How Quickly the Tide Turns

He was once extremely popular. Right after the war, I’m talking unprecedented popular. He could do no wrong. He was a hero. Then things got messy.

The easy victory turned into the messy rebuilding. The vanquished enemy wasn't entirely vanquished. There remained pockets of stubborn resistance. Soldiers died. Rebuilding took longer than thought. Cost more than thought. Created a lot more controversy than thought.

Weeks, stretched into months...in time, they were talking years. Suddenly the popular leader wasn't so popular. The great victory more a great memory.

Opponents who stood by him during the war, left him in droves after the war. They questioned the sacrifice. They questioned the cost. They questioned his leadership. His poll ratings at home dropped. His support abroad dropped even more.

Then they were back to talking about the economy and how bad it was. And how bad it was staying. How quickly the tide had turned.

Back then. Way back then, because I’m not talking "now" after a war called Iraq. I'm talking 1948, more than three years after a war called the big one, World War II.

And I’m not talking about a president named George W. Bush. I'm talking about a president named Harry Truman (search).

History teaches us many things. Not only how impatient we are, but how short our memories are..

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