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Title: Harry S. Truman: Our Thirty-Third President by Ann Gaines, Ann Graham Gaines ISBN: 1-56766-867-4 Publisher: Child's World Pub. Date: 01 September, 2001 Format: School & Library Binding Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $28.50

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Average Customer Rating: 5 (1 review)

Rating: 5
Summary: Reconsidering the life of one of our greatest Presidents
Comment: There are two important things that young readers will learn from reading this juvenile biography of Harry S. Truman by Ann Graham Gaines for the Our Presidents series. The first is that a common man of modest pretensions and strong character can make a pretty good president of the United States. The second is that historians change their opinions about presidents over time. Gaines begins and ends her biography by noting that Truman was not popular when he left the White House, but today is considered one of our greatest presidents.

I remember when this transformation took place after Truman's death in 1972 and when newspapers wrote their obituaries and commentaries waxed eloquently about the man from Independence, the idea that Truman was a great president began to take hold. This makes sense when you consider what Americans had seen in the White House during the previous decade Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. Against two master politicians like that pair Truman's stature could not help but be increased. In this short volume Gaines makes it clear why the historical evidence supports this new interpretation of Truman and his presidency.

Following the standard four chapter format of the Our Presidents series Gaines looks at Truman's early life through his service in World War, his political career up to becoming Vice President, filling out FDR's fourth term, and then being elected in his own right as President. Young readers will get a clear idea of why Truman felt afraid and unprepared when suddenly he was President of the United States during the end of World War II.

The book is illustrated with historic photographs of Truman from both his personal and political life, and there are informative sidebars on topics like Bess Truman, and dropping the A-Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As always, the margins are crammed with Interesting Facts such as Truman's "The buck stops here sign" and his piano playing.

The Our Presidents series remains one of the two best for introducing young readers to the lives of the American presidents. There are more detailed juvenile biographies of Truman, but this is a good place to get the basics on Truman and the other 42 chief executives.