Book review: “Harry S. Truman” by Robert Dallek

Published 9:32 pm Thursday, October 30, 2008

In this political season when politicians pose as “folksy,” when one of the most unpopular presidents in history is preparing to leave office, it is interesting to return to another folksy politician who was also one of the most unpopular presidents of his time. But it must be noted that President Harry S. Truman, with his “give ’em hell” everyman charm and his Missouri roots, supervised the conclusion of World War II, made the tough decision to use the atomic bomb to decisively end the war with Japan, pushed to rebuild Japan and Europe as allies of the U.S., faced down the Russians and began the containment policy that led to 50 years of Cold War and eventually led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Thats the view from our times on his. In his times, Truman was seen more as the president who led the U.S. into the “police-action” war of Korea that left thousands of Americans dead without accomplishing much and various other political missteps, such as losing a Democratic Congress to the Republicans. In this volume of The American Presidents series, Robert Dallek spends the majority of this 150-page book on Truman’s presidency. He gives only 18 pages to the young Missouri man who fought in World War I, was a failed haberdasher, became a cog in a Missouri political machine, survived the dismantling of that machine, made a name for himself as a Congressmen, was tapped as the next vice president for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and ascended to the presidency when FDR died — that’s a crowded 18 pages. So, there is little to explain what made Truman the president he was, but Dallek delves deep into what made Truman’s presidency. Dallek is best known for his critically acclaimed two-volume biography of President Lyndon B. Johnson: “Lone Star Rising” and “Flawed Giant.” Meanwhile, David McCullough’s “Truman” remains the penultimate biography on our 33rd president, but Dallek provides a concise and intimate look at a president who defied the popularity polls of his day to leave an indelible mark on history.