No Way Truman, F.D.R. Would Back Bush, Angry Relatives Say
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Relatives of former Presidents Harry S. Truman and Franklin D. Roosevelt are angered by Republican claims that the pair would be Republicans and support George Bush if they were alive today.
Margaret Truman Daniel, Truman’s daughter, along with Olive Truman, whose late husband was Truman’s cousin, issued statements over the weekend in response to such claims.
“It was stupid,” Daniel said. “I’m furious. Dad would be all for Governor (Michael S.) Dukakis and Senator (Lloyd) Bentsen.”
Olive Truman, 89, and a resident of a suburban nursing home, and Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, granddaughter of President Roosevelt, told a news conference in Grandview on Sunday that they were angered at statements characterizing their relatives as Republicans.
“These are Democratic heroes,” Roosevelt said. “They are not Republican heroes. The Republicans don’t have any of their own, I guess.”
Daniel’s statement was released over the weekend by Rep. Alan Wheat (D-Mo.).
“It is insulting for Republicans to invoke Democratic heroes, and I think Margaret has said it just like her father would have.”
Wheat’s district includes the Truman home and Truman Library in Independence and the Truman family farm in Grandview.
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