President Truman’s daughter Margaret wanted to be a professional singer. It turned out that she was not very good at it. On Dec. 6, 1950, she gave a concert at Constitutional Hall. The next day, the Washington Post’s music critic Paul Hume wrote an uncomplimentary review of the concert. He described Maragaret as “a unique American phenomenon with a pleasant voice of little size and fair quality,” but “cannot sing very well” and “is flat a good deal of the time, more last night than at any time we have heard her in past years.” She “still cannot sing with anything approaching professional finish…. She is flat a good deal of the time — more last night than at any time we have heard her in past years. There are few moments during her recital when one can relax and feel confident that she will make her goal, which is the end of the song … Miss Truman has not improved in the years we have heard her.”
Being a loving father, Truman was enraged by the article. And he decided not to conceal his feelings. He reached for pen and paper and let’s his feelings be known. Here is the letter (what’s a letter? It was the 1950’s version of twitter):
Mr. Hume:
I’ve just read your lousy review of Margaret’s concert. I’ve come to the conclusion that you are an ‘eight ulcer man on four ulcer pay. It seems to me that you are a frustrated old man who wishes he could have been successful. When you write such poppy-cock as was in the back section of the paper you work for it shows conclusively that you’re off the beam and at least four of your ulcers are at work. Some day I hope to meet you. When that happens you’ll need a new nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes, and perhaps a supporter below! [Newspaper columnist Westbrook] Pegler, a gutter snipe, is a gentleman alongside you. I hope you’ll accept that statement as a worse insult than a reflection on your ancestry.
H.S.T.
That’s right, the President of the United States used the word “poppy-cock” and threatened to knee a reporter in the groin. As you can imagine, the public was split on the President’s letter. His critics were shocked, shocked at his “gutter vocabulary” and lamented over someone with that temper having his finger on the nuclear button. Truman’s supporters lauded his fatherly loyalty to his daughter. He put that snooty music critic in his place.
The story blew over pretty quickly. One year later, Hume sold the letter for $3,500.
https://www.businessinsider.com/harry-truman-letter-daughter-trump-2017-2
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