This book written by David McCullough is absolutely amazing. My wife had been telling me for years that it was something I would completely enjoy, but I had put off reading it because of the 992 pages. I learned that she was right when I finally got around to reading the book.

I understand the book rejuvenated the reputation of President Harry S. Truman after he left the presidency in near disgrace with an approval rating in the low twenty percent range because of the general disapproval (disgust) for the Korean War. I wrote a personal review of the book that had in excess of twenty-five pages, which should be a good indication of what I thought about the book. I promise to maintain my pledge to hold reviews on this site to two pages.

The Amazon selection for the most useful positive and less positive reviews is a good place to start. For the first category, it says in part, “For most of the 1,000 or so pages it read like a novel, a real page turner…” A three star review says, “While it is OK for a historian to like the subject of a biography, he should not love him. David McCullough likes Harry Truman a bit too much.”

I need to add that I began reading this lengthy biography with a personal bias. My father was an ardent Roosevelt Democrat, and he said on many occasions that Truman was one of the greatest presidents. I was fascinated with that assessment in my youth when I was struggling with understanding anything at all about politics, mostly because my Dad seldom if ever said anything like that about FDR. Why, I asked myself, would my Dad love FDR, but would so frequently talk about Truman being a great president. This book answers that question. Ann Coulter also answers that question in one of her books. She is critical of every Democrat president. She says of Truman that he was wrong about many of his policies, “But there is no doubt he loved his country.”

With that lengthy introduction, I will say that there is too much information about Harry S. Truman before, during, and after his time as President to recount in a short review. I think I’ll try to select some of my favorite stories, but have no illusions that I will do the book justice. I suggest that you will check out a copy if you love to read about history.

Harry was born May 8, 1884, and his parents wanted to honor two relatives named Solomon and Shipp. They couldn’t settle on which one, they used only the middle initial, and Harry S. Truman was given his name. The Justice that swore him in when he became President after FDR’s death said, “I Harry Shipp Truman.” Truman responded, “I Harry S. Truman.” 

He grew up in a prejudiced environment and used racist language that isn’t acceptable today. It seems odd that his policy positions were uniformly in favor of civil rights. He had to memorize the eye chart to be accepted into the army after the U.S. became involved in WWI. He became a captain in the artillery. His first combat was commanding the firing of five hundred rounds of poison gas shells into a German position. The Germans fired back and only Harry and four others didn’t abandon the weapons. Harry later explained that he was too scared to run.

Harry married Bess, his childhood sweetheart, and there are many interesting insights provided about her also. For example, the author speculates that Harry would not have continued using racist language up to the end of his life if Bess had ever objected. Harry entered politics as part of the Pendergast machine in Kansas City. He was elected as a judge, and was always viewed as honest. It is speculated that Tom Pendergast wanted Truman as a “window dressing” example for his otherwise corrupt organization. Truman paid the ten dollar fee to join the KKK, but demanded and received the fee back after he had a first-hand look at their activities. He was considered an enemy of the Klan after that. Pendergast would eventually use the power of his machine to get Harry elected to the Senate.

FDR became concerned that Vice President Harry Wallace had become a political liability and demanded that Truman accept the nomination for that position. Harry declined with comments that he had no interest in being Vice President. He eventually reluctantly caved in to pressure from Roosevelt. 

Truman only met with Roosevelt twice after their election before Roosevelt died and Truman was sworn in as President. One of his first actions was to direct the FBI to end the secret phone taps on large numbers of public officials and had the recording device hidden under the desk removed. He also was not nearly as trusting and friendly of Stalin as Roosevelt.

Truman had to decide whether to drop atomic bombs on Japanese cities. The horrendous losses of soldiers fighting to clear Pacific islands of suicidal Japanese undoubtedly influenced his decision. There also was the evidence that Japan was training women to fight with all manner of primitive weapons in preparation for defense against an invasion.

Truman’s popularity began dropping almost immediately after the end of the war. Economic troubles began with the end of the war and Congress frequently rejected Truman’s proposals. Stalin would soon openly announce that Communism and Capitalism were incompatible, and the Cold War began. Truman broke his tradition of having only one drink a day, and his language became “more colorful.” He was forced to fire Henry Wallace from a cabinet position because Wallace was making speeches that contradicted official policy. An aide commented that Truman had proven he had proven he would rather be right than be President. Truman responded that he “…would rather be anything than President.”

Republicans won control of the House and Senate, and Truman was reenergized. People had come to not expect progress and Truman felt he did not owe anyone anything. That gave him the basis to earn him the reputation of being the feisty President. What became known as the “Truman Doctrine advocated using the power and wealth of the U.S. to support free governments and oppose the Soviets. On the other hand he fought with Republicans who were pressuring from all sides to expose Communists in government and military positions. He also made the decision to recognize Israel as the new Jewish State.

Harry decided to run for reelection, and few gave him any chance to win. His main campaign theme was attacking the Republican dominated Congress for doing nothing useful. He was five points behind in the final Gallup poll but easily won both the popular and electoral college. Democrats took control of the House and Senate.

Truman’s belief that Communism had to be fought led to the U.S. involvement in the Korean War, and Harry’s approval ratings dropped to the low twenties. He left the White House to be a private citizen and proved time and again that he refused to profit from his experiences as President. I think you will admire the man by the time you finish the book.