50 years ago, on October 5, 1947, in the first televised White House address, President Truman asked Americans to refrain from eating meat on Tuesdays and poultry on Thursdays to help stockpile grain for starving people in Europe.
The New York Times reported on the event and had this interesting paragraph:
Bringing international diplomacy in as an unseen guest at the table of every American family, Secretary Marshall declared that the American larder was the "vital" instrument of peace and called on the people to "tighten our belts, clean our plates and push ourselves away from the table" to relieve the hungry of Europe.
Lots has changed. Truman saw that hungry people would lead us to another war. Truman did not leave the baby boomers to pay for WW II, America had to tighten our belts. Has the world really changed that much in 50 years, or just the wisdom of the occupant of the White House?
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