杜鲁门 Truman

Cracker-barrelplaininspeechandlooks,thisseeminglyordinarymanturnedouttobeoneofourmostdynamicpresidents.ItwasHarryS.Trumanwhoorderedtheatomicbombdropped,haltedCommunistsinTurkeyandGreece,initiatedtheMarshallPlan,NATOandtheBerlinAirlift,ordereddesegregationofthearmedforces,establishedtheCIAandtheDefenseDepartment,committedU.S.forcestoKoreaandupheldtheprincipleofciviliancontroloverthemilitarybyfiringGen.DouglasMacArthur.McCullough(MorningsonHorseback)haswrittenasurefooted,highlysatisfyingbiographyofthe33rdpresident,onethatnotonlyconveysinrichdetailTruman'saccomplishmentsasapoliticianandstatesman,butalsorevealsthecharacterandpersonalityofthisconstantly-surprisingman--asschoolboy,farmer,soldier,merchant,countyjudge,senator,vicepresidentandchiefexecutive.ThebookrelateshowTruman(1884-1972)overcamethestigmaofbusinessfailureanddebt(aswellastheaccusationthathewas"bellboy"toKansasCity'sPendergastmachine)andacquiredareputationforhonesty,reliabilityandcommonsense.McCulloughpaysconsiderableattentiontoTruman'sfamily,especiallyhisferventandtouchingcourtshipofBessWallace,theidolizedloveofhislife.HermotherneverfeltTrumanwasgoodenoughforherdaughter,evenafterhebecamepresident.Thebook'sre-creationofthe1948presidentialcampaign,duringwhichNewsweek'spollof50politicalwriterspredictedthattheincumbentwouldlosetheelectiontoThomasDewey,isthemostcompleteaccountofthatsurprisevictorytodate.Thebookisanimpressivetributetoamanwhosebriskcheerfulnessandself-confidencewerecombinedwithaGod-fearinghumility;agreatandgoodmanwho,inMcCullough'sopinion,wasagreatpresident.PhotosnotseenbyPW.BOMCmainselection;HistoryBookClubandQPBalternatives;authortour.