Truman

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent, if too favorable, presidential biography...
Review: If I were able, I would actually have given "Truman" four and one-half stars instead of five. It's hard to argue with this book's enormous popularity - when it was released in the early 1990's it received generally rave reviews and became the best-selling presidential biography of the decade. And in most respects "Truman" deserves the praise it has recieved. David McCullough is a marvelous writer, as anyone who has read his earlier works (such as "Mornings on Horseback", his splendid account of the early years of Teddy Roosevelt) can testify. McCullough's research of Truman's remarkable life is thorough, and his writing style makes it seem as if you are with Truman on every step of his long journey towards the White House. Truman was the unlikeliest of Presidents - and he may be the last "non-millionaire", non-college-educated person ever to serve in the Oval Office. Compared to many of our great Presidents (a rank which Truman is now accorded, thanks in no small part to this book), most of Truman's life was totally ordinary. He was a farmer who scratched for a living, he adored his wife and was completely faithful to her, he had to put up with a demanding and snooty mother-in-law who thought he was never good enough for her daughter, and he was a failed businessman who constantly worried about paying the bills. Truman's life really took off when he served as a soldier in World War One, and he learned that he could effectively command large groups of men and earn their respect. He subsequently entered Kansas City politics, serving as an honest and efficient county judge (county commissioner) in an otherwise crooked and despised political machine run by Tom Pendergast, the nationally infamous "boss" of Kansas City. Despite the fact that Pendergast was eventually sent to jail, Truman remained fiercely loyal to him, even though it hurt him politically. Truman displayed this trait time and again, and while his personal loyalty was admirable, it also got him into trouble when his friends turned out not to be as honest and open as he was. I won't recount Truman's life here, as other reviewers have done so, but I do have one problem with the book, and that is McCullough's favoritism towards Truman. Although some other reviewers have claimed that the book is "even-handed", I would argue differently. Truman did have his flaws, but McCullough either glances at them and quickly moves on, or he just ignores the criticisms that others have made. One example is Truman's racial feelings. McCullough does briefly mention that in his youth Truman often spoke disparingly of Jews and Blacks, but argues that he "made up for it" by pushing civil rights for blacks and helping create the nation of Israel as President. What McCullough doesn't mention is that Truman's "conversion" to these ideals came in an election year (1948) in which he was the underdog and needed all the minority votes he could get. In the 1950's and early 1960's Truman also made some negative remarks about Martin Luther King and the civil rights marchers in the South, a fact which McCullough never mentions. Also, like many pro-Truman biographers, McCullough makes Truman into the underdog hero of the 1948 presidential election, when Truman shocked the pollsters and experts to defeat the heavily favored Republican candidate, Thomas E Dewey. What McCullough doesn't mention is that Truman's campaign was every bit as negative and divisive as those of later Republican candidates (such as Richard Nixon) who have been much criticized for their "dirty" campaigns. Truman, as has been proven by numerous memos and campaign letters, deliberately made personal attacks on Dewey and made wild, unsubstantiated charges (in one speech he came close to comparing Dewey and the Republicans with Hitler and the Nazis, a speech which McCullough doesn't mention). Truman's campaign deliberately played upon the fears and prejudices of working-class Democratic farmers and workers (just as Republicans such as Nixon played upon the fears of Republican voters). In my opinion, had Truman been a Republican candidate, he almost certainly would today be strongly criticized by historians for his 1948 campaign, but instead he is given the heroic role by McCullough (Truman's opponent, Dewey, ran a campaign that was a model of what most voters say they want - he refused to reply to Truman's "mudslinging", almost never mentioned Truman by name, and gave upbeat, optimistic speeches in which he refrained from personal attacks). In spite of these weaknesses, however, "Truman" is overall an excellent study of how a "common man" who was no different from your average "next-door neighbor" became one of the most important Presidents of the twentieth century. As "Truman" proves, there is a latent greatness in the average, taxpaying middle-class American citizen - a fact which should provide encouragement if this nation ever again faces the crises and problems which Truman himself had to face.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Books I¿ve Read
Review: This is the best biography, and one of the best books, that I have ever read! Even at nearly 1,000 pages, this book is a page-turner. Mr. McCullough makes President Truman come alive. Even though you may know the outcome of important decisions-like the firing of General MacArthur or the decision to enter the Korean War-Mr. McCullough's descriptions have such a dramatic sweep and uncanny vividness that the book reads like a great epic novel. The book pulls you into events so vividly that each scene has a movie-like realism. For example, when Truman meets Churchill and Stalin at Potsdam you can see the entire scene, clearly, in your mind's eye and feel the weight of history on Truman's shoulders. This book also illustrates the great character that Truman possessed. While certainly aware of the political consequences of his decisions, Truman always seemed to deliberate over what was right for the country-not what was expedient for him. For this reason, his popularity, prior to his miracle 1948 re-election, was at an all-time low. Yet even if you disagree with him, you respect him for following his principles. The book also shows that only in America could someone like Truman-a failure at business and farming-rise to the highest office in the land during one of the most dangerous times in U.S. history. Another enlightening aspect of this book is how the author contrasts many of Truman's public statements and seemingly bold attitude with his feelings of inadequacy or indecision as revealed in his letters to his wife and family. This book makes the case that Truman was perhaps our greatest 20th century president. If you saw the HBO special, starring Gary Sinese as Truman, don't miss this book!

Rating:
Summary: finest biography I've read
Review: After a slow start (on the history of Missouri and Truman's lineage there), the book just flows from one episode to the next. You don't even realize you're reading almost a thousand pages. It's over before you know it, and you desperately want more.

The popular image of Truman is of the simple, humble, colorful man from Independence, Missouri, who took a forceful stand against Communism in a presidency bookended by two wars (World War II and Korea). As McCullough, in his characteristically beautiful prose, shows, Truman was far more complicated a personage than the simple, homespun, down-on-the-farm character of myth.

Rising to the presidency under perhaps the worst possible circumstances (during the final months of a global war, succeeding a phenomenally popular president who led the nation not only through war but also through economic depression), Truman struggled to emerge from FDR's shadow and chart his own course, which he eventually did but not without occasionally challenging the old New Dealers, with whom he clashed personally even if he did agree with them on policy. Truman's domestic policies, moreover, sometimes get overshadowed by the events of the early Cold War, causing us to forget that he was a liberal and progressive Democrat who advocated national healthcare and civil rights, among other causes. We sometimes forget, too, that he (like FDR, although in a different, more subtle style) was a politician, capable not only of strokes of brilliance--such as the innovative Whistle-stop campaign of 1948--but also of nasty rhetoric; he once said that a vote for Dewey was a vote for fascism. Reading this in 2004, another election year, I was struck by a handful of parallels with the '48 race: nasty, personal rhetoric; railing against "special interests" (as ambiguously defined then as now, even if Truman was a true believer in the slogans); labeling Republicans as the party of Wall Street and the rich; and a national array of pundits who were completely wrong. Some things never change, probably.

A truly complex figure, he was sometimes humble, willing to let others take the credit for policies that were his idea, and often not (such as his belief that he could influence Democratic politics after his departure from office). A great leader, Harry Truman occasionally stooped to low levels of anger and vitriol, penning seething letters he usually never mailed--the notable exception is the rant he sent to a music critic who panned his daughter's singing.

McCullough conveys all this in straightforward terms, without frills, without fanfare, which is as it should be, considering Truman. This is a man and a book for the ages.

Rating:
Summary: The Triumph of Common Sense!
Review: Even after reading David McCullough's phenomenal biography of Harry S. Truman, one might argue that the homespun democrat was an accidental President. Nominated as Franklin Roosevelt's running mate only after an improbable series of events, and then thrust into the presidency without preparation, Truman seemed to rise to power without anyone -- especially himself -- having seen it coming. Roosevelt had been in office for such a long time, and seen America through so much turmoil, that the notion of Truman succeeding him seemed dubiously surreal. How could a "failed haberdasher" hope to lead the world's mightiest nation and make decisions that could mean life or death for everyone on the planet?

David McCullough tells us exactly how. Using his matchless biographical skills, McCullough shows us how President Harry S. Truman came to be, and why he was so stunningly successful in a time where failure would have been catastrophic. From Truman's early family history to his school, military, and political experience, McCullough provides a quick-reading account of a man whose dedication to doing the "right thing" always superceded political expedients. If there is a fault with this book, it is that McCullough, like many biographers, lets his deference for his subject drift into a mild advocacy, causing him to rationalize in instances where he might have been a little more critical or circumspect. This fault, however, should not be overstated. On the whole McCullough provides a wide range of fastidiously researched details, allowing objective readers to draw balanced conclusions. As in his other work, McCullough makes his subject entertaining and accessible without sacrificing the solid scholarship that will undoubtedly make this book endure as the definitive, one-volume Truman biography.

Rating:
Summary: Superb Coverage Of An Amazing Man's Life and Times!
Review: Into the press of circumstance and the irony of history strode the diminutive and bespectacled Harry S. Truman, who promptly grinned his way into becoming the single most surprising President of the 20th century. Written off as a party hack of the Missouri democratic machine until very late in his political career, Truman astounded everyone by picking up the shambles left in the wake of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's sudden death and turning in a deft and remarkable performance against the most formidable of odds. In this best-selling biography by noted author and historian David McCullough (The Path Between The Seas), one is treated to a massively informative and yet immensely readable treatment of Truman's life and times. The author uses a treasure-trove of newly available archives, personal interviews, and historical records to show how the unassuming man from Missouri who everyone under-appreciated became responsible for everything from the successful conclusion of WWII to the Marshall Plan to the formation of NATO to the Berlin Airlift rose to assume the Presidency in one of our nation's darkest moments.

From his first halting steps as a young man rising out of poverty and a farm family background to become a sudden war hero who led men bravely in combat, from his frequent missteps and failures as a post-war businessman to a first failed try for local political office, from his quick rise from county-level politics to become the darling and frequent benefactor of the quite colorful Pendergast political machine, this is the stuff of a momentous 20th century life, told as well as it can be by a master of historical biographies. Truman, who arose from a family beset by tragedy, missteps, and misfortune, was saddled before adulthood with the responsibilities and burdens that were so common for those coming of age early in this century. His is the story of a man who kept trying, arising again and again when life and misfortune knocked him down, and like the proverbial hero of one of Horatio Alger's novels, Truman's persistence and dogged courage before personal defeat eventually brought him to public prominence and to the United States Senate.

Once established in the Senate, Truman quite rapidly (and totally unexpectedly) proved himself a consummate diplomat, negotiator, and dogged proponent for what was right, rational, and reasonable. In doing so, he earned himself a reputation as man with uncommon moral character and indefatigable energy. Later this strength of character and ability to do the hard things when pressed to do so proved invaluable, as in the decision to employ the atomic bomb against Japan and to fire that most vexing and perplexing of military war heroes, the legendary Douglas MacArthur. McCullough's treatment reveals for us the drama of Truman's sudden and unexpected tour as President; a terrifying, wrenching and extraordinarily difficult balancing act for someone left so singularly unprepared and unprepared as was Truman. Yet so masterful was his balancing act that he became a legend himself by simply being himself, a man who believed in all of the traditional verities and virtues, a man of the common people who was always unassuming, self-effacing, and quick to admit his own mistakes.

This is truly a wonderful book, one I have read several times simply because I find its depiction of Truman as being quite inspirational. Here was a man who rose to meet the challenges of his life and his times, a most unexpected leader and role model who showed us, even in his death, that the role of the man of enduring virtue participating in public life is an achievable and workable goal, that we can have people with moral direction and the courage of their convictions to serve us and the country at large as President. Especially now, in the age of mental midgets and errant sons of former presidents running for office, it is wonderful to remember a time when an ordinary man proved just how extraordinary he could be. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Remarkable book about a remarkable man
Review: Once you get through the first 50 to 100 pages of this book, it is almost impossible to put down. Even if you're not enchanted of politics or of politicians (as I'm not) you will probably find this book fascinating, moving, inspirational, humorous, and hard to put down.

Harry Truman seems to have charmed and inspired loyalty in almost everyone who knew him well--and for fairly obvious reasons since he was loyal, hard-working, friendly, principled, considerate, and often wise. The author, David McCullough, seems to have fallen under Truman's spell to some extent, though he presents the facts needed for a reader to make his own judgment. You will read about some of the flaws of the man also; such as the fact that he was too loyal to some people who did not deserve his loyalty; the circumstances in which he ran his mouth, said stupid things, and caused scandal; his blindness to some of the realities (such as thinking that Joe McCarthy would soon fade away).

In the end, though, I came away from the book feeling that David McCullough found the right tone and the right voice for presenting this remarkable man who was rooted in the best ideals of an America of an earlier time. One of the most remarkable things about Truman was that he rarely seemed to have a "split personality" as many modern politicians do. He was generally consistent and true to himself and his ideals even under great pressure to sell out and play political games. He took a lot of heat at the time for some of his stands, but seems to have fared much better in the eyes of later generations because of his fidelity and overall wisdom.

Throughout the book I couldn't help rooting for Harry Truman. He's just so darn likable that you want to see him succeed. He's the underdog who comes out on top despite all odds and expectations. He's the hope that anyone can be great, can succeed, with enough determination and hard work. He's the seemingly ordinary man who makes good on his potential and becomes truly extraordinary.

The reader gets the impression that no matter when or where Harry Truman had been born, he would have been a great man in some way because of his qualities of character. Somehow the George Eliot statement seems appropriate for such an unassuming, though famous person, that "the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs."

Probably Eliot's statement seems so appropriate since it's often Truman's character, rather than any great or historic acts that make him so appealing. Any powerful person can do things of historical significance, but few can claim to have done them in such a sincere, patient, unassuming, and warm way.

From an interview I saw with David McCullough, he mentioned that originally he started out to write a book about Pablo Picasso instead of Harry Truman, but decided against it because he felt that Picasso was someone who was difficult to "be around" for the long period it takes to write a book. Instead, he chose Truman because of the historical significance and the fact that McCullough's life would be made better by the experience, rather than worse or more unpleasant. After reading McCullough's book, I have to agree that this is a book and a biography of a person that most people would want to "be around."

Rating:
Summary: Great Book!!
Review: This was a book that let the reader see the totality of a great man. Truman represented the opposite of the arrogance that pervades today's White House. He was a common man from Independence, Missouri who rose to greatness. He was one of us, not talking to us from "on high." He loved his country, and it was obvious from reading the book that his common sense approach to leadership was admired deeply by ones who followed him.

America may never see someone like Truman again. He was truly one of a kind. I highly recommend this book.

Jeffrey McAndrew
author of "Our Brown-Eyed Boy"

Rating:
Summary: Learn about an ordinary man who became president
Review: A very personal picture of a man who was put in the position of having to make some of the most difficult decisions in our nation's history. Love him or hate him, you will come away appreciating how difficult the presidency can be.

Rating:
Summary: Dr. Michael Johnson
Review: This is my favorite book of all time. I loved it and I consider myself to be more of a "righty" than a "lefty". This book inspired me to drag( and I mean that literally ) my wife and 5 kids to Independence MO., so I could visit the Truman Library. "Right" or "Left",I know that you will enjoy this book!!

Dr. Michael L. Johnson author of "What Do You Do When the Medications Don't Work--A Non-Drug Treatment of Dizziness, Migraine Headaches, Fibromyalgia, and Other Chronic Conditions".

Rating:
Summary: Subject, Biographer and Narrator at their best
Review: At 1000 pages, the book was a little daunting, so I chose the abridged audio cassettes. David McCullough - renowned historian and narrator for Burns' "The Civil War" - wrote and narrated this audio book and did a splendid job.

Truman, possibly the last "common man" president, lived an uncommon life with uncommon courage and accomplishments. He did not want to be vice-president or president, yet answered the calling. On one controversial issue where Truman was taking the high road, an aide commented that "he would rather be right than president". He responded that "he would rather be anything than president". How intimidating it must have been to take the reigns from FDR, especially since he had been virtually ignored as vice-president, yet Truman stood up to the test.

Through all of his successes, he never forgot who he was or compromised his principles. He stood up to Pendergrass when given his first government post, and his integrity never wavered through the Senate and presidency. He truly realized "the buck stops here" and never eschewed making the big decisions or taking responsibility for them.

He remained devoted to his wife, daughter, family and friends. McCullough cites numerous letters to wife Bess and daughter Margaret that provide great insight into the man. With strong self-confidence and no ego to nurse, he surrounded himself with brilliant and loyal men - Marshall, Bradley, Acheson, etc. - which helped him succeed in a crucial and trying time. Despite being surrounded by greatness and powerful people, he was not imtimidated by them, as evidenced by his handling of McArthur and Pendergrass.

As much as I enjoyed this audiobook and McCullough's narration, it was much too short, so I guess I better purchase the book after all!