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This is Harry Truman talking about his party's likely nominee in 1960, and it's not very friendly.

Last Wednesday, former President Harry S. Truman resigned as a delegate to the Democratic presidential nominating convention, scheduled to begin in Los Angeles a week from Monday. I have resigned as a delegate to the Democratic presidential nominating convention scheduled to begin in Los Angeles a week from Monday.

I have resigned as a delegate from Missouri to the Democratic National Convention.

I did this because I have no desire whatever to be a party to proceeding that are taking on the aspects of prearranged affair.

The convention which is controlled in advance by one group and its candidate

leaves the delegates no opportunity for a democratic choice and reduces the convention to a mockery.

I've always believed that the Democratic Party should stand for an open convention and should resist any bandwagon that swarts or sparkles the free and deliberated process

of this great instrument of democracy don't mind that happened in

the republicans invention you understand the democratic party must never be allowed to become a

party of privilege for a man of modest means or no means at all cannot rise to a service in the nation.

I want to make it clear that my disappointment

that's a manner in which some of the backers of Senator Joseph

at Kennedy have acted, involves in no way in my own mind

that person are qualifications of the Senator himself. I think to a great extent,

Senator Kennedy is a victim of circumstances.

I've always liked him personally, and I still do.

And because of this feeling, I'll want to say to him at this time

that I'm going to prove the statement that I'm making to Senator Kennedy. Senator, do you, are you certain that you're quite ready for the country,

or the country is ready for you, in the role of the President in January,

in 1961?

I am no doubt about the political heights to which you are destined to rise, but I'm deeply

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