Truman

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Excellent Biography - Rated
I have just finished this book and had to share my thoughts with others in the hope that they might also buy this and enjoy the best biography I have ever read.
I wont talk too much about the subject except to say if you dont know who Truman this book is an excellent introduction to Americas last great president. Due to the excellent research and writing the character is not dwarfed by the detail and it nevers feels a chore to read. Some bios concentrate on facts and figures, McCulluogh concentrates on the characters and the book is richer for it. Within the first few pages McCullough begins with an introduction to 19th century america and paints an excellent portriat of the envirionment that produced Truman and shaped his character. But although his admiration for Truman is obvious he doesnt coat over any flaws nor does he fail to report any mistakes he ever made. This no whitewash but rather an honest tribute to a dedicated public servant.
Read it and enjoy it is a long book but will keep you fully engrossed until the end.
The author fully deserved his Pulitzer for this.

Brilliant - Rated
What a marvellous book. American biographers seem to have the knack of bringing history to life. Biographies of American political figures also have the advantage of not having the names of people change as they move up the aristocratic ladder!
McCullough does justice to the quite remarkable life of an unpretentious man from humble stock who succeeded Roosevelt at a critical time in world history. The decisions taken by Truman at that time set the course for the next sixty years.
Don't be put off by the length of the book. The quality of the writing, the anecdotes and the author's not always uncritical respect for his subject make it a joy to read.

The Senator from Pendergast - Rated
This is one of the most readable and fascinating biographies ever written--a story of how an ordinary American rose to great heights. But one feels it isn't quite the whole story. I don't think McCullough gets to the heart of Truman's peculiar relationship with Tom Pendergast. Although Truman clearly was not corrupt, he cannot possibly been so naive as to be ignorant of the workings of the Democrat's big city machines. When Truman was in control of awarding the contracts for paving the roads of Jackson county, he put a stop to blatant cheating by contractors who laid a mere 'pie crust' of concrete that quickly broke up. But since Tom Pendergast owned the local ready-mix concrete company, Truman's honesty meant big profits for him. McCullough doesn't seem to have made this connection, but I would be very surprised if Truman didn't.

McCullough's lack of economic acumen would be fatal if this were history rather than biography, but it still leaves some troubling gaps. Although he rightly eschews analysing the New Deal (or Truman's Fair Deal), which is a subject in itself, we are left none the wiser as to how the United States pulled out of the post-war slump so quickly--nor are we told whether the Truman administration's measures contributed to this recovery. We are not even given the the broad outlines of the Marshall Plan.

Still, these are quibbles, for after all, this is a biography, and a first-rate one at that. Sympathetic as it is, it stops well short of being a hagiography. Nonetheless, it certainly has contributed to the growing consensus that Truman was the last great American President.

A Great American - Rated
It is crystal clear why author David McCullough was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for this 1992 publication of "Truman." His meticulous narrative vividly captures the decency, dignity and determination of Harry S. Truman. Moreover, McCullough carefully explains how the farmer from Grandview, Missouri...who never graduated from college, managed to become the thirty-third President of the United States of America.

Truman was eulogized as the president who faced the momentous decision of whether to use the atomic bomb, he was praised for the creation of the United Nations, for the Truman Doctrine (to support free peoples), the Marshall Plan, the Berlin Airlift, the recognition of Israel, NATO; for committing American forces in Korea and for upholding the principle of civilian control over the military. To this end, it must also be noted that Truman was the first president to recommend Medicare and that he had the courage to take a very strong stand on civil rights.

Truman was a man who lived by simple small-town Missouri articles of faith that urged individuals to, "say what you mean, mean what you say...keep your word...never get too big for your britches and never forget a friend." McCullough observes that, "they were more than words-to-the-wise, they were bedrock, as clearly established, as integral to the way of life, it seemed, as were the very landmarks of the community...not everyone lived up to them, of course, but to Harry it seemed everyone ought to try."

McCullough packs this book with an enormous amount of historical and personal information. For instance, Truman was the seventh man to succeed to the office after the death of the President...he was the first U.S.President to visit Mexico...he had a portrait of George Washington and Simon Bolivar in his White House office...he detested corporate greed...he was dedicated to his wife and daughter...he was a terrible speller...he was not an exciting speaker...he once worked in a haberdashery...he was in debt for years...he loved bourbon, he was uncomplicated, open and genuine...and without a doubt he was a great American. Highly recommended.

Bert Ruiz

A Great American - Rated
It is crystal clear why author David McCullough was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for this 1992 publication of "Truman." His meticulous narrative vividly captures the decency, dignity and determination of Harry S. Truman. Moreover, McCullough carefully explains how the farmer from Grandview, Missouri...who never graduated from college, managed to become the thirty-third President of the United States of America.

Truman was eulogized as the president who faced the momentous decision of whether to use the atomic bomb, he was praised for the creation of the United Nations, for the Truman Doctrine (to support free peoples), the Marshall Plan, the Berlin Airlift, the recognition of Israel, NATO; for committing American forces in Korea and for upholding the principle of civilian control over the military. To this end, it must also be noted that Truman was the first president to recommend Medicare and that he had the courage to take a very strong stand on civil rights.

Truman was a man who lived by simple small-town Missouri articles of faith that urged individuals to, "say what you mean, mean what you say...keep your word...never get too big for your britches and never forget a friend." McCullough observes that, "they were more than words-to-the-wise, they were bedrock, as clearly established, as integral to the way of life, it seemed, as were the very landmarks of the community...not everyone lived up to them, of course, but to Harry it seemed everyone ought to try."

McCullough packs this book with an enormous amount of historical and personal information. For instance, Truman was the seventh man to succeed to the office after the death of the President...he was the first U.S.President to visit Mexico...he had a portrait of George Washington and Simon Bolivar in his White House office...he detested corporate greed...he was dedicated to his wife and daughter...he was a terrible speller...he was not an exciting speaker...he once worked in a haberdashery...he was in debt for years...he loved bourbon, he was uncomplicated, open and genuine...and without a doubt he was a great American. Highly recommended.

Bert Ruiz