Truman

Rating:
Summary: McCullough "gives it hell"...
Review: The winner of the Pulitzer Prize for biography in 1993, this is the standard that all historical biographies should aspire to. This is an inspiring, entertaining and wonderfully readable story (notwithstanding the 992 pages) that truly makes you wish it wouldn't end. The trademark of David McCullough biographies is that you really feel like you know the subject and are a part of his story throughout(Washington Roebling, Teddy Roosevelt and John Adams are subjects that McCullough has brought back to life through his wonderful writing style). Truman's story is no exception as we see him progress from small-town farmboy to the Presidency. This epic starts a little slowly with Truman's childhood and early adult life, but picks up dramatically with his involvement in World War I (where we first see his leadership capabilities) and doesn't let up from there. Post war business failures only seemed to inspire him and his career advances with his recruitment into the Pendergast political machine of Kansas City. Through a number of low-level political jobs, Truman builds his reputation as a "no-nonsense" leader that ultimately gets him elected to the Senate and into the national political arena. This is the point that this book really takes off and offers some of the best writing that I've ever read. Truman's nomination as Vice-President, his attainment of the Oval Office upon FDR's death, the Potsdam peace conference,the Truman Doctrine/Marshall plan and his decision for the use of the Atomic Bomb are chapters that make for really breathtaking reading. The amazing thing is that through all of this McCullough manages to keep the reader on a personal level with Truman and you really feel his tension and emotions through those "heady" times. We seem to learn about what it's like being the President right along with him in his first term and not many biographies can afford that level of intimacy. The 1948 campaign against Thomas Dewey, the development of NATO, the assasination attempt by Puerto Rican nationalists and the progressing involvement and subsequent military campaign in Korea (along with the ultimate firing of Douglas MacArthur) are all highlights of the second half of the book and continue the rich and elegant writing style. Truman's decision not to run in 1952 and his post-Presidency activities right up to his death in 1972 are poignantly covered as the story closes. Personality sketches of such historical legends as Chuchill, Roosevelt, Acheson, Marshall and Eisenhower are fabulous and offer many new perspectives to this phenominally important period of our history. Truman's "give 'em hell" attitude is prevelant throughout, highlighted by the following excerpt..."For a while the mood overall seemed one of a death watch over his Presidency. New poll results showed that only 32% of the people approved of the way he was handling his job; and 43% thought it had been a mistake for the U.S. to go to war in Korea. But polls meant no more to him now than ever before. "How far would Moses have gotten if he'd taken a poll in Egypt?"... Alonzo Hamby, the noted Truman historian, noted in the bibliography of his book "Man of the People" that McCullough's account "was a nicely told story, but episodic and lacking historical perspective", a critique that, I think indirectly, is McCullough's intent...he doesn't want to just re-tell historical facts with his biographies. His real objective is to tell the human story and fit it into the historical context and he succeeds overwhelmingly. Highest recommendation!

Rating:
Summary: one of the best biographies I have ever read
Review: For several decades I have read little except history and biography. Many about Lincoln and FDR, but nothing about Truman, except his daughter's book, which was not very good. I did not know Harry Truman before reading this book and could not know him better after reading it. It is one of the best biographies I have ever read. Sometimes, one encounters things, such as a given Beethoven sonata, or the final paragraph of Lincoln's First Inaugural, and one knows this could not have been better. This book is that good.

Rating:
Summary: The definitive work by one of America's best authors
Review: Truman, by David McCullough, is what introduced me to this author. McCullough is best known right now for his bestseller, John Adams. He is a very thorough researcher with the rare skill to be able to write history as if it were a novel.

Harry Truman has always been one of my favorite presidents, thanks to his humble views and solid performance while serving as an accidental commander in chief. I really respect Truman even more after reading this book, and would recommend it to anyone who would like to learn about a true story of an average person who "someday could grow up to be president" and did-and well at that.

Read this book even if you have the slightest interest.

Rating:
Summary: The Greatest President of All Time
Review: This book is so much more than the tale of the united States greatest President, it is an example of a man who was not born to be great but nonetheless was exceptional. Harry Truman was born in a very simple town to very simple, but extremely hardworking parents. I don't mean to imply that they were stupid, because they most certainly were not, they we just not caught up in much more than farming. Harry was smart and funny and sweet as a child but was no push over. He grew to me a man of convictions and the willingness to fight for those principles even if it meant his life.
Harry Truman is an example for all of us in how to conduct ourselves and to never let our humble beginnings limit out desires or our potential. he worked hard, he read and he studied, but more than that he had a way of making up his mind and sticking with his gut feelings.
When I read this book I only admired Harry Truman the President of the United States, but after reading this book I learned to care for Harry S. Truman the man.
This book is a beautiful and uplifting biography of someone who truly deserves to have his story told, and their aren't man of those.
Read this book and you will love life and the human potential just that much more.

Rating:
Summary: Super!!
Review: This is without a doubt one of the best books I have read in ages. The book is long and takes some time to read but I hung on every word often reading late into the night. One of David McCullough's greatest gifts is to bring his subject to life and he does just that with Harry Truman. The reader gets a look at Truman the man not just the politician. After reading this book I wasted no time in buying Mr. McCullough's bio of John Adams. A must read on any list!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent biography of underrated president
Review: It takes a charming schmoozer like Bill Clinton to make us fully appreciate the common man wisdom and character of Harry Truman.

Truman had greatness thrust upon him, only he handled it a whole lot better than did Gerald Ford. Nothing and everything prepared him for the presidency, be it the "failed" haberdashery back home or his record of not losing a single man in his unit in World War II. Or his fights against corruption while having risen from one of the more corrupt political machines.

Having written some excellent earlier historic works, McCullough moved to a higher level with this great book. It is both intricate and facile, detailed and friendly, historic and familiar. The reader can't help but develop an appreciation for the subject and the author.

Rating:
Summary: Historical Writing at its Best
Review: I've been a fan of President Truman since I was a teenager thirty years ago. I first began reading about him coincident to my favorite president, Roosevelt. It took time and a few books, but the more I read about Harry Truman, the more I admired. We were suffering through the presidency of Jimmy Carter, who so many compared as a 'common man' to Harry Truman. I soon learned that there was little in common between the two. Though they shared a common distinct and deep sense of morality and right and wrong, Truman was a President who understand the necessity of compromise.

Mr. McCullough's book is as straightforward and understandable as his broadcasting. I must confess, I didn't learn anything new about Truman from this book, but I'm not the average reader. It really didn't matter anyway, because the writing is so enjoyable. Truman was an accidental president, and one who so many thought not up to the job. My parents used to tell me about the ridicule and scorn so many had for Truman, rather like the attitude toward Dan Quayle. Time has reversed that, and it's freely acknowledged that anyone would have had a hard time following FDR!

Truman's tenacity and focus is nowhere better demonstrated than his relationship with his wife and her family. Being upper-class, Bess's mother never considered Truman worthy of her daughter, even after he reached high public. Bess's lack of political support for her husband is well documented. Her dislike of D.C., manifested by returning to Independence at every possible opportunity, is also well known. Somehow over the course of decades he was accepted into her family, though the Truman residence in Independence was actually the Wallace family home.

Time has served to enhance not only Truman's stature but to validate his decisions. While lacking FDR's ability to mobilize and modify America's people, he proved a firm and resolute leader, and one for which right and wrong were more than mere words.

This is a tremendous book and would be a terrific introduction to President Truman and his times.

Rating:
Summary: Rich and Entertaining
Review: David McCullough continues to earn his reputation as an American treasure with his epic biography of Truman. Not only does this book reflect his skills as an exceptional researcher, but also his gifted mitchner-like prose. Thus, he not only presents the life of America's greatest presidents in exhaustive detail, but also does a commendable job of placing him in his context. McCullough gives us a wonderful history of the Truman family and explains how his particular milieu affected his particular sensibilities.

Many readers are put off by this books extraordinary length. They should not be. To McCullough's credit, his work rarely drags, nor does he go into irrelevant detail. Unlike many political biographies, Truman's pre-political life must be covered in great depth, as he came to politics very late in life. Moreover, the author is well aware that most readers know little about Truman's service in the US Senate.

What makes this work particularly extraordinary is the way the author "connects the dots" explaining how Truman's life before the presidency effected the decisions he made in the office. Nor does McCullough pull his punches, but like a good biographer is open to criticizing his subject. He gives Truman's strengths and his failings equal consideration and attention.

With sweeping plots and larger than life characters, this book reads like a novel. That is a big part of the reason that it makes such great history.

Rating:
Summary: Get to know Harry S. Truman
Review: I've read a number of other reviews and found that the rating tends to be determined by the reviewers' opinion of the man, rather than the book. Critics of Truman argue that McCullough has written a paean to his subject, which is why they give the book fewer stars. Nonsense. What makes Truman so appealing to me (and probably to many other reviewers who, like me, did not know much about him before reading the book) is that he was so very normal, so very human. McCullough makes it clear that Truman was no genius, that he held prejudiced views of blacks and other minorities, that he suffered from strong self-doubt, that he could be petty and selfish and weak, and that the stresses of the job often caused him physical suffering. Despite all of that, he performed admirably as President and established principles that were to guide U.S. foreign policy (and Presidents of all political persuasions) for the next half century.

It is clear that McCullough has some affection for Truman, but it seldom colors his judgment. This is a great biography, which enables the reader to feel as if he truly knows the man. It is also great history, providing a well-researched and well-written account of the vanishing U.S. frontier, of small-town America, of metropolitan political machines, and of the genesis of U.S. Cold War policy. I submit that the distorting biases are not those of McCullough, but those of the readers who do not like Truman, either for personal or political reasons.

Rating:
Summary: Biography of a man who shaped world history
Review: I would like to start by saying that this is not a review, but a recommendation. It may read or sound like a review, but it is not, because what could I possibly say about 'Truman', by David McCullough, that cannot be summed up in one word: Pulitzer.

Nothing. Obviously.

What I can do is tell you that as someone who grew up in Jackson County, Missouri, (not far from Independence) this book was a revelation. I learned things about the history of Jackson County that I never could have found in any other book. I have driven on roads, played at parks, and been inside buildings that were named for the people who shaped my region's history; People who were heretofore unknown to me entirely. For this information alone, I recommend this book to anyone who has lived in Jackson County or Independence, Missouri.

If you have no such affiliation with that particular area, the biography of a simple man who became the most powerful man in the world, and who shaped so much of our nation's history, isn't bad either. Some other reviews here on Amazon.com have stated that this book reads like a Harry Truman love-fest. I do not think that is quite the fair assessment. While McCullough's rendition of history does seem to cast a somewhat glowing light on Truman, who is to say that it is not deserved. I could list the many monumental and significant things that HST accomplished while in public office, but it would a waste of my time. All I can do is recommend that you read this book and have confidence that you will be able to objectively weigh his momentous deeds along with his failures and flaws, and, in the end, give Harry S Truman his rightful place in history.