President Harry Truman Hates Brussels Sprouts: Johnny Carson Interviews Margaret Truman - 11/29/1972

Less than a month before the former President's death, his daughter was a guest on The Tonight Show talking about her new book, "Harry S. Truman," and the life of her 88 year old father. Margaret's book was #4 on the non-fiction bestsellers list for the year. I'm with Johnny: any person who can't stand Brussels sprouts is my kind of President!
Don't miss the original 1972 ads near the end of the broadcast. Carson was visiting New York that week, which explains the more basic set and furniture.

[@rosiedebevc1952]

Great clip. Thanks for sharing.

[@IrvONeil-fn6cp]

This was a fantastic interview, thanks for sharing! And those ads at the end were the cherries on top of the sundae!

[@ShatnerMethod]

You're very welcome, Irv. I thought it was a great interview too and hoped viewers like you would stick around for the ending. Thanks for writing!

[@IrvONeil-fn6cp]

My pleasure!

[@joecole7122]

@@ShatnerMethod who were the other guests?

[@ShatnerMethod]

@@joecole7122 Buddy Rich and Marilyn Horne (now 88).

[@diedonner299]

Cybill Shepherd hawking for Revlon is definitely the cherry 🍒

[@johnwaddell6009]

Margaret Truman had a wonderful sense of humor and quite a way with words. The book she wrote about her mother Bess Truman later on really highlights not only Margaret's terrific writing style, but her sense of humor as well.

[@rah62]

Johnny Carson was an intelligent host who was able to interview darned near anyone and everyone. Can you imagine Jimmy Fallon trying to do this?

[@sushicourier]

Please. Impossible. Stephen Colbert could do it, and I think Jimmy Kimmel as well. What I love is the TIME they gave to guests beech then. Margaret had a nearly 12 minute uninterrupted interview. THAT'S equally as unheard of today. Everything's chopped up into 5 or 6 minute segments, the 3-5 minutes of commercials.

[@VSV659]

Wonderful handling of the interview by Johnny

[@dan4894]

This aired 1 month before Pres. Truman passed away (12/26/ 1972)

[@519djw6]

Interestingly, LBJ, who was nearly a quarter of a century younger than Harry S. Truman, died less than a month after Truman (January 22, 1973). Too many cigarettes, I reckon. (HST was not a smoker.)

[@garyteague9555]

My wife and I visited his home in independence mo about 12 years after his death

[@roberthendry614]

We need a Truman today.

[@vilstef6988]

When Johnny did a great interview, he knocked it out of the park! He also did an outstanding one with Carl Sagan which is also available on KZbin.

[@as7466]

Great clip. Thanks for sharing this!

[@debbigray1752]

So interesting to compare Margaret Truman before her marriage as seen on What's My Line? of the 1950s with Margaret Truman as this age. She was quite a funloving young woman in her early 20s. Here she is a mother of 4 and much more subdued.

[@texan903]

Interesting facts: Margaret's parents lived long lives, a fact she alludes to in this clip, with her dad dying at the age of 88, her mom lived until she was 97. Her grandmothers were 94 and 90 when they died. Margaret Truman Daniel was just 83 when she left here in 2008.

[@calebelliott1168]

It’s Sad that Margaret didn’t make it longer.

[@genelight6263]

king

[@retroguy9494]

She left here? Where did she go? I thought she was buried at the Truman Library along with her parents!

[@texan903]

@@retroguy9494 she left here, meaning life.

[@retroguy9494]

@@texan903 Well, her soul is no longer here, that's true. But her body is; at least until the time of the resurrection.

[@williamgregory1848]

“I’m a great admirer of your father.” To hear Johnny (a lifelong liberal Republican) say that about Harry Truman is incredible.

[@Imgayactormichaeldouglas]

I never heard about Carson being a Republican, I don't know much about his real political views, but I know he was good friends with Gore Vidal and I was always under the impression that he was closer to a Democrat.

[@TexasNorthDFW]

​@kubagalinski8724 He was of the liberal wing of the Republican party, when that wing still existed. It used to be much more popular in the Republican party. Johnny never believed in sharing his own politics on the Tonight Show. He treated the show as a time for the viewers to get away from all of that.

[@TexasNorthDFW]

​@@ImgayactormichaeldouglasToday, Johnny's views (small government, low taxes, socially progressive) would likely fall more within being an Independent. Back then, that was still the Republican party.

[@canadianfortrump4057]

Harry Truman passed away less than a month after this interview on Dec. 26th 1972.

[@wmbrown6]

This was from near the end of the first of two return trips by Carson to New York after the May 1972 move to Burbank. (The second, and last, was May 7-25, 1973; after which the set was dismantled and that for the coming "NewsCenter4" on WNBC-TV put in its place.)

[@raddad6628]

She would have been 100 years old this past February. Rest in Peace Margaret Truman.

[@blackukulele]

Kenny Delmar, on the Fred Allen show, used to play a southern US senator called Claghorn. Claghorn once said that he was practising his singing so he could sing a duet with Margaret Truman.

[@dexterellis7818]

Harry Truman belonged to another era. He did not try to get rich after he left the White House.

[@larryhilboldt5170]

Correct he was a great man

[@michaelplummer395]

He had no pension not even help going back to Independence. He carried the " grips" to the attic. I have an autographed picture and when i sent it to be framed it came back and framer had included the envelope he mailed it in. It was a US Senator Truman and they gad ran a line thru it and wrote The President ( to save money and not waste) thats unique . The envelope is better than photo

[@texan903]

He was older than dirt by the time he departed the White House, so I doubt there were many opportunities to earn much money by then.

[@oneeyedman99]

He did quite well for himself. By 1959 he was a millionaire (equivalent to $11 million today). His Wikipedia page has been updated with a lot of information about that.

[@christopherwatkins4640]

He(President Truman) died four weeks after this interview.

[@diedonner299]

Anyone else recognize a very young and beautiful Cybill Shepherd in the Revlon commercial at the end?

[@IrvONeil-fn6cp]

Definitely!

[@JohnC-er3rg]

And very young Charlie’s Angel Jaclyn Smith in the X-Factor commercial

[@chomskysfavefive]

Other than obviously Washington, Harry Truman is our nation's Cincinnatus. He came as a normal farmer, thrusted into our greatest office without say to handle a crisis, and then he went back to his home as another citizen after he completed the job, where he stayed for the rest of his normal life. It was an adventure above all others. He made the hardest choices a man has ever had to mull and imo changed the world for the better. That's exactly what this country is all about.

[@tvtimetravel]

Very much like how George H. W. Bush hated broccoli.

[@retroguy9494]

It wasn't Bess who fired Mrs. Nesbitt, it was Harry himself. She was friends with Eleanor Roosevelt and ran the White House the way she wanted with Eleanor's permission. When Truman assumed the presidency, she continued to do what she wanted over the direct orders from Bess Truman and in spite of her objections. On top of that, when Bess would tell her the way she and Harry preferred certain things, Nesbitt would say things like 'that's not the way Mrs. Roosevelt did it' or 'Mrs. Roosevelt did things differently.' The brussel sprouts story is true. Despite Harry specifically telling her he did not like them, she served them to him the very next day, stating it was the policy under the Roosevelt's that food was served until it was all used up. The final straw was when Bess was having a womens club meeting and everyone was assigned something to bring for a light repast. Her contribution was a stick of butter. As butter was still being rationed due to the war, Nesbitt refused to give it to her. Bess told Harry who immediately told the White House usher who was the head of the White House staff to fire her. I remember reading that Harry's exact words were 'better get used to it right off the bat; anyone who insults my women folk has ME to deal with!'

[@ShatnerMethod]

Great!

[@retroguy9494]

@@ShatnerMethod I assume you mean it's great that Harry fired her? I agree! Nesbitt was really a nasty woman who was even abusive to the White House staff by most biographical accounts. As one biographer opined 'she ran the White House like a Prussian general.' Which is why it surprises me that Eleanor Roosevelt liked her so much because of Eleanor's own personal belief in treating people decently. They became friends because they attended the same church in Hyde Park as well as both of them being involved in the womens division of the New York State democratic party long before FDR was president or even governor.

[@ShatnerMethod]

@@retroguy9494 The Brussels sprouts incident would have been too much for me!

[@retroguy9494]

@@ShatnerMethod I must admit I don't like them either. However, my late grandmother was very fond of Brussel sprouts!

[@ShatnerMethod]

@@retroguy9494 Mine too! It was her only major flaw.

[@careyschneider3572]

Wasn't that Cybill Shepherd on the Revlon commercial?

[@ShatnerMethod]

It SURE WAS!

[@KevinShipe-tr2uk]

Herbert Hoover and Harry Truman became good friends

[@mattmcc9455]

HST would live less than a month after this interview: Dec 26, 1972.

[@ShatnerMethod]

That's right. HST became ill and left his home for the last time just one week after this interview. Lyndon Johnson and his family attended Truman's funeral, then LBJ passed away himself on Jan. 22, 1973.

[@orbison]

Her father would be gone in just 38 days.

[@Chuck0856]

I LOVE Brussel Sprouts and cauliflower and Broccoli.

[@scotnick59]

Bush hated broccoli (which I like) but Truman hated Brussells Sprouts....and so do I!

[@ShatnerMethod]

Hear, hear!!

[@thomaschacko6320]

As an admirer of Harry Truman, I enjoyed discovering this interview. But Margaret Truman, though a fine writer, seemed a bit uncomfortable here. Johnny Carson was well-prepared. I wonder whether Ms Truman made other appearances to promote the Washington murder mysteries she wrote.

[@texan903]

Carson's show was the flagship of late-night TV, and naturally, he could be quite acidic and biting, so Mrs. Daniel was rightly tepid.

[@artrolf4223]

Just add some cheddar cheese on top of the Brussels sprouts, and they will taste a lot better.

[@texan903]

Yes. Maybe even a smidgen of butter, too.

[@marilynbables8071]

Margaret graciously declined to usurp her mother's status as The Boss.👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩

[@texan903]

Her dad, however, called her "The Boss's Boss."

[@marilynbables8071]

@@texan903 President Harry S. Truman had the utmost respect for women's worth. ♟️

[@texan903]

@marilynbables8071 so did his brother, J. Vivian Truman, according to Vivian's daughter, Mrs. Martha Ann Truman Swoyer.

[@marilynbables8071]

@@texan903 We are the matrix and the foundation of a society.

[@sushicourier]

Nov 29, 1972

[@FrankIsAlwaysRight]

The commercial, with Cybil Sheppard….she was hot

[@Griffinmc]

Historically interesting interview, especially considering that Truman died a month later, and Margaret wrote fun mystery novels, but this interview was so boring as to be painful to watch.

[@RobertJamesChinneryH]

Yes but he Does like atomic bombs

[@Harmonikaklange]

No, he didn’t like those either.

[@maxmulsanne7054]

Any you can count your lucky stars for that - Freedom Fighter....

[@bopeep86]

She sounds smart. But lets say 48 looks like 60.

[@texan903]

Mrs. Daniel looked her actual age here. Nowadays, we're accustomed to seeing women with filters, makeup, cosmetic procedures, and botox, none of which this lady has. She aged well.

[@MalEvansUSA]

Bess Truman had an affair with her Filipino steward

[@BellaFirenze]

They fired her because she served brussels sprouts? Margaret fancied herself a singer and actress. She was terrible at both.

[@texan903]

Henrietta Nesbitt had free reign over the White House kitchen for years, a role she grew too comfortable with. The Truman family only asked that Nesbitt not serve Brussels sprouts, a request she refused. If you don't obey your boss's instructions, you won't be employed for long.

[@eolafan100]

She comes across as being very snooty.

[@21crepes37]

She really does!

[@danrode104]

Not at all.. She's educated unlike u 2 rubes..

[@johngarcia8827]

​@@danrode104 😅👍

[@texan903]

Most people who knew her said she was down-to-earth.

[@MalEvansUSA]

She comes across as unlikable

[@danrode104]

Love spouts, but who cares if Harry didn't like them? Shallow interview.

[@texan903]

Since the president was running the country, the least could be done to at least serve meals that he found palatable. Mrs. Daniel had one simple request of Nesbitt, which was to remove the Brussels sprouts.

[@theessentials450]

Sad. He was dead 3 weeks later