About this title: This biography of Harry Truman goes beyond the traditional portrait of the "ordinary man" to present an extraordinary American President. Drawing on archival material and extensive interviews, McCullough chronicles Truman's boyhood in Missouri, his entry into politics and his surprising success as a US senator. But it is Truman's emergence as a decisive and confident President that forms the heart of this book. McCullough casts new light on Truman's character and motivations, and shows how he set the course of politics and policy for the next 40 years. This book won the Pulitzer Prize for ...
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Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date Published: 1992
ISBN-13:9780671456542ISBN:0671456547
Description: Good in good dust jacket. Good, In good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 1120 p. Contains: Illustrations. Previous Owner's Inscription. read more
Description: Fair. Dust Cover Missing. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Fair. Dust Cover Missing. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Fair. Dust Cover Missing. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Acceptable. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date Published: 1992
ISBN-13:9780671456542ISBN:0671456547
Description: Good. Standard used condition. May have light reading or storage wear. All orders processed within 2 business days. Ships from Foxboro MA. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date Published: 1992
ISBN-13:9780671456542ISBN:0671456547
Description: Acceptable. Well used. Still readable but not for the collector. All orders processed within 2 business days. Ships from Foxboro MA. read more
Description: Good. Dust Cover Missing. Book shows minor use. Cover and Binding have minimal wear and the pages have only minimal creases. A tradition of southern quality and service. All books guaranteed at the Atlanta Book Company. read more
Definitely a long read (close to 1,000 pages) but very entertaining and enlightening all at once (entrepreneurship and nuclear weapons from one man). The readability comes from McCullough's ability to make history read like a novel. He retains accuracy while engrossing your interest. It was only at page 800 I started to lose some steam -- and even then only a little bit.
Perhaps one of the most hidden themes is that integrity can be maintained even in the atomic age. You just have to want to keep it and work at it.
"Excellent biography of Truman, though, as with most biographers, one gets the sense that McCullough falls in love with his subject and then tends to explain away and minimize any errors of judgment or flaws that the man demonstrated.
Truman's life spanned and was touched deeply by some of the most important events in US and world history, including WWI, the Depression, the strongarm machinations of political bosses, WWII and the dropping of the atomic bomb, the beginning of the Cold War and the Korean war. His biography is fascinating not only for who Truman was, but for the men (both strong and weak) who advised him. In the end, what I take away from McCullough's biography is that Truman had two things that many presidents seem to lack: a compass that told him where he wanted to go, and the spine to try his utmost to get there, even in the face of tremendous opposition."
"Did you know that the White House underwent a complete transformation while Truman was in office? This is one of the most startling and interesting facts that I found in this lengthy, caring biography. Truman lived in a White House that was old and had survived spot renovations and upgrades. Concerned of how the American people would respond to it being torn down (yes, it was considered) and built back from the ground up, he approved a remodeling processes that gutted the building from the inside, only. He and his family lived elsewhere until it was completed. A simple story, but one that I think speaks about the heart of this man."
"Truman was not a popular man when he left the Whitehouse. Certainly not a highly regarded president at the time. But he held the line against Soviet expansion, creating NATO and the framework every president followed until the USSR collapsed: containment. His work with the preparedness committee proved his personal integrity, unfairly tainted by his association with Tom Pendergast. Thrust on a reluctant Roosevelt as running mate, Truman quickly found we had the ultimate weapon. He used it, bringing the war with Japan to a rapid end, thereby saving hundreds of thousands of American lives, and many more Japanese lives."
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