Human Nature Does Not Change (Part Three)

(Editor's note:  The previous segments in this three part series introduced readers to why we bother to study history and discussed Harry Truman’s self-education --- how he came to concentrate on the workings, the continuity and the consistency of human nature.  The third and final segment identifies the formula for understanding history and its value in understanding the course of current events.)

The formula was actually quite simple.  Imperfect and inexact, but nonetheless an efficient means to an end.  Essentially, while the names, the dates and the places may change, as well as the arbitrary lines on a map, national boundaries and the reign of great empires, human nature does not change.  So, if one were to study, comprehend and become proficient with the workings of human nature, one would be able to juxtapose the names, the dates and the places from one era to another, and pretty well figure out not only the course but also the direction of events.

America loved Harry Truman’s honesty and candor above all things.  Are these ingredients present in our elected leaders over the last 50 years or so?  America also loved Harry Truman’s role as a perpetual underdog, who always seemed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, and staunchly defended the rights of the ordinary citizen.

“Give ‘em hell, Harry” was the familiar phrase used by the people, to show their support for his unbending principles.  In fact, Truman didn’t see how it made much sense for one to enter politics and not be the proponent of the common man.  To be sure, Truman was known to review applications for appointments to West Point from Missouri boys.  Bypassing folders thick with recommendations from judges, state legislators, mayors, etc., he would favor an application consisting of a single page, written in pencil on a sheet of cheap, rough paper.

Lastly, Harry Truman seemed to know his place in the natural order and that his role, although very important, was essentially fleeting.  He never considered himself to be the President.  Rather, he viewed himself as the trustee of the Office of the President of the United States.  When asked the secret of his success, he cited to Oliver Wendell Holmes, a soldier in the Civil War, a Supreme Court Justice, among other things.  Old Holmes answered: “The secret of my success is that at a very early age I discovered that I am not God.”  And, similarly, Truman said that he never forgot where he came from, and would go back to: Independence, Missouri.

All Truman had to recollect was the story of Cincinnatus, the Roman hero, who was compelled to give up his plow when called into service to save the empire in its time of dire need.  When Truman’s work was completed in 1952, successfully, the man who arguably held the most power ever concentrated in any one single man to that moment in history, like Cincinnatus before him, voluntarily gave up the power, put down the sword and returned to his farm country origins.

Harry Truman’s experiences regarding the constancy of human nature teaches us that human nature is its own science, on merit standing upon its own foundation.  Many would agree that it is a most useful science.  Among the recurring patterns of predictable human behavior, both good and bad, there is perhaps one important lesson.  We’ll journey there next.

-Michael D’Angelo