image image I’ve asked this before.

Did Harry S. Truman really say, "If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog?"

Or "buy a dog"—the words that Maureen Dowd of the New York Times first attributed to him on March 10, 1989?

After a month, I have yet to receive a reply from Ms. Dowd, whom I tried to contact though a Times form on the Web. Does anyone have the Pulitzer Prize winner’s e-mail address handy for my private use? Got access to a New York Times corporate directory? Even if she were easy to reach on the phone, I’d prefer the e-mail approach so I could share her precise response here.

Meanwhile, along the way, my experience raises a not-so-trivial question. Is there a statute of limitations on possibly inaccurate quotes that appear on the Web through old archives? The office of the Times’ public editor said the 1989 quote was outside his jurisdiction because it appeared before he started on the job. But read on! Times writers are still relying on Ms. Dowd’s work.

Why this cosmic question

image Why is the Dowd-spread quote—she referred to it again in 2000—almost surely apocryphal?

Even the Harry S. Truman Library can’t find an earlier appearance of the quote, just a similar line in an old play, whose author, Samuel Gallu, obviously might have used dramatic license: "You want a friend in life, get a dog!"

No grudge against Ms. Dowd. The substitution of "in Washington" for "in life" is pure genius, in my opinion—however it happened. In fact, I’m reminded of the accidental invention of penicillin. Sir Alexander Fleming unwittingly discovered that mold killed bacteria, which, like sleazy Washington lobbyists and other D.C. cutthroats, may be lethal if allowed to multiply beyond control. More importantly, I like Ms. Dowd’s columns. I just want the full story here. I’m watching out for the credibility of Thackeray, the talking Afghan Hound in the epilogue of The Solomon Scandals, my Washington newspaper novel, who uses the quote in a late-21st century fund-raiser on behalf of "pre-virtual literacy."

Blown off despite serious query reflecting past research

With Thack in mind, I futilely asked the Clark Hoyt, the Times’ Public Editor, to give me Ms. Dowd’s e-mail address so I could write the columnist directly to be certain that my earlier query had reached her. The PE’s office normally won’t provide contact information, but I’d done my research via correspondence with a friendly archivist at the Truman library. Hadn’t I earned an exception? Couldn’t annoyances like this be one reason why people distrust the old media, especially in the Internet era when the past is just a click away?

Mind you, I love the New York Times, flaws and all; let me praise the Times for so generously sharing its archives, an act of good journalism, not just a sign of business acumen. In matters cyber, the Times is miles ahead of the pack. Now I hope Ms. Dowd will meet my expectations and share with us the true origins of the dog quote. If it’s wrong and if Ms. Dowd won’t do a follow-up, will the Times issue a correction?

Statute of limitations at the Times on inaccurate quotes published on the Web?

Is there a statute of limitations on possibly inaccurate quotes, including those accessible via the Web?

Michael McElroy in Clark Hoyt’s office has e-mailed me: "As for the Truman quote, its use was before Mr. Hoyt’s tenure and therefore outside of our purview." Hoyt’s term began on May 14, 2007. As recently as January 27, 2007, the Times had published Harry Hurt’s article with the Truman-related dog quoteoft-repeated over the years in one form or another in the Times and elsewhere. Should just a few months have mattered? 

Besides, on or about September 27, 2007, Sam Roberts’ draft podcast script paraphrased the quote:"In Washington, Truman once said, if you want a friend, get a dog."

Directly or indirectly, Ms. Dowd was almost surely Roberts’ source. Would Roberts have done the paraphrase if he’d been in touch earlier with the Truman library? For all I know, there may be other recent usages of the quote or variations. And what about the future? Just how much hair-splitting does Clark Hoyt’s office need?

Prefer a Dowd-witty column to a formal correction

I’d hope there wouldn’t be a statute of limitations if I went another route and formally requested a possible correction by the Times. But I’d rather not. I like Ms. Dowd’s columns and would rather give her a chance to do a funny essay about the true origins of the quote or nonquote.

Come on, MD! As a fan—and as someone all too aware of his own imperfections—I’m rooting for you to level with Thackeray.

Related: USA Today blog post raising questions about Ms. Dowd’s quote.

Detail: Afghan Hound photo via Wikipedia. As noted before, I don’t know whether this one talks.

1 COMMENT

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