A review by wwatts1734
Truman by David McCullough
4.0
When FDR died in March, 1945, the United States was still knee-deep in the Second World War, and the Democratic party was still recovering from a near defeat in the 1944 Presidential elections. Fast forward to January, 1953, and the United States, the Democratic Party, and indeed the world were in a much different place. What happened during this time? Remarkably, the man in the White House, a Democrat who never completed college, never held a state governorship and was not a member of one of the wealthy American families who dominated politics in the past 100 years, led the country through a quagmire of labor troubles, the beginning of the Cold War and the emergence of the United States as one of the two great world powers of the time.
In his epic biography, David McCollugh follows Truman from his family's emergence in Western Missouri through Truman's adolescence on the farm in Independence, his service in France in the First World War and his fascinating political career. Through it all, the reader gets a great picture of Truman, a man of principle who believed in hard work and the principle that place of government should be to improve the lives of its citizens. McCollugh goes into excruciating detail to discuss Truman's life, his relationships and his career. The reader comes to know Truman in a rather intimate way. In doing so, the reader comes to understand the incredible challenges that faced the man from Independence, challenges that arguably surpassed those of any previous president since Lincoln. Like Lincoln, Truman was an unlikely man to hold sway in those turbulent times. And, like Lincoln, Truman guided the country in a way that exceeded anyone's expectations.
The only criticisms that I would make of this biography are the following two. Firstly, the author is obviously in love with his subject. While one should not expect a biographer to be completely objective with regard to his subject, McCollugh could have provided a more balanced view of Truman. What were the criticisms of Truman's Republican, Progressive and Southern Democratic critics? The author discusses these in only a cursory manner. What about the arguements made by Truman's critics about the loss of so many nations to Communist domination, culminating in the triumph of Mao's Communists in China? Again, McCollugh is light on this topic. McCollugh focuses on the emotional toll that Truman's critics laid upon the President, but ironically he does not adequately describe what those critics had to say.
My only other criticism is the excessive descriptions the author makes of Truman's presidency. He spends many pages discussing in agonizing detail the daily activities of the 1948 presidential campaign, for example. This book could have easily been 300 pages shorter and still have been just as thorough in its treatment of Truman. Just because the author has some compelling documentation from the archives does not require him to insert all of it into his narrative. Sometimes less is more.
Overall, this is an excellent treatment of a very important topic. I recommend it highly.
In his epic biography, David McCollugh follows Truman from his family's emergence in Western Missouri through Truman's adolescence on the farm in Independence, his service in France in the First World War and his fascinating political career. Through it all, the reader gets a great picture of Truman, a man of principle who believed in hard work and the principle that place of government should be to improve the lives of its citizens. McCollugh goes into excruciating detail to discuss Truman's life, his relationships and his career. The reader comes to know Truman in a rather intimate way. In doing so, the reader comes to understand the incredible challenges that faced the man from Independence, challenges that arguably surpassed those of any previous president since Lincoln. Like Lincoln, Truman was an unlikely man to hold sway in those turbulent times. And, like Lincoln, Truman guided the country in a way that exceeded anyone's expectations.
The only criticisms that I would make of this biography are the following two. Firstly, the author is obviously in love with his subject. While one should not expect a biographer to be completely objective with regard to his subject, McCollugh could have provided a more balanced view of Truman. What were the criticisms of Truman's Republican, Progressive and Southern Democratic critics? The author discusses these in only a cursory manner. What about the arguements made by Truman's critics about the loss of so many nations to Communist domination, culminating in the triumph of Mao's Communists in China? Again, McCollugh is light on this topic. McCollugh focuses on the emotional toll that Truman's critics laid upon the President, but ironically he does not adequately describe what those critics had to say.
My only other criticism is the excessive descriptions the author makes of Truman's presidency. He spends many pages discussing in agonizing detail the daily activities of the 1948 presidential campaign, for example. This book could have easily been 300 pages shorter and still have been just as thorough in its treatment of Truman. Just because the author has some compelling documentation from the archives does not require him to insert all of it into his narrative. Sometimes less is more.
Overall, this is an excellent treatment of a very important topic. I recommend it highly.