The buck stops here

Alabama governor Dr. Robert Bentley came to Marion several years ago for a ribbon-cutting event and afterwards had lunch at a local restaurant with community leaders. I was surprised to get a call inviting me to the lunch as a representative of the college. As we say in the South, I was in “high cotton.” I asked the governor if he admired Ronald Reagan as his predecessor Bob Riley did. I was in Riley’s office once and noted the “It Can Be Done” sign on his desk–a replica of the one Reagan kept on his desk bespeaking a positive attitude. “I do admire Reagan,” Bentley said, “but I really like Harry Truman.” Bentley explained that Truman refused appointments to corporate boards in his post-presidency. “They don’t want Harry Truman,” the president said. “They want a former president. My honor is not for sale.” “That’s the kind of integrity we need today in politics,” Bentley said. I asked the governor if he had one of Truman’s famous “The Buck Stops Here” signs.

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