President harry s truman biography book

Harry S. But Alonzo L. Hamby shows that there was more to Truman than the pugnacious fighter so prominent in popular memory. Insecure, ambitious, a man of honor, a partisan loyalist, an agrarian Jeffersonian Democrat who became a champion of big government, Truman was a complex figure who fought long and hard to triumph over his own weaknesses.

Robert J. What followed would be the most historically significant and politically complex home-improvement job in American history. While the Trumans camped across the street at Blair House, Congress debated whether to bulldoze the White House completely, and the Soviets exploded their first atomic bomb, starting the Cold War. It is not too much to suggest that the Truman administration, along with that of FDR, constituted the most important turning point in recent U.

During the Roosevelt administration the American state system had changed dramatically: the federal government had rapidly become ascendant over state and local governments, and the executive branch—particularly the presidency—had become a repository of vast power. Afterit remained for Truman to make the new American state system a permanent feature at home and to define its role on the world scene.

Award-winning author David Pietrusza goes beyond the headlines to reveal backstage events and to place in context a down-to-the-wire donnybrook fought against the background of an erupting Cold War, the Berlin Airlift, and the birth of Israel, a post-war America facing exploding storms over civil rights, and domestic communism.

November 1, — an unseasonably hot afternoon in sleepy Washington, D. At P. When Harry S. Many of the books in this series devote substantial space to the pre-presidential life and career of their subjects. Dallek covers Truman's formative years in a dense, quick single chapter. Raised in rural Missouri, Truman entered politics through the notorious Pendergast machine and ultimately was elected and re-elected to the Senate before Roosevelt chose him for the vice-presidency.

The brisk treatment of Truman's early life allows Dallek to focus the reader's attention where it belongs: on Truman's eventful and difficult presidency. Besides using the extensive public record, Dallek draws upon Truman's letters, diary entries, off-the record comments, drafts and other documents of a private character to round out a portrayal of a complex individual and era.

Truman was thrust unprepared into the presidency. At times, he appeared to waffle in an attempt to chart a middle course based on consensus. When he did so, Truman frequently pleased nobody. At his best, Truman led decisively. He tried to act, Dallek, argues, for the good of the country rather than for any interest group and he expected the same of others.

Besides the well-known statement that "the buck stops here", Dallek offers other Truman quotations that are more insightful.

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For example, inin the face of public opposition to price controls, Truman in an undelivered draft speech criticized the opposition for "following Mammon instead of Almighty God" and for having "gone over to the powers of selfishness and greed". After leaving the presidency, Truman expressed sympathy for President Herbert Hoover who, like Truman himself, had to face seemingly intractable difficulties.

In considering his time in office, Truman wrote that leadership required "a president who can make up his own mind, who isn't afraid of controversy". Truman continued: "our country has never suffered seriously from any acts of the president that were truly intended for the welfare of the country; it's suffered from the inaction of a great many presidents when action should have been taken at the right time.

He has to keep reminding people that a good president must do more than just believe in what he says -- he must act on what he believes.

President harry s truman biography book: The Pulitzer Prize–winning biography of Harry

Immediately upon taking office, Truman oversaw the surrender of Germany, and he made the decision to use the atomic bomb to end the war with Japan. He also authorized the development of the hydrogen bomb. In the face of division within his administration, Truman recognized the State of Israel. In the late s, Truman became involved in the quagmire of a war in Korea, where he was criticized by both the hawks and doves of the day.

In domestic affairs, Truman supported a liberal agenda, including civil rights legislation and universal health insurance; but these proposals lacked Congressional support. Early in his presidency, Truman stood down the labor union leader John Lewis. Innear the end of his tenure, Truman tried to seize control over the steel mills as a result of a labor dispute.

The Supreme Court declared this attempt outside the scope of presidential power. He developed the Marshall Plan for the relief of Europe. Over the course of his presidency, the "containment policy" for controlling the spread of communism was developed and implemented. Trying to steer a course between isolationism and war, the containment policy substantially remained in place until the end of the Cold War.

Dallek regards it as Truman's greatest achievement. Truman also had to face domestic issues regarding claimed communist influence, including among other things the red-baiting tactics of Senator Joe McCarthy. When Truman left office, his administration faced severe criticism over Korea and over allegations of corruption and cronyism. His party had been in power for a long time.

With the gaining of historical perspective, Truman's presidency has become highly regarded by many historians, including Dallek. His book shows a determined, honest, and gifted leader with flaws who tried to act in the public interest in a difficult time and in many crucial matters succeeded. Dallek's book is highly useful in thinking about Truman's presidency and about presidential leadership.

Robin Friedman. Dallek is an author, historian and retired professor focusing on the U. Consistent with other American President Series biographies, this book contains just pages of text. By crystallizing the essence of the Truman presidency and conveying it in a clear, comprehensible way Dallek performs an invaluable service for readers with little time to spare.

Unfortunately, much is lost in the process. Given space constraints, the narrative is long on headline facts and short on both context and color. And with almost no exposure to his childhood — which proved instrumental in forging the core of his personality — and with little exposure to his chronic business failures as an adult, his rise to national political prominence cannot be fully appreciated.

Finally, readers used to more traditional presidential biographies will miss the colorful character introductions available in longer formats. Dean Acheson and George Marshall are just two of the important advisers to President Truman who are under-covered and, therefore, are likely to be underappreciated by the reader. With two hundred additional pages, it is all but certain that Dallek could have fashioned a superb biography of Truman.

Instead, he provides a solid introduction to the 33rd president which proves too compact to offer the character insight or analysis which Truman deserves. Jim Cullison. Like Truman's daily walks in D. Definitely worth taking in. I learned a great deal in a mere pages.

President harry s truman biography book: Truman is a biography of

Another well-done work by the great Robert Dallek. Seems like a pretty decent distillation of Truman scholarship, which is most likely only so extensive because of the pivotal time in which he was President. Long on policy, short on psychoanalysis, and I like that. Joey Peacher. The tail-end of nearly 20 years of liberal, big government policies and wars is difficult to make look good.

Josh Mirabella. Though Truman was selected to serve as vice president to a terminally ill man, Robert Dallek stresses the lack of preparation for his succession. He fought against the Republican-dominated 80th Congress, and used their opposition to his domestic agenda as a launching pad for his victory over Thomas Dewey in the election. Yet Truman was unable to capitalize on his unexpected triumph, as he faced anticommunist hysteria, charges of corruption by members of his administration, and an intractable war in Korea, all of which led to his decision to abandon a run for another term in An award-winning presidential historian and biographer, Dallek uses his considerable knowledge and insight to inform this study of Harry Truman.

Though lacking original research, the author infuses his narrative with perceptiveness borne of his extensive historical expertise, one that has much to offer readers familiar with the 33rd president. The result is a book that is a good starting place for anyone interested in learning about the man from Missouri and how he led the nation through tumultuous times.

Of all of the volumes in the American Presidents series, this was for me the most anticipated I put Harry Truman in the top 5 best Presidents, but I was very disappointed with Dallek's narrative. Going through some of the most challenging and difficult crises the US had faced since the Civil War, and certainly some of the most thrilling and exciting developments in modern history, Dallek paints the entire story without depth or color.

He barely mentions the creation of the United Nations which Truman saw as one of his most important achievements and the Berlin Airlift gets a scant five paragraphs. Dallek's prose is clunky, disjointed, and fragmented. I reluctantly give it two stars; it is very close to only being worthy of one. But I am wild about Harry, and after having read David McCulloughs glowing and very flattering biography the best biography I have ever read, by the way, maybe my expectations were too high.

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Sign up Log in. Taken directly from his own manuscript material, the volume presents the thoughts and feelings of the man himself. There is also a memorandum written by Truman about the Pendergast machine in Kansas City telling how it was possible to work with the machine and not be soiled by it. Truman, here are the thirty-third U.

It is not too much to suggest that the Truman administration, along with that of FDR, constituted the most important turning point in recent U. During the Roosevelt administration, the American state system had changed dramatically: the federal government had rapidly become ascendant over state and local governments, and the executive branch — particularly the presidency — had become a repository of vast power.

Afterit remained for Truman to make the new American state system a permanent feature at home and to define its role on the world scene. In analyzing the central concerns and manifold difficulties of the period from tothis necessary installment among books on Harry Truman deepens our understanding of the administration that made big government a permanent and pervasive feature of the American scene and that raised the U.

Brooksy Society. Essential Books on Harry Truman There are countless books on Harry Truman, and it comes with good reason, during his first few weeks as Vice President, Truman scarcely saw President Franklin Roosevelt, and received no briefing on the development of the atomic president harry s truman biography book or the unfolding difficulties with Soviet Russia.

Harry S. Truman: A Life by Robert H. Ferrell Robert H. Truman by Robert Dallek In Aprilafter the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the presidency fell to a former haberdasher and clubhouse politician from Independence, Missouri. Man of the People by Alonzo Hamby Insecure, ambitious, a man of honor, a partisan loyalist, an agrarian Jeffersonian Democrat who became a champion of big government, Truman was a complex figure who fought long and hard to triumph over his own weaknesses.

Conflict and Crisis by Robert J. The Accidental President by A.