is going to be your responsibility now, in a few years -- you
will be responsible for the operation of the Government. And you must
bear that in mind, when you are studying how our Government works.

Our Government works on what we call the two-party system. It is
supposed to be party responsibility. Sometimes there isn't any, however.
But we still have the two-party system.  It is a good system.

The President is the only official who is elected by the whole country.
The Senators, two from each State, represent the States, and the
Congressmen represent the districts, and when they get together they
represent the whole country, and legislate. And the President is supposed
to carry out the legislative acts which the Congress passes when it is
possible for them to be carried out. Sometimes it isn't. That is not very
often the case, but it can happen. 

I am very much interested in what you are doing. It is one of the finest
things that is taking place in the country. Keep it up. Inform yourselves. It
is knowledge that makes power. And if you don't have the knowledge, if
you don't understand the Government under which you live, you certainly
can't make a contribution to its welfare.

It is you young people, as I said awhile ago, who are going to be
responsible that this great Republic of ours continues; and it is the
greatest republic in the history of the world. The Office of President is the
greatest office in the history of the world, and the most responsible one in
these times.

And if you understand your duty, you can make it a lot easier on the
President in carrying out his duties as the Chief Executive of the greatest
Nation in the history of the world.

Thank you very much. 

NOTE: The President spoke at 12:05 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the
White House. 

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