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This is President Harry S. Truman's letter in response to a letter from his friend, Dr. Sam Roberts, in which Roberts reported on his recent visit to the United Kingdom, described what he saw as the disastrous British experiment with socialism under Prime Minister Clement Attlee, and urged the President not to support a British-style program of national health insurance in the United States. In his reply, Truman emphasizes that the British should be left to manage their own affairs. With regard to his health care proposals, he argues that he is concerned primarily with the welfare of middle-class Americans, not the wealthy who can afford the best care or the poor whose needs can be met through charity. Expressing his concerns about exorbitant medical charges and the effects of poor health care on young Americans, Truman invites doctors to come up with a remedy to the situation themselves.
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201513
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Letter from Harry S. Truman to Sam Roberts
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doc
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document
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1
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id
201513
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contentType
document
title
Letter from Harry S. Truman to Sam Roberts
description
This is President Harry S. Truman's letter in response to a letter from his friend, Dr. Sam Roberts, in which Roberts reported on his recent visit to the United Kingdom, described what he saw as the disastrous British experiment with socialism under Prime Minister Clement Attlee, and urged the President not to support a British-style program of national health insurance in the United States. In his reply, Truman emphasizes that the British should be left to manage their own affairs. With regard to his health care proposals, he argues that he is concerned primarily with the welfare of middle-class Americans, not the wealthy who can afford the best care or the poor whose needs can be met through charity. Expressing his concerns about exorbitant medical charges and the effects of poor health care on young Americans, Truman invites doctors to come up with a remedy to the situation themselves.
citationUrl
collections
President's Secretary's Files (Truman Administration)
Personal Files
subjects
Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972
Correspondence
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1
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yes
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201513
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item
productionDates
day
8
logicalDate
1949-09-08
month
9
year
1949
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description
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nara-archive
Single page context
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1
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0
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photo
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c2b67be303d92c6c
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Gusonal
$
September 8, 1949
U.S.
SERVICES AND
LIBRARY
GOVERNMENT
Dear Sam:
I read your letter of September first with a lot of interest. You
evidently got an immense amount of political information in the
two and one-half months you were in Britain and it is most inter-
esting. I have many reports on the situation in Great Britain and
I have come to the conclusion that the British have always handled
their internal affairs to their own satisfaction and I propose to let
them continue to do it. We have never been in complete agreement
with them on anything. That disagreement started in 1776. If you
remember fundamentally, however, our basic ideas are not far
apart - they gave us our fundamental and basic law and have been
our allies in nearly every war we have fought since 1860. You
must remember they have been through two of the most terrible
experiences in the history of the world - experiences which cost
them the young men of two generations. Had our losses been in
proportion we would have lost between twelve and fifteen million
of our young men. Try to contemplate what that would mean to
this country.
I note carefully what you say about Mercy Hospital and the General
Hospital. I am not worried about that end of the population nor am
I worried about those who make $25,000 a year and over. The health
of the people between those two extremes is what is most important
to the country and when we find 34% of our young men and women
unfit for military service because of physical and mental defects,
there is something wrong with the health of the country and I am
trying to find a remedy for it. When it comes to the point where
a man getting $2400.00 a year has to pay $500.00 for prenatal care
and then an additional hospital bill on top of that there is something
wrong with the system. Before I get out of this office I am going to
find out what is wrong and 1 am going to try and remedy it. I'd sug-
gest you Doctors had better be hunting for a remedy yourselves un-
less you want a drastic one.
Sincerely yours,
Dr. Sam E. Roberts
HARRY S. TRUMA
1110 Professional Building
Kansas City, Missouri