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Title: Truman by David McCullough ISBN: 0-671-86920-5 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 14 June, 1993 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.8 (167 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: finest biography I've read
Comment: After a slow start (on the history of Missouri and Truman's lineage there), the book just flows from one episode to the next. You don't even realize you're reading almost a thousand pages. It's over before you know it, and you desperately want more.
The popular image of Truman is of the simple, humble, colorful man from Independence, Missouri, who took a forceful stand against Communism in a presidency bookended by two wars (World War II and Korea). As McCullough, in his characteristically beautiful prose, shows, Truman was far more complicated a personage than the simple, homespun, down-on-the-farm character of myth.
Rising to the presidency under perhaps the worst possible circumstances (during the final months of a global war, succeeding a phenomenally popular president who led the nation not only through war but also through economic depression), Truman struggled to emerge from FDR's shadow and chart his own course, which he eventually did but not without occasionally challenging the old New Dealers, with whom he clashed personally even if he did agree with them on policy. Truman's domestic policies, moreover, sometimes get overshadowed by the events of the early Cold War, causing us to forget that he was a liberal and progressive Democrat who advocated national healthcare and civil rights, among other causes. We sometimes forget, too, that he (like FDR, although in a different, more subtle style) was a politician, capable not only of strokes of brilliance--such as the innovative Whistle-stop campaign of 1948--but also of nasty rhetoric; he once said that a vote for Dewey was a vote for fascism. Reading this in 2004, another election year, I was struck by a handful of parallels with the '48 race: nasty, personal rhetoric; railing against "special interests" (as ambiguously defined then as now, even if Truman was a true believer in the slogans); labeling Republicans as the party of Wall Street and the rich; and a national array of pundits who were completely wrong. Some things never change, probably.
A truly complex figure, he was sometimes humble, willing to let others take the credit for policies that were his idea, and often not (such as his belief that he could influence Democratic politics after his departure from office). A great leader, Harry Truman occasionally stooped to low levels of anger and vitriol, penning seething letters he usually never mailed--the notable exception is the rant he sent to a music critic who panned his daughter's singing.
McCullough conveys all this in straightforward terms, without frills, without fanfare, which is as it should be, considering Truman. This is a man and a book for the ages.
Rating: 4
Summary: Truman Worship? A bit too long?
Comment: I read most of the negative reviews in these pages and I noticed a common theme. Most of these reviewers are accusing McCullough of Truman Worshipping. I frankly question weather some of these reviewers have even read the book, as general as their criticism seems too be. I guess I can't blame them, because this incredibly detailed book of 1,000 pages could be criticized for being overly long.
What is unquestionable is that McCullough likes Truman. I heard him say that in his 10 years of research on this book. He never talked too anyone, who knew Truman personally, that had a bad thing to say about him. Reading the book I find numerous times where Truman's questionable actions are documented. The personal failures of his youth and early political career are well covered in the book and yet what is astonishing is that this guy becomes president of the USA. I have come away from reading this book, not worshipping Truman, but better understanding what a complex character he was. Harry really was an unlikely Hero. After reading his book, like McCullough, I couldn't help liking Truman for who he was. I feel I came to that conclusion knowing just about everything there was too know about Harry Truman. Thanks to David Mccullough's hard work!
Rating: 5
Summary: Remarkable book about a remarkable man
Comment: Once you get through the first 50 to 100 pages of this book, it is almost impossible to put down. Even if you're not enchanted of politics or of politicians (as I'm not) you will probably find this book fascinating, moving, inspirational, humorous, and hard to put down.
Harry Truman seems to have charmed and inspired loyalty in almost everyone who knew him well--and for fairly obvious reasons since he was loyal, hard-working, friendly, principled, considerate, and often wise. The author, David McCullough, seems to have fallen under Truman's spell to some extent, though he presents the facts needed for a reader to make his own judgment. You will read about some of the flaws of the man also; such as the fact that he was too loyal to some people who did not deserve his loyalty; the circumstances in which he ran his mouth, said stupid things, and caused scandal; his blindness to some of the realities (such as thinking that Joe McCarthy would soon fade away).
In the end, though, I came away from the book feeling that David McCullough found the right tone and the right voice for presenting this remarkable man who was rooted in the best ideals of an America of an earlier time. One of the most remarkable things about Truman was that he rarely seemed to have a "split personality" as many modern politicians do. He was generally consistent and true to himself and his ideals even under great pressure to sell out and play political games. He took a lot of heat at the time for some of his stands, but seems to have fared much better in the eyes of later generations because of his fidelity and overall wisdom.
Throughout the book I couldn't help rooting for Harry Truman. He's just so darn likable that you want to see him succeed. He's the underdog who comes out on top despite all odds and expectations. He's the hope that anyone can be great, can succeed, with enough determination and hard work. He's the seemingly ordinary man who makes good on his potential and becomes truly extraordinary.
The reader gets the impression that no matter when or where Harry Truman had been born, he would have been a great man in some way because of his qualities of character. Somehow the George Eliot statement seems appropriate for such an unassuming, though famous person, that "the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs."
Probably Eliot's statement seems so appropriate since it's often Truman's character, rather than any great or historic acts that make him so appealing. Any powerful person can do things of historical significance, but few can claim to have done them in such a sincere, patient, unassuming, and warm way.
From an interview I saw with David McCullough, he mentioned that originally he started out to write a book about Pablo Picasso instead of Harry Truman, but decided against it because he felt that Picasso was someone who was difficult to "be around" for the long period it takes to write a book. Instead, he chose Truman because of the historical significance and the fact that McCullough's life would be made better by the experience, rather than worse or more unpleasant. After reading McCullough's book, I have to agree that this is a book and a biography of a person that most people would want to "be around."
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Title: John Adams by David McCullough ISBN: 0743223136 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 03 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt by David McCullough ISBN: 0671447548 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 12 May, 1982 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris ISBN: 0812966007 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 01 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Path Between The Seas : The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914 by David McCullough ISBN: 0671244094 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 15 October, 1978 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: BRAVE COMPANIONS by David McCullough ISBN: 0671792768 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 01 November, 1992 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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