Truman
by David McCullough
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Book Summary Information
Author: David McCulloughEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1992-06-15
ISBN: 0671456547
Number of pages: 1120
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Book Reviews of Truman
Book Review: McCullough's Best - A landmark Biography
Summary: 5 Stars
It takes a bit of courage to start on a 1000 page biography of a lesser known president (relative to Lincoln, Washington, Roosevelt(s)). However, for those of you decide to jump in may find yourself transformed at how you look at politics and America as a whole.
David McCullough has been given much (very well deserved) praise for his biography on John Adams. McCullough clearly deserved the attention (and the Pulitzer to boot), but it seems that "John Adams" has caused his work on Harry S. Truman to be overlooked. This is unfortunate, because in my opinion, Truman is a much more relevant and important that John Adams in today's society.
In "Truman" McCullough paints a masterful (and I mean MASTERFUL) portrait of a small town farmer who found himself not only President of the United States but as one of the most important figures of World History. It really is an unbelievable that a man who worked on his farm until age 34 decided to enlist in the Army during WWI. His fame as an artillery Captain allowed him to enter the world of local politics. From there a few incredible breaks have him in the US Senate as a relative anonymous Senator. World War II allows him to use his military expertise to form the "Truman Committee" and the oversight of government military spending. An unlikely turn-of-events has him Vice President of the United States to a dying President. Up next....
1- The Postdam conference with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin
2- The dropping of the A-bombs in Japan
3- The drafting of all the railroad workers into the Army
4- Berlin airlift
5- Korean war
6- Firing of MacArthur
To name a few of the more significant events that this farmer had to face during his presidency.
McCullough paints a very vivid a lively man who never forgot the office that he represented, the people he served, or how he was raised. Truman is a model of a politician doing what they think is right and allowing the opinions to fall where they might. McCullough shows that what Truman lacked in polish he made up for in grit and determination.
Final Verdict - McCullough's best work - probably one of the best biographies ever written. In addition, we are given an amazing history of the United States from 1910-1955.
5 Stars - Must read for anyone who has the courage to tackle such a lengthy book.
Summary of Truman
A biography of the U.S. president explores Truman's brutal frontier childhood, his education, his dogged optimism, his rise through the ranks of the Pendergast machine that controlled Missouri politics, and more. 100,000 first printing. Tour.This warm biography of Harry Truman is both an historical evaluation of his presidency and a paean to the man's rock-solid American values. Truman was a compromise candidate for vice president, almost an accidental president after Roosevelt's death 12 weeks into his fourth term. Truman's stunning come-from-behind victory in the 1948 election showed how his personal qualities of integrity and straightforwardness were appreciated by ordinary Americans, perhaps, as McCullough notes, because he was one himself. His presidency was dominated by enormously controversial issues: he dropped the atomic bomb on Japan, established anti-Communism as the bedrock of American foreign policy, and sent U.S. troops into the Korean War. In this winner of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize, McCullough argues that history has validated most of Truman's war-time and Cold War decisions.
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