The LuLac Edition #, 4873, December 26th, 2022

 TWO PRESIDENTS LOST ON DECEMBER 26th

HARRY TRUMAN GONE AT 50 YEARS 

It was fifty years ago today that President Harry Truman passed away.

Then-President Richard Nixon called Truman a man of “forthrightness and integrity” who had a deep respect for the office he held and for the people he served, and who “supported and wisely counseled each of his successors.”

Truman served as president for two terms from 1945 to 1953, when he and his wife Bess happily retired to Independence, Missouri, where he referred to himself jokingly as “Mr. Citizen.” He was hospitalized on December 4, 1972, with lung congestion, heart irregularity, kidney blockages and failure of the digestive system. He died on December 26. A very subdued and private funeral, fitting for the down-to-earth Truman, was held in Independence according to his and his family’s wishes.

 

 

 GERALD FORD DIES IN 2006 

On December 26, 2006, Gerald Ford, the 38th president of the United States, died at home in Rancho Mirage, California at 6:45 p.m. President Ford's wife of 58 years, Betty Ford, issued a statement that confirmed his death: "My family joins me in sharing the difficult news that Gerald Ford, our beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather has passed away at 93 years of age. His life was filled with love of God, his family and his country." The causes of death listed on the subsequent death certificate were arteriosclerotic cerebrovascular disease and diffuse arteriosclerosis. At the age of 93 years and 165 days, Ford was the longest-lived U.S. president in history until November 25, 2017, when his record was surpassed by George H. W. Bush, who lived to be 94 years, which was later surpassed by Jimmy Carter. Ford was the second president to die during the presidency of George W. Bush, as well as the second to die in the twenty-first century, the first being Ronald Reagan. After succeeding Richard Nixon, Ford ran for President in 1976. Here's an ad from his campaign.

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