In the mid-1930s, mainly in deference to his isolationist Missouri constituency, Senator Truman voted for neutrality laws that kept the United States from aiding European democracies against fascism. But, serving as an Army reservist between the wars, he responded to Roosevelt’s calls for preparedness. In the fall of 1940, he went to General Marshall and said he wished to enlist. “You’re too damned old,” said the Army Chief of Staff. “You’d better stay home and work in the Senate.”
[…]
When Marshall was later asked whether he would have given Truman the same reply had he known he would be President, Marshall said, “I would be a little more diplomatic about it!”
Source:
Beschloss, Michael R. “I Was Never in Favor of That Crazy Plan.” The Conquerors: Roosevelt, Truman, and the Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1941-1945. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2007. 228. Print.
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