The Trials of Harry S. Truman: The Extraordinary Presidency of an Ordinary Man, 1945-1953

by Jeffrey Frank

A New Yorker Best Book of the Year

Jeffrey Frank, author of the bestselling Ike and Dick, returns with the first full account of the Truman presidency in nearly thirty years, recounting how so ordinary a man met the extraordinary challenge of leading America through the pivotal years of the mid-20th century.

The nearly eight years of Harry Truman’s presidency—among the most turbulent in American history—were marked by victory in the wars against Germany and Japan; the first use of an atomic weapon; the beginning of the Cold War; creation of the NATO alliance; the founding of the United Nations; the Marshall Plan to rebuild the wreckage of postwar Europe; the Red Scare; and the fateful decision to commit troops to fight in Korea.

Historians have tended to portray Truman as stolid and decisive, with a homespun manner, but the man who emerges in The Trials of Harry S. Truman is complex and surprising. He believed that the point of public service was to improve the lives of one’s fellow citizens, and was disturbed by the brutal treatment of African Americans. Yet while he supported stronger civil rights laws, he never quite relinquished the deep-rooted outlook of someone with Confederate ancestry reared in rural Missouri. He was often carried along by the rush of events and guided by men who succeeded in refining his fixed and facile view of the postwar world. And while he prided himself on his Midwestern rationality, he could act out of emotion, as when, in the aftermath of World War II, moved by the plight of refugees, he pushed to recognize the new state of Israel.

The Truman who emerges in these pages is a man with generous impulses, loyal to friends and family, and blessed with keen political instincts, but insecure, quick to anger, and prone to hasty decisions. Archival discoveries, and research that led from Missouri to Washington, Berlin and Korea, have contributed to an indelible, and deeply human, portrait of an ordinary man suddenly forced to shoulder extraordinary responsibilities, who never lost a schoolboy’s romantic love for his country, and its Constitution.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Presidents, Politics, American History, Us Presidents

576 pages, Hardcover

Published March 8, 2022

About the author

Worked as senior editor at The New Yorker. Also worked for The Washington Post.

Reviews

[CoachJim · Rating 5 out of 5]

The United States during this period of history can be thought of as a teenager maturing into adulthood, unsure of their responsibilities and how to handle them. The United States had emerged from World War II as the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world. Having never assumed much of a role in world affairs it was now looked to for help solving trouble spots like Greece, Turkey, Palestine, Czechoslovakia, and Berlin.

It was during this period that Harry Truman as President had to guide the nation in these new responsibilities. The author mentions at the beginning of the book that when Truman left office in 1953 his presidency was marred by scandals and the expanding war in Korea. HIs approval rating as President was quite low. In the years since then, after the presidencies of Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Reagan, and the others, the opinions of historical scholars about his presidency has improved greatly. A C-Span poll in 2009 ranked him as our fifth greatest president.* (*"C-SPAN Survey of Presidential Leadership". Archived from the original on February 17, 2009. Retrieved April 5, 2010.)

This book can be seen as an explanation for that reassessment. The opinion of his presidency reflects some of the high points of his time in office: the postwar rebuilding of Europe through the Marshall Plan, the founding of the United Nations, the creation of the North Atlantic military alliance, the Truman Doctrine that helped contain the expansion of Soviet communism, and the recognition of Israel. Domestically, he fought to expand the social and economic programs of the New Deal, he made several attempts to create a national health insurance program, and he was committed to equality for African Americans.

After his election in 1948 he delivered his State of the Union message and called for a “Fair Deal”. One that urged more economic equality where “our economic system should rest on a democratic foundation and that wealth should be created for the benefit of all” (Page 191). In this address he also called for a national health insurance program that would provide every American good medical care. “In a nation as rich as ours, it is a shocking fact that tens of millions lack adequate medical care.” (Page 191).

There is a rather chilling chapter on the Nuclear Arms Race. Once an atomic bomb had been developed and its use had shown its destructive power there was an effort to develop an even more destructive bomb. With the development of the H-Bomb or Super Bomb it was thought that a bomb’s power was “open-ended”. It would be possible to develop a bomb that could obliterate all living creatures on our planet.

Truman and Dean Acheson wanted and tried to bring about some form of international control of these weapons. Truman viewed Stalin as someone who had yet to abide by any promise he made. Truman couldn’t allow the United States to forgo development of more powerful weapons as long as some other country might obtain them. This led to an internal debate between the State and Defense Department as to what role traditional military might would play. As the United States came to rely on its nuclear arsenal cuts were made to the defense budget.

The Korean War is dealt with and the interesting section here is a discussion of the complexity of the history and culture of Asia. When North Korea invaded South Korea President Truman responded with American forces to protect South Korea. Initially the lack of conventional weapons was apparent and the troops of the United Nations force suffered great casualties. Eventually when it became clear a complete victory was not possible, due in part after mistakes and mismanagement by MacArthur, a truce was sought and obtained restoring the border between the North and the South at the original 38th parallel. Today “fifty million South Koreans live in freedom—a vibrant democracy, one of the world’s most dynamic economies, in stark contrast to the repression and poverty of the North” (Page 368 quoting Barack Obama in 2013). This is recognized today as a result of President Truman not allowing North Korea to conquer the entire Korean peninsula. Compare this to the result of any other war since then that we were involved

Truman’s successors, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon were all United States Senators during this period and learned nothing from this war. They and others after them continued to become involved in conflicts in faraway countries that were not understood.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

"[Harry S.] Truman's leadership was never stirring; he could be overwhelmed by his duties, and by the pounding that came with the job. But he was steadfast, honorable, and sometimes courageous, and deeply in love with his country and its Constitution. He rarely, if ever, wobbled." -- on pages 377-378

As an admirer of author Frank's earlier Ike and Dick: Portrait of a Strange Political Marriage (focusing on the nearly 20-year professional relationship of Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon), I would have thought that his follow-up The Trials of Harry Truman to be another 'sure thing.' However, this one - with its narrative focusing mainly on the man's presidential years, as noted in the book's subtitle - to be slower-paced and a bit dry. I think there is something low-key fascinating about Truman - a farmer's son of sturdy Midwestern stock, an artillery officer during WWI, and a low-level politician from Missouri - suddenly finding himself in our nation's highest office after only serving two terms in the Senate. (As of this date he is also the most recent POTUS who did not have a college degree.) While there were some nice bits of history dispersed throughout the account - such as Truman's 'time in the White House' being somewhat of a misnomer, as the storied building had fallen into severe age-related disrepair after 140+ years and underwent major renovation / updating during his time in office, requiring him to stay elsewhere for a time - it is top-heavy on international politics / foreign policy (perhaps understandable with both waning days of WWII and the Korean Conflict entering the picture during his era), and short-changes other aspects, such as a little-remembered assassination attempt that was given only two paragraphs and seemed like an afterthought.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://wp.me/p302YQ-67V

Published in 2022, Jeffrey Frank's "The Trials of Harry S. Truman: The Extraordinary Presidency of an Ordinary Man, 1945-1953" offers a detailed review of Truman's presidency.  Frank has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The New Yorker and is the author of “Ike and Dick: Portrait of a Strange Political Marriage.”

Harry Truman left office with the lowest approval rating of any president in modern times - with the sole exception of Richard Nixon. But the 1992 publication of David McCullough's iconic biography of Truman ushered in an era of re-appraisal and subsequent biographers have widely accepted Truman's "near greatness."

But this book, with a 380-page narrative focused on the Truman presidency, is somewhat an outlier. While there seems little doubt this author is an admirer of the 33rd president, he observes Truman's faults, flaws and foibles with unusual frankness.  And while Frank seems to view Truman's overall performance as a success, he portrays his subject as a man of limited imagination and experience who nevertheless possessed the decency and determination to make it work.

Global events during Truman's ninety-three-month presidency were unusually dynamic, providing much for historians and biographers to ponder.  And Frank's narrative dutifully observes and reports these events, occasionally incorporating interesting analyses or conclusions relating to Truman's actions.

But the key difference between "biography" and "history text" is that special literary glue which holds together a timeline, and its constituent facts, and provides insight not always evident to the casual observer. And while Frank provides a healthy dose of detail regarding events in Truman's sphere, many readers will wish the narrative incorporated even more of the author's own analysis.

Also largely missing is an ingredient critical to any biography's vitality and verve- getting inside the subject's head and seeing the world through his or her eyes. This is often accomplished by deeply exploring a subject's family life and friendships and, in a comprehensive biography, by examining someone's formative years. In this case, there is no emphasis on Truman's personal relationships and the first six decades of his life are relegated to two-dozen pages in a "Prologue" which prove useful...but not sufficient.

Without a deeper exploration of Truman's chronic difficulties in farming and business and, more critically, his political coming-of-age under the tutelage of Kansas City political boss Tom Pendergast (which led to a decade of service in the US Senate) it is impossible to fully appreciate or understand Truman's actions as president.

But despite the book's inherent limitations, there are several bright spots in addition to Frank's careful reporting and admirable objectivity. Among these are introductions to important but largely unfamiliar characters such as Robert Lovett and James Forrestal, an interesting introduction to J. Edgar Hoover, several pages revealing Truman's thoughts relating to possible presidential successors and the author's consideration of his evolving legacy.

Overall, however, Jeffrey Frank's "The Trials of Harry S. Truman: The Extraordinary Presidency of an Ordinary Man" undertakes an extraordinarily difficult mission: to understand the Truman presidency without fully understanding Truman "the man." History buffs and presidential aficionados will find much to ponder in what is an accessible, modest-sized book.  But readers in search of judicious history and a great biography may wish to look elsewhere.

Overall Rating: 3¼ stars

[Rama Rao · Rating 5 out of 5]

The man of people

This book narrates an intensely human side of a man who changed the world during the difficult days in the aftermath of WWII. There are numerous biographies of President Harry Truman in literature, but certainly this stands out well. I very much enjoyed reading the attributes of a man who accomplished so much when few people anticipated that he would accomplish anything significant.

Harry Truman was born in Missouri, fought in WWI, married his long-time sweetheart, served as in the U.S. Senate, and became President of the United States. He made many historic decisions in the global history. For example, an urgent plea to Japan to surrender during WWII was rejected. Truman, after consultations with his advisers, ordered atomic bombs dropped on cities devoted to war work, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki. Japanese surrender quickly followed. In June 1945 Truman witnessed the signing of the charter of the United Nations. When Russians blockaded the western sectors of Berlin in 1948, Truman created a massive airlift to supply Berliners until the Russians backed down. Meanwhile, he negotiated a military alliance to protect Western nations, then the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was established in 1949. After the onset of the Cold War, Truman oversaw Marshall Plan. When North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, he lobbied for intervention from the United Nations in the Korean War. He also deployed American forces without congressional authorization. He successfully guided the U.S. economy through the postwar economic challenges; the expected postwar depression never happened.

In February 1948, the president submitted a civil rights agenda to Congress that proposed creating several federal offices devoted to issues such as voting rights and fair employment practices. This provoked a storm of criticism from southern Democrats in the run-up to the national convention, but Truman refused to compromise, saying: "My forebears were Confederates ... but my very stomach turned over when I had learned that N*gro soldiers, just back from overseas, were being dumped out of Army trucks in Mississippi and beaten." Tales of the abuse, violence, and persecution suffered by many African-American veterans upon their return from the war infuriated Truman. But he also expressed criticism of the civil rights movement during the 1960s. In 1960, he stated that the sit-in movement to be part of a Soviet plot.

President Truman was known for eccentricity. In the Oval Office he had the famous "The Buck Stops Here" sign on his desk. He was known to drink lot of Bourbon and play poker whenever time permitted him. When Washington Post music critic Paul Hume wrote a critical review of his daughter Margaret Truman’s musical concert, Harry Truman wrote a scathing letter in which he said, “When you write such poppy-cock as was in the back section of the paper you work for it shows conclusively that you're off the beam.” “Someday I hope to meet you. When that happens, you'll need a new nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes.” Corruption in the Truman administration became a central campaign issue in the 1952 presidential election.

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

This man was probably the best or second best president of my life time. And for sure held the harder base line decisions in the last 100 years for answers to grizzly reality. As Lincoln did for the previous century.

His personality, likes, strong core morality (absolutely not one of relative morality)and man, the person are told well here. And the players shakers in politics then are done to 4 stars. But somehow the meat of how he crowned that crux and that decision? Length of before or after still here just doesn't stew the answer to such a middle.
I have come to.the conclusion that the best president is the least apt to groom or pursue that role. Not even after the fact.

He was humble and not a huge $$$ provider bottom line. Today, this century, he wouldn't have gotten into the Senate either. Not ambitious or self advertising- -and never rule bending.

[Porter Broyles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every 20-30 years there needs to be a good biography on every preseident. What we knew about the president changes as we learn more and the values of soceity change, which highlights issues that hadn't been previously considered. This book does a great job at reintroducing Truman to America.

It is not a perfect biology as it essentially drops Truman into the Presidency without giving us much of a back story on whom he was or how he ended up there.

Still the book does talk about his being a compromise candidate for VP. About how he was not ready to be elevated to the role of President months after taking the office---and how a more experienced or prepared president might have faired better.

Truman did the best he could and he did a lot right---especially when it comes to desegregating the military and exploring the role of the black soldiers. But he also did a lot wrong. Truman may not have single handedly created the Spy culture that became basis for the Cold War Era, but he definitely paved the path.

Had there been a different president in DC or Prime Minister in England, the Cold War might have evolved differently. Instead rookies were put in a position of dealing with Stalin. It could have gone worse, but still, it definitely could have gone better.

This book is a very interesting look at Truman's presidency. Definitely work reviewing/watching.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well told and an entertaining overview of Truman’s tumultuous years in office. Frank is an engaging writer and this touches on most of the key moments in Truman’s presidency. It’s a respectable choice if you want to get the gist of this period. That said, the book often left me longing for deeper examination. And if you are already familiar with Truman, the vast majority of this is well-trodden ground. Ultimately, the best Truman bio remains McCullough’s masterpiece, but for those who don’t want to take on such a lengthy book, Frank’s take is a worthy alternative.

[Joe Stack · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've read David McCullough's TRUMAN, you may think it's not necessary t0 read another book about Truman, but this account of Truman's years as President is absorbing and fascinating providing a clear account of Truman's strengths and shortcomings. The author doesn't hesitate to point out where Truman's own recollections and those of others don't match; how unreliable Truman's version of events and relationships are. The author is able to write that Truman's "freewheeling" claims in PLAIN SPEAKING: AN ORAL BIOBRAPHY OF HARRY TRUMAN by Merle Miller is "useless as reliable history."

This revealing account of Truman's presidency places the reader in the period. What Truman faced during his years as president is remarkable. Post-WWII Europe had to be rebuilt. There was strong anti-communism and a fear that the Soviet Union wanted to dominate Europe, if not the whole world. There was the loss of China to Mao and a vocal segment of policy makers and the military who wanted to help Chiang Kai-shek take back China. There was the beginning of the nuclear arms race fed by those who wanted to keep Stalin from getting the atomic bomb and those who were ready to use atomic weapons. There was a budding civil rights movements. Having to face and cope with these momentous challenges was an "ordinary man" who had not been thoroughly involved with the decisions and plans of the Roosevelt administration. One can say he was essentially kept out of the loop.

And on assuming the presidency, he has to rely the judgements of officials he has not worked with and who don't know much about him. He also has to work with individuals within the Cabinet and in congress who thought they should be president and not Truman.

While the challenges Truman faced are unique, this reader thinks Truman's situation is comparable to what Andrew Johnson faced when he became president with the assassination of Lincoln. Both men faced challenges that were new and would affect the future of the country. Like Johnson, Truman was a man of his times carrying the values and prejudices of his era and place (the midwest). Unlike Johnson, Truman tried to rise - not always successfully - above some of the more distasteful values of his time, such as racism, to represent all the people.

The author's narrative gives readers a vivid understanding "why Truman, and the men around him, chose to act as they did." The reader also gets a good understanding of how Truman grew into his job as president with mistakes, misgivings, doubts, and successes.

There is a novelistic, tumultuous character to this history book in the rendering of events which seem to come one after the other. At times you wonder with if Truman ever got to rest, but he did, and, in the words of the the author, he managers "to hold tight for nearly eight years as he was hurled through the mid-twentieth century, and wouldn't, or couldn't, let go."

The author's prologue summarizes Truman's life before he's president and rates 5 stars for its conciseness.

[Gregory · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always been torn about President Harry S. Truman. Was he thrown into a job in which he was totally overwhelmed by events? Or was he a man who rose to the occasion and responded wisely and to the dangers presented by the Soviet Union? Frank sort of comes down the middle, arguing that Truman certainly had many blind spots, made numerous (often unforced errors), and could be slow to realize what was at stake. Yet, he recognized that the United States stood at a unique moment in world history and had to assume a new and unaccustomed role one the global stage. His faith in American values and concept of progress led him to advocate for civil rights, civilian control of nuclear weapon, containment, and a limited war in Korea. Truman was a man of many paradoxes, some of which could be both a strengths and weaknesses. This book does not seek to make either a hero or a villain out of Truman and that is what I found most valuable in this book.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book but you have to read the McCullough one first to get the full picture

[Mal Warwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joe Biden is the 46th in the line of US Presidents who have served since 1789. Every list of the greatest among them invariably includes George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and (usually) Franklin D. Roosevelt. There is no consensus among historians about the men who fall into the second tier. But Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) now appears with increasing frequency among the top ten. This extraordinary man, little appreciated during his time in office (1945-53), is the subject of Jeffrey Frank’s The Trials of Harry S. Truman, the first new Truman biography in 30 years.

UNTRIED AND LITTLE RESPECTED
When he took over the reins of the United States government in April 1945, Harry Truman had served as FDR’s Vice President for a mere three months. And during that time he had met privately with the President no more than twice. FDR had never taken him into his confidence or delegated to him anything of consequence. Truman, then, stepped into the White House ignorant of the Manhattan Project and of FDR’s diplomatic maneuvers and commitments. And he inherited a Cabinet full of grief-stricken men (and one woman) with no loyalty to him, and little respect. Yet, somehow, he managed to survive the conflicts, jealousies, and private agendas of the officials surrounding him and fit smoothly into the confusing three-way negotiations with Great Britain and the Soviet Union.

FEAR DROVE TRUMAN’S MOST IMPORTANT DECISIONS
To set the context for Truman’s eight years in office, Jeffrey Frank quotes the diplomat George F. Kennan. “A country which in 1900 had no thought that its prosperity and way of life could be in any way threatened by the outside world,” Kennan wrote, “had arrived by 1950 at a point where it seemed to be able to think of little else but this danger.” The danger, which was perceived to be rooted in Joseph Stalin’s designs on dominating the planet, infused nearly every significant decision of Truman’s presidency. It was a factor (though a minor one) in his decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan. Fear of Communism drove Truman and the Congress to announce the Truman Doctrine and mount what came to be called the Marshall Plan. And it led directly to the President’s decision to intervene in force on the Korean Peninsula when the North invaded the South.

A BALANCED BIOGRAPHY OF HARRY TRUMAN
Frank’s treatment of Truman is measured. He clearly admires the 33rd President but is quick to note the man’s flaws and inadequacies. “Truman’s leadership was never stirring,” he writes. “He could be overwhelmed by his duties, and by the pounding that came with the job. But he was steadfast, honorable, sometimes courageous, and deeply in love with his country and its Constitution. He rarely, if ever, wobbled.” Yet throughout the text Frank catalogs the many times when Truman fell short and the many ways he failed to rise to greatness.

For example, Frank notes, “he fired so many top officials that, as he neared the end of his second term, the Washington Post counted the number and labeled him the ‘champion axman among Presidents.'” And “he was deferential, too much so, toward the generals and admirals of World War II.” This latter flaw led him to tolerate insubordinate behavior from General Douglas MacArthur for far too long before, eventually, he fired the man.

RAISED ON A FARM, HE NEVER GRADUATED FROM COLLEGE
Harry S. Truman was born on a farm in Missouri in the 19th century. He worked behind the plow for ten years. Truman was the only US President in the 20th century without a college degree. (He went to business college and law school, but did not graduate.) His diaries and letters, which Frank repeatedly cites, are filled with misspellings and grammatical errors. And he was an awful public speaker, with a nasal voice on the radio that monotonously droned on from the written text he almost always read word for word. (I can still hear him now.) Yet, all things said, Harry Truman seems to have made the big decisions correctly—at least in the view of most historians.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jeffrey Frank is a senior editor at The New Yorker and deputy editor of the Outlook Section in the Washington Post. He is the author of four novels and two works of nonfiction. His previous venture into history was Ike and Dick, about the relationship between Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon.

[CASPER HILEMAN · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Frank in this new biography of President Truman paints a very human portrait of the only man in human history to make the decision to use atomic weapons. Truman is all too human with great facility to love, hate, try, fail, and above all be decisive for good or for ill. In today's world of indecision and information paralysis, Truman and his legacy stand out. Truman is seen for what he was besides being the President. He was an unrepentant Mommas boy, lover of music and the piano. He had been a soldier at war leading men and seeing the consequences of decisions he had made in the death of the enemy. Lover of Bess and his daughter Margaret. He was also an anti-communist as well as the man responsible for integrating the United States Military, but above all he was an American.

[Steven Z. · Rating 4 out of 5]

During my forty-four year teaching career on the secondary and university level I was often asked; “Who is your favorite President?” The answer came very easily, Harry S. Truman. My response was based on his personality, moral code, and his actions during his lifetime culminating in the presidency. My opinion is not based on hagiography, but on a clear view of his important successes, and the mistakes that he made. There have been a number of important biographies written about Truman, perhaps the best are the works of Alonzo Hamby and David McCullough. Both are balanced and quite readable. The latest effort to unmask the thirty-third president is Jeffrey Frank’s THE TRIALS OF HARRY S. TRUMAN: THE EXTRAORDINARY PRESIDENCY OF AN ORDINARY MAN, 1945-1953 which focuses on the major decisions made during his administration, and whether they were the correct ones that resulted in success, and those that ended in failure. Truman, like most people, is a complex person who assumed the presidency at a time when the world was still in crisis and Frank delves deeply into how he managed those calamities and whether his approach was correct or flawed.

Upon entering the White House with the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Truman was unprepared as the deceased president had kept him in the dark about virtually everything before dying three months into his fourth term. Truman’s position was untenable due to a myriad of crises he was forced to confront, making decisions, whose impact still reverberates in today’s world. Frank’s goal is to reevaluate Truman’s presidency and his decision making, puncturing the myth of his “Give Him Hell Harry” persona while concentrating on foreign policy issues, and less so on the Fair Deal, Truman’s domestic agenda. According to historian James Taub in his April 10, 2022, New York Times book review; “biographies have a built in bias toward giving their subjects too much credit for anything within reach; Frank leans almost in the opposite direction,” focusing more on Truman’s imperfections. In Frank’s case he leans almost totally in the opposite direction in presenting an important contribution to the Truman literature analyzing many of the important achievements and disappointments during his administration.

Frank immediately offers an astute analysis of Truman’s personality and decision making that would impact American foreign policy for generations. He considered indecisiveness to be a character flaw which allowed him to decide questions quickly and intuitively – “making what he called ‘jump decisions’ with all the risks of undue haste.” This trait was evident throughout his presidency. Truman was an insecure man based on his background and earlier career possessing an imperfect knowledge of the people around him, some of whom like Secretary of State James Byrne and Vice President Henry Wallace believed that they should have been president. The problem was that he met many of his cabinet members and administration officials for the first time on assuming office. Further he was too deferential to military leaders, especially George C. Marshall, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Douglas MacArthur. One individual he relied on a great deal was his fourth Secretary of State, Dean Acheson, whose stubbornness concerning the Cold War would lead Truman into many dangerous policy decisions. To better understand Truman, it helps to understand how he was guided and affected by these men and others, i.e., political enemies in Congress, a generation of powerful newspaper columnists who disliked Truman, assorted scientists and engineers, and “hangers-on from Missouri,” who cast doubt concerning his integrity. Frank continues arguing that Truman liked the reputation of honesty and directness, but he could fudge, and lie, when he felt concerned or embarrassed. He had a temper and like most presidents held grudges especially if it involved his family. This is an astute analysis that captures Truman’s true nature and how it impacted the impactful decisions he was forced to make.

The decision making process is evident throughout the narrative. In a book that was dominated by the decision making that led to the Korean War and the resulting “police action” and its results, and policies surrounding the use of and the possibility of sharing atomic secrets which led to the hydrogen bomb and the nuclear arms race, the author does not provide enough depth in his discussions of other important policies. The process that created the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, the Berlin Crisis, and the creation of NATO needed greater discussion as it would have been beneficial for the reader to have been exposed to a more in depth analysis of these measures.

From the outset Truman viewed the Soviet Union as a country inhabited by “semi-primitives, incapable of advanced thought, a people that somehow had managed to explode a nuclear something.” He regarded Stalin as “Uncle Joe,” similar to politicians in Jackson, Mo. and held to the idea that the Soviet Politburo, not Stalin, made the major decisions and was to blame for Soviet duplicity. This attitude is evident after the Potsdam Conference, the Berlin Crisis, and the Russian decision to support Kim Il-Sung’s invasion of South Korea. This view was reinforced by his last Secretary of State Dean Acheson who probably had the greatest influence on Truman than any other official and greatly affected the conclusions he reached.

Within the Truman administration there were numerous personality conflicts that needed to be managed. First, the inability of Acheson to get along with Defense Secretary Louis Johnson. Second, Truman’s inability to work with Secretary of Commerce Henry Wallace due to his left leaning policies; Secretary of State and Defense Secretary George C. Marshall’s dislike of Douglas MacArthur because of his imperious nature; both Acheson and Truman found it difficult to work with then Secretary of State James F. Byrnes, who Truman saw as pursuing appeasement toward the Soviet Union; and the plight of Secretary of the Navy, James Forrestal’s mental condition fostered difficulties with most individuals that he came in contact with. These are just a few of the personality conflicts that existed among administration officials. Throughout these discussions Frank provides an exceptional window into Truman’s personality and thought process. Further the author provides wonderful descriptions of the many characters that dominated the American domestic and foreign policy scene throughout Truman’s presidency. His description of George Kennen is a case in point as he describes him as “an enormously perceptive and spookily prescient, qualities that eluded Bynes, whose missteps on Russia were nothing compared to his missteps with Truman.”

Frank is correct in stressing that the watershed moment for Truman and the coming Cold War was England’s decision to effectively end military and economic aid to Greece and Turkey. This would lead to the United States filling the power vacuum in the Middle East and elsewhere as it would culminate in American aid to those countries and ultimately the Marshall Plan which would provide aid to European countries. Frank could have developed this further as the Marshall Plan was designed as a program to help Europe recover economically so they could serve as markets for American products and enhance the American economy. This is indicative of Frank’s approach to the many topics in his monograph. While he does delve into the creation of the European Recovery Act, another name for the Marshall Plan, he gives short shrift to other areas.

Another watershed event that Frank is correctly addresses his discussion of the 1948 election where an underdog Truman shocks the political world by defeating New York governor Thomas Dewey. For nearly four years the Truman presidency experienced a great deal of success in the foreign policy realm, though less so domestically. However, in the ensuing four years Truman would not be as successful and was prone to make poor decisions.

A further turning point was the implementation of NSC 68 as it should be seen as a lesson in how American foreign policy was being developed – shaped by the expanding role of the nation’s defense and intelligence agencies. The document called for a massive increase in defense spending in the hazardous post-war world which would allow the United States to confront and contain Soviet expansion. It is clear that the document was impacted by the “who lost China?” debate and the rise of Joseph McCarthy, two issues that Frank should have discussed in greater detail.

Frank takes his deepest dives when discussing the implications of decisions relating to the development of the Atomic bomb and its use, and events surrounding the Korean war. A number of scientists involved in the A bomb project favored sharing the technology and the creation of an international regulating body as a means of preventing a nuclear arms race. Truman was adamant in his opposition concerning the sharing of nuclear knowledge, but did support a role for the international community to regulate peaceful ways to use that information. Further, Truman had no qualms about dropping the two atomic devices, and if Japan had not surrendered he would have approved dropping a third bomb because his advisors inflated the Soviet menace, and the US needed to project unflinching firmness which would send a message to Stalin. In the end, because of Acheson’s influence the International Atomic Energy Commission was created as well as the Atomic Energy Committee domestically.

The Korean War proved to be Truman’s Rubicon as he committed US troops to beat back the North Korean invasion and allowed MacArthur to cross the Yalu River with American troops provoking Chinese entry into the conflict. Truman and Acheson believed that the Soviet Union was behind the North Korean invasion as Stalin was influenced by Acheson’s “defense perimeter speech” on January 12, 1950, which omitted South Korea. Truman’s belief in what would become the “domino theory” at a time when the Sino-Soviet split was in its early stages is a total misreading of the struggle between Mao Zedong and Stalin for leadership in the Communist world which would impact US foreign policy for two decades.

The role of General Douglas MacArthur is especially important because Truman did not rein him in and almost gave him card blanche to conduct the war anyway he saw fit. This would lead to China’s entrance into the war which would prolong the “bloody” police action for almost three years. Further, the Wake Island conference between Truman and MacArthur reflected the general’s disrespect for the president as he treated Truman as his equal and provided false information concerning Chinese intentions as Truman did not stand up to military figures until in this case it was too late. The summary notes of the meeting reflect “a chronicle of extraordinary disrespect by a general toward his commander-in-chief. Out of pride, or unwilling suspension of disbelief, Truman was unable to recognize the impertinence before his eyes.”

According to Frank, Truman “saw the North Korean invasion not only as a test of national will, but of his personal backbone. Truman was in a quandary, partly of his own making. To do nothing meant ignoring the administration’s policy blueprint, NSC-68; risking American prestige; and possibly surrendering Korea and Formosa.” However, if he chose the military option, with available manpower, there was no way to predict, or control what might happen next as Eisenhower warned him. Interestingly, in the midst of the crisis when Chinese troops crossed the Yalu in late November 1950 Truman committed a major faux pas when asked at a press conference if he would deploy Atomic weapons, Truman responded, “There has always been active consideration of its use…it includes every weapon we have.” This would send allies into an uproar and allowed MacArthur to begin choosing the North Korean sites he would use atomic weapons to destroy.

Despite Truman’s limitations, according to Henry Dykstal: “it is remarkable how much he accomplished despite this. Truman set the terms for the post–World War II alliances and determined how the Cold War would be fought for decades. He began the government’s response to the Civil Rights movement by desegregating the armed forces. And when Medicare passed in 1965, Truman was given the first card in recognition of his pioneering efforts in creating a health-care safety net.

He was a private, ordinary man: the last president not to have gone to college, a man who was chosen to be vice president for lack of a better option. He took hell from all sides and left, if not popular, with some everyday dignity. He and Bess departed Washington by themselves in their own ’53 Chrysler, staying in modest motor courts and unaccompanied by security on the way home to Missouri. Frank has made a case for a man who, when given the responsibility of the entire country, was able to thread many needles, based on personal confidence, trust in the right people, and healthy relationships with family and friends.”* But one must remember in the end Truman held an unrealistic view of American power. As Frank argues “he held fast to the confident, and ruinous, idea that, from a great distance-and with no easily understood national interest at stake-the United States could successfully wage a war and administer a lasting peace.” As Walter Lippman wrote, the Truman Doctrine was “inflated globalism” which led to “misinformation, miscalculation, and misjudgment at the highest levels of decision and command” which would, and did not end well.

*Henry Dykstal. “A Private Gentleman: On The Trials of Harry Truman,” Los Angeles Review of Books, March 1, 2022.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid review of Truman's presidency with a focus on international policy and relations. I enjoyed the parts that showed Truman's relationships with other important leaders both foreign and domestic, but I felt that something was missing with his day to day life and more personal relationships with family and friends. Another thing that nibbled at me was that Truman was presented most of the time as being not quite up to the task or smart enough for the job - maybe that is just my takeaway but I never got the impression that the author fully loved Truman. Not that that is a requirement of a book, but as I said, it just kind of got to me after a while.

[Urey Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and eminently readable account of Truman’s time as President, delving into the personality, foibles and inconsistencies that marked the real President Harry Truman as opposed to the post-Presidential persona that has become the conventional image attributed to him, and largely invented by him. On the one hand, we have a thoroughly decent, often petty, man possessed of limited foresight and prone to impulsive policies and decisions and on the other the firm, decisive “give-em’ hell Harry” image he promoted in his post-Presidential years, buttressed by selective and often imaginary reminiscences.

The real Truman is fascinating. And that is not to diminish in any way the real and significant accomplishments of his Presidency. The decisions were his ... dropping the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, resisting Stalin and Communism, establishing civilian control over nuclear technology, the Berlin air lift, the Marshall Plan, support for Greece against Communist revolution, the highly controversial takeover of US steel companies, NATO, Korea... his was an eventful time. The interplay of personalities and events through the prism of Harry Truman is fascinating reading – George Marshall, MacArthur, Dean Acheson, Eisenhower and many, many more interact with Truman and events making for fascinating reading – fascinating perspectives on history as it was made. Some do not come off well – MacArthur’s failings are well recognized and fairly presented here, but others are less known. Clark Clifford, for example, is an ambitious unprincipled opportunist whose abilities were considerably less than he promoted. Louis Johnson and James Forrestal are negatively represented - Forrestal unfairly, in my opinion. There are others.

Throughout the narrative, Truman is uppermost and presented as the man he was – decent, honest, prone to fits of temper and petty spite, often uncertain, disposed to impulsively enacting policies without the knowledge or involvement of those in his administration most responsible for the subject matter at hand. And yet, he also listened to, and was willingly influenced by, good and capable men – Marshall, Acheson and others. He would dig in his heels and resist in the face of criticism or failure. He was less confrontational in actual fact than he later represented himself upon recounting the event.

That said, Frank is incongruously remiss in the context of much of his narrative. He seems to be critical of Truman’s approach to Stalin and Communism, applying 20/20 hindsight from today to suggest (in tone and content) that much if not all of the Truman policies were unnecessary overreactions. This obviates the actual nature of Communism and the context of the times – Stalin was ruthless and murderous, as were Communist regimes. Truman was convinced that Stalin was controlled by the Politburo, as opposed to the reality of the reverse... but that does not diminish the nature and threat of Communism. It was real, and Truman responded effectively (Marshall Plan, Greece, NATO) to that. Frank seems to dispel Truman’s concerns – he says in passing of Alger Hiss only that he was convicted of two counts of perjury implying that was the only negative thing about him. He never mentions Harry Dexter White or the other Soviet agents active throughout the government, or that Stalin was fully informed of America’s nuclear developments well before Truman told him. After noting the Soviet blockade of Berlin, Frank says “An air operation was approved by Truman...” and that’s it for the Berlin air lift but we learn nothing else about the people involved or the development of the policies that represent one of the administration’s finest hours. The need for intervention in Greece, and for the Marshall Plan are minimized, at best, leaving the reader with the impression that Frank looking back on the times isn’t convinced of the necessity.

The decision to resist the North Korean invasion of the south is similarly disparaged... although huge mistakes were made and the conflict went longer and was more destructive than imagined (MacArthur bears much responsibility well recognized by the author) there is a strong case to be made for the necessity of an intervention in the face of unrestrained invasion and violence. The author does not make it. Frank overplays Kim’s agency in the conflict... Stalin was the final authority, and he gave Kim permission to invade only after he also gained China’s agreement to provide supporting ground forces, keeping Soviet troops out of it. A fact that contributed to the longtime friction between Soviet Russia and Communist China over the ensuing years following Korea. Stalin played Mao... and the cost was bloody.

The book is annoyingly incomplete, if not dismissive, in its presentation of the events and the times, the context within which Harry Truman was President – but it is wonderfully engaging and fair, scrupulously honest in its exposition of Truman the man and the people around him with whom he interacted and by whom he was influenced. That alone makes it a superb read – insightful and discerning.

[Pop · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve read a few books about Harry Truman. By the way he is probably my favorite President. About this book: first it’s not a biography but about the man who was President of the United States during one of the most important times in our Country’s history. I’m not qualified to review it, but I did like it.

[Jim Zubricky · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author presented President Truman to a new generation of people and shows why it’s imperative that we re-examine his presidency and his work. I totally agree with that view.

Don’t get me wrong: I enjoyed this book, and I love reading about Truman. I thought that David McCullough’s book on Truman was more detailed and showed the warmth, the person, a bit better.

[Kenneth Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

My interest in Harry Truman goes back to July 5, 1948 when President Truman and the president Venezuela came to my small home town of Bolivar, Missouri to dedicate a statue of Simon Bolivar, a gift to this country from the country of Venezuela. I was 1 day past my second birthday on that day so I have no memory of the actual event. I grew up listening to the stories of when the President came to Bolivar and those stories are still being told.

I have read several biographies and the first volume of Truman's memoirs, but I think I find this book to be one of the most enjoyable. Perhaps, some of the events in Truman's presidency are not in as great a detail as other books, but Jeffrey Frank presents Truman's presidency in a transparent fashion showing the good, the bad and the ugly.

The dust cover of the book says it is "The extraordinary presidency of an ordinary man, 1945-1953." In a time when we sometimes look at our leaders as larger than life individuals, Truman is seen for what he was, an ordinary man., maybe the last truly ordinary man to held the office of president.

Columnist Walter Lippman's column written as Truman was leaving office began, "In the manner of his going Mr. Truman has been every inch the President, conscious of his great office and worthy of it." Warm praise from a journalist not always so complimentary to Truman.

The national memory of Truman makes him now a more appealing figure than the one who was once the president and facing the fact that he was not Roosevelt, that there were decisions that only he could make and take responsibility for them.

Truman's understanding of history can be seen in a 1959 letter to a supporter of the Truman Library, he said that if young people "do not understand and appreciate what they have it will go the way of the Judges of Isreal [sic], the city states of Greece, the great Roman Republic and the Dutch Republic." He understood and treasured the office he had been given upon the death of Roosevelt and this ordinary man rose to the occasion.

[Jarrett Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frank’s “The Trials of Harry S. Truman” is an immersive, gentle corrective to the heroic Truman of David McCullough’s telling. “Trials” recounts the fateful decisions the unexpected president Truman was compelled to make—from dropping the atom bomb to issuing the Truman Doctrine, from defending South Korea to firing MacArthur. And even as Frank criticizes Truman for some of his mistakes, at times shortsightedness, and over reliance on some advisors (e.g., Acheson), one can’t help but admire Truman for landing on the right decisions for the most part and laying the groundwork for America to prevail in the Cold War.

What makes Frank’s retelling of Truman’s presidency especially admirable (even as it leaves readers wanting to know more about his domestic policies and events like the Berlin Airlift that he brushes over) is his aversion to presentism. Instead, Frank immerses readers in the imperfect information and understanding of the world (including Soviet intentions) that Truman and his contemporaries possessed. And as he recounts one fateful decision after another—decisions I might add that FDR’s other candidates for VP, including communist-sympathizer Henry Wallace might have made very differently—one can’t help but be impressed that Truman more often than not landed on the right side of history and had the courage of his convictions to stand behind his decisions (even when, like his decision to fire MacArthur, they were unpopular).

[Olivia Ramsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was a good biography, but it had the unfortunate luck of me reading it at the same time as the pulitzer-prize-winning david mccullough truman biography, which largely made this one pale in comparison. with that said, it was useful, and fairly interesting.

read for school, HIST: truman life & presidency

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fresh look at Harry Truman. Pulling information from many archives, all over the world, this book shows a broader view of Truman. From his deep loyalties to family and friends, to his gut reactions to things that need to be done, this is a great new look and definitely a book to pick up and enjoy!

[Mike Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps no president since Woodrow Wilson has prompted more debate among historians than Harry Truman. Some view him as a plainspoken Midwesterner who decisively shaped the Cold War strategy, successfully containing Soviet influence for over four decades. Others criticize him as a “besieged, uninspiring leader” and “dismal orator” who lacked the capacity for the job and made rash decisions without thorough consideration and consultation.

Truman's reputation was significantly boosted in the early 1990s with the publication of David McCullough's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography. In The Trials of Harry S. Truman: The Extraordinary Presidency of an Ordinary Man, 1945-1953, veteran journalist Jeffrey Frank attempts to find a middle ground between McCullough's hagiography and Truman's naysayers.

While there may be debates about whether Truman belongs in the first rank of U.S. presidents, the critical nature of his era and the far-reaching effects of his choices are undeniable. His challenges, starting with the attempts to curb Stalin's influence at the Potsdam Conference and encompassing pivotal decisions such as the deployment of the first atomic bombs, the reconstruction of Europe through the Marshall Plan, the establishment of the United Nations and NATO, the rescue of Western Germany via the Berlin Airlift, and ultimately, the decision to commit American troops to the Korean peninsula in response to North Korea's invasion of South Korea in 1950, are among the most significant burdens ever shouldered by an American president.

This book, as its title suggests, is not an extensive account of Truman's entire life. The author skips Truman's early years and his service as a U.S. senator, beginning instead with his selection as Roosevelt's running mate in the 1944 presidential election.

Following Roosevelt's sudden death from a massive stroke in April 1945, just months after beginning his fourth term, Truman found himself unexpectedly thrust into the international spotlight. He assumed the role of not only the new U.S. president but also, due to the nation's increased influence following the war's conclusion in Europe, the new leader of the free world.

At times, Truman appeared too small for the monumental responsibilities he faced. His straightforward and unpretentious demeanor, a trait that would later endear him to his supporters, stood in stark contrast to Roosevelt's more sophisticated and aristocratic nature.

Vice President Truman knew nothing about the Manhattan Project, the top-secret project to build the world's first atomic weapon. He first learned about the nuclear bomb during a White House meeting with Secretary of War Henry Stimson and General Leslie Groves, a former director of the Manhattan Project, on April 25, thirteen days after Roosevelt's death. At that point, the weapon had not yet been tested. Although he would later express misgivings about the weapon's potential for destruction, Truman was ecstatic when he learned that the first test in Los Alamos, New Mexico, on July 16 was a success.

He demonstrated little reluctance to deploy the weapon a month later in Hiroshima and Nagasaki as a means of ending the Pacific War and demonstrating military superiority to the Russians. Believing it would take ten years or longer for the Soviets to build such a weapon, rather than the four years it actually took, Truman was convinced the atomic bomb would significantly influence the emerging Cold War and solidify the United States' dominance. However, within two years, intelligence reports revealed the astonishing progress the Soviets were making in their development of nuclear weapons, and Truman realized the two nations were on the verge of a nuclear arms race.

This realization hardened Truman’s resolve to fight communism on every front, and on March 12, 1947 he delivered a speech to a joint session of Congress where he outlined what would become known as the Truman Doctrine. Truman declared, “It must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures. I believe that we must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way.”

The speech was prompted by a recent announcement by the British government that it would no longer provide military and economic aid to the Greek government in its civil war against the Greek Communist Party. Truman asked Congress to assist both Greece and Turkey, to whom the British government had also stopped providing aid. Truman’s speech marks the moment when the United States picked up the mantle as leader of the free world from Great Britain, and the Truman Doctrine has guided U.S. foreign policy to the present day and has most recently been challenged by the Trump administration.

Truman recognized the importance of rebuilding Western Europe as part of his doctrine. The administration understood the vulnerability of Western Europe to communist influence due to the region's dire post-war conditions. Recognizing the urgent need for economic assistance, the United States enacted the Marshall Plan in 1948. Named after Truman's esteemed Secretary of State, George Marshall, this $13 billion aid package aimed to provide relief to Western European countries, thereby diminishing their susceptibility to the allure of Stalin's communist regime. Today, the Marshall Plan is widely regarded as one of the greatest accomplishments of the Truman administration.

A more controversial decision was the partition of Palestine to establish an independent Jewish state, a decision whose consequences reverberate to the present day. I hoped to learn more about the circumstances that prompted Truman to support the partition, but unfortunately, this book doesn't provide much insight.

Mr. Frank's book, which spans over 500 pages, including notes and sources, dedicates only a handful of pages to the partition of Palestine. He suggests that Truman's motivation was to win the upcoming presidential election in New York, where the Jewish vote was influential. However, this explanation falls short in accounting for Truman's support of a plan that lacked endorsement from U.S. delegates to the United Nations and was not supported by George Marshall.

Perhaps to avoid a contentious topic, the author focuses on the internal conflicts within Truman's cabinet regarding the decision. Ultimately, the author attributes Truman's support to the belief that it was morally correct. That may be true, but I hoped for more discussion on this topic.

The book devotes significant attention to Kim Il Sung’s invasion of South Korea in June 1950, the hand-wringing over how the U.S. should respond, the ultimate decision to support the South Koreans, and MacArthur’s bungled military planning as commander of the United Nations forces. The decision to send American troops to Korea was one of the most challenging decisions that Truman faced as president, and, for many historians, it was the defining moment of his presidency.

As with the rest of his book, the author's account of Truman's decisions throughout the Korean conflict is balanced and impartial. It isn't until the final chapter that he addresses critics who lament the loss of American lives for a war that ended as it began, with two countries divided by a border that was essentially unchanged by the war, by pointing out that millions of South Koreans don't live under the oppression of the Kim dynasty thanks to Truman's decision to send American troops in 1950.

However, the author also acknowledges MacArthur's disregard for warnings from intelligence reports indicating a large Chinese army preparing to advance into Korea as one of the most significant intelligence failures in the history of American warfare.

The historical assessment of Harry Truman is a work in progress that historians will likely continue to modify. However, Jeffrey Frank's well-rounded and impartial account of Truman and his era should please both supporters and detractors of the president, providing a valuable examination of the man and the challenges he faced during some of the country's most difficult times.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truman assumed the presidency when Franklin Roosevelt passed away only three months into his fourth term. The crises he faced needed rapid decisions and steadfast leadership—bringing the World War II to an end, designing a postwar order and confronting Soviet aggression. The gruff, scrappy man reveled in the fact that he grew up helping to run the family farm, and never attended college. [However, he read nearly everything he could get his hands on—particularly history.] He benefitted greatly from the unrivaled power the country had after WWII. It allowed the United States to heavily influence the creation of institutions like the United Nations, NATO, and the International Monetary Fund. It is ironic that this modest man from Missouri could preside over the creation of a world order that survives to this day.

Truman made a number of tough calls—dropping the atomic bomb, ordering troops into Korea, firing General Douglas MacArthur, and choosing to stage an airlift to Berlin to avoid confrontation with the Soviets. On the domestic front, he advocated for universal healthcare, but was unable to pass legislation to make it happen. He integrated the armed forces, but that was the extent of his push for Civil Rights.

Frank points out the numerous times Truman fudged the truth or out-right lied to the press. On the other hand, Frank writes that Truman was “steadfast, sometimes courageous, and deeply in love with his country and its Constitution” and his policies “brought stability to an unsteady world.” He was fortunate to be surrounded by the brilliant minds of George Marshall, Robert Lovett, George Kennan, James Forrestal, Dean Acheson, and others.

Frank is not the first author to write a biography of Harry S. Truman (e.g., David McCullough’s ‘Truman’ or Alonzo Hamby’s ‘Man of the People’). However, it is a solid study of Truman’s presidency that I thoroughly enjoyed.

[William Winkler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeffrey Frank is an American journalist and novelist who has written for The New Yorker and The Washington Post. His first work of non-fiction, “Ike and Dick,” studied the complex relationship between Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. His most recent book, “The Trials of Harry S. Truman,” steps a decade farther back into the mid twentieth century to examine the presidency of Harry S. Truman, a common man who rose through the ranks of the Democratic Party to become President of the United States upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Frank’s prologue, The Missourian, describes, without going into deep detail, Harry Truman’s background; his personal, military, and political life. Such background is necessary to help the reader understand Truman’s behavior and decisions during his eight years in the White House.
Franklin Roosevelt died in April 1945. Truman ascended to the presidency only one month before the war in Europe ended. Truman then had to turn his attention to the war in the Pacific and the plans for invasion of the Japanese mainland, the first major trial of his young presidency. The decision to use the newly developed atomic bomb on Japanese targets fell squarely on his shoulders, a decision which haunted him for the rest of his life.
Frank details the complicated relationships between Truman and his many advisors, some of whom served under a cloud of suspicion because of their own aspirations to greater political power. He describes the arms-length relationship Truman had with FBI director J. Edgar Hoover.
Truman’s strong suit was not in foreign relations. His staff of advisers made, or at least suggested, most of his major foreign policy decisions. He never seemed comfortable in face-to-face discussions with other world leaders, including Winston Churchill. His one meeting with Stalin, only months into his presidency, did not produce any significant change in the increasingly tense relationship between the U.S and the Soviet Union, although Truman wrote in his diary, “I can deal with him.”
In the eyes of many of his contemporaries, and in the eyes of some historians, Truman’s greatest failing was his handling of the Korean conflict, which was brought to an end only after the inauguration of Truman’s successor, Dwight Eisenhower. Truman’s disagreement with, and ultimate firing of, popular general Douglas MacArthur did nothing to appease his detractors, some of whom had supported him in his tense re-election campaign of 1948.
Author Frank’s book is the first major work on Harry Truman’s presidency in almost thirty years. Frank had access to a great deal more primary sources than previous chroniclers of Truman’s presidency, including Truman’s diaries and other papers in the archives of the Truman library in Independence, Missouri, the first library of its kind. His book provides an honest, balanced picture of the presidency of a plain-spoken, down to earth politician. Readers of history will find this work to be a significant addition to the Truman literature.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't sure what to expect when I chose this book for my NOOK. In fact, I'd started reading something else, tried this after I'd downloaded it, and couldn't put it down. If you're a Harry S. Truman (HST) fan (which I am), I was expecting a rehash of what I already knew about HST, and little more; I was pleasantly surprised at the new and/or expanded information from Mr. Frank's book. One of the reasons why I enjoyed reading Bruce Catton's Civil War series, was that he didn't pull punches; he told it the way it was. If the north screwed up, he said it, if the south screwed up, he said it. He was very objective, even though he was from Michigan. Frank does the same about HST. He starts with Truman's background and goes straight through to his death, in December 1972. He describes the picture of the nation, and Truman, in April 1945...World War II was still going, Hitler and Tojo were still salive, and FDR was still running the White House. Truman had been Vice President for less than 3 months when his poker game was interrupted by a message that he needed to get to the White House...immediately. Upon entering, he is confronted with Eleanor Roosevelt, and several cabinet members, and informed that FDR is dead and that he is now President of the United States. For the next just under eight years, HST did much more, for this nation, and the world (especially Western Europe [Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan], and Southeast Asia, than dropping two atomic bombs to end the second world war. Frank discusses all of these and more. Where Truman messed up, and he did several times, Frank tells you and the ramifications that followed. He talks about Truman's naive feelings about Joe Stalin, his true feelings about MacArthur and Eisenhower, and the myriad politicians that were floating in and around his administrations. His bottom line was that Truman was not perfect, that he made mistakes, but without him, World War II may have go on longer, Western Europe may have fallen to the Soviet Union's Communist influence, and Korea would be one nation today...all communist. At times I was not sure whether Frank was for or against HST, but in the end, I felt that he paints a very fair, and valuable, picture of our 33rd president. I think HST fans will enjoy this book, as well all people who appreciate the rise of a poor farm boy who became the most powerful man in the world, and used that power for good.

[Annika Hipple · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harry Truman is an interesting president, an unlikely vice president who held that role for less than three months before rising to the top job after the sudden death of Franklin Roosevelt. Four years later, he succeeded in getting reelected when most pundits had ruled out the possibility. (See my reviews of A.J. Baime's excellent books The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World and Dewey Defeats Truman: The 1948 Election and the Battle for America's Soul for more details.) I enjoyed this new biography by Jeffrey Frank, though I felt it barely touched on some key events such as the creation of the United Nations and NATO, and Truman's efforts to advance civil rights. Although the Marshall Plan was discussed fairly comprehensively I don't remember there being much about the Berlin Airlift or Truman's recognition of Israel. I got a bit bogged down in the lengthy section on the Korean War - perhaps appropriately, given how bogged down the United States got in that conflict - but still didn't feel like I understood it all that well in the end, except for the flaws of General Douglas MacArthur.

There were also some typographical issues that should have been caught in the editing stages, including one chapter in which the subsections skipped a number, and a mention of Word War I. At times it was a bit hard to keep track of some of the people in Truman's orbit, such as staffers, journalists, and others who appeared from time to time. In the case of one journalist, James Reston, Frank alternated between calling him James and calling him Scotty, without introducing the nickname by which he was widely known. (I happened to know of it because I read Reston's memoir some years ago, but for other readers it might not be clear that James and Scotty Reston were the same person.)

Despite these flaws, however, I mostly enjoyed this biography and gained some new insights into Truman's character, challenges, and accomplishments.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeffrey Frank's "The Trials of Harry S. Truman: The Extraordinary Presidency of an Ordinary Man, 1945-1952" is an excellent addition to the historiography of Truman and his presidency. It is evident that Frank undertook extensive research in both primary and secondary sources. His book benefits from that research. Frank provides fresh and helpful insights into Truman's presidency, with a particular emphasis on foreign affairs. The book contains one of the most useful and helpful explanations of the Korean War that I have encountered as well as Truman's struggles with and eventual firing of General Douglas MacArthur. Frank also does well with the end of World War II, specifically the conclusion of the war in Japan, the Berlin Conference, and the beginnings of the Cold War. For as exceptional as Frank is with foreign affairs, he devotes less time to some important domestic issues. The reader doesn't get as much as would be helpful about Truman's fundamental belief in and advocacy for healthcare for all Americans. Nor do we get the vivid picture David McCullough paints of the 1948 presidential campaign.

Frank's synthesis of Truman's presidency is accurate, namely that Truman believed in helping his fellow citizens: protecting them from totalitarianism, providing healthcare. Truman was decisive, sometimes to the point of acting too quickly, he had a fundamental human decency that shines through. As Frank writes, "he remained faithful to the lessons and ideas he'd absorbed during a nineteenth-century childhood, from reading about the lives of great men and famous women. He's learned enough, and thought enough about what he'd learned, to worry about the fragility of his democratic republic." Frank highlights Truman's wisdom and understanding of others. Yet he also sometimes makes the error of many: diminishing Truman because he was from the Midwest and did not attend college.

David McCullough's "Truman" remains the gold standard for biographies of the 33rd president. Yet the advantage Frank has is that his book focuses almost exclusively on Truman's presidency. McCullough tells Truman's life story with the presidential years an important aspect of a long life. Frank's book is well-written and an excellent read.

[Alan Kaplan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Trials of Harry Truman is an excellent book about our 34th President. I have lived through multiple reevaluations of the Truman Presidency. When I was in high school and college, I read Margaret Truman Daniels biography of her father and also the Merle Miller book, Plain Speaking. I also saw the play, Give em Hell Harry with James Whitmore. While the Merle Miller book is unbelievably politically incorrect, Truman was lionized as a plain speaker who was a superb president who was known for having the sign on his desk that said, "if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen." I bought it all. Now we have the reevaluation of the reevaluation of Truman. When Roosevelt died, Truman had no idea how to be president. He knew very little of what was going on in the country and he had never heard of the atomic bomb. It's true, he had no idea that such a weapon was in development. Stalin, through his spies in New Mexico, knew more than Truman did. The book states that Truman did not really approve the atomic bombing of Japan. That was already on the fast track. If the device worked, the bomb was going to be used. The only question was which cities would be decimated. To his credit, Truman did support the use of force in Korea and he saved South Korea. But that decision ultimately led to the Vietnam nightmare. Truman also held MacArthur back in Korea. MacArthur threatened China and led us into a undeclared war with the Chinese Communists which if MacArthur had his way could have led to a nuclear catastrophe.
The meeting of Truman and MacArthur on Wake Island is reported by Truman as Truman having read the riot act to MacArthur. The truth as revealed in this book is nothing of the sort happened. Truman probably handled the mercurial general with kid gloves and only when pushed to the wall did Truman relieve MacArthur of command. In the minds of the American public, Truman was never going to be Roosevelt, but all in all, he did stand up to the Soviet Union in Europe and Korea, he did integrate the armed forces, and his election victory in 1948 over Dewey is the upset for the ages. Read this book if you want t0 see a balanced view of the Truman Presidency.

[Moonkiszt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harry S. Truman is one of the presidents about who I knew the least of all. When the opportunity to find out more about him popped up, I grabbed it.

The Trials of Harry S. Truman is divided into 27 chapters, a hefty prologue to get his backstory out of the way, and 30+% of endpapers, this is a study that, for the most part, confines itself to the years of Truman's presidency, 1945 - 1953. Even with that narrow period, this is a robust read with many stories to tell, not the least of which are years in which some of the most world-shattering decisions for this planet were made, and by whom.

Jeffrey Frank does a neat and tidy job of telling those stories - anticipating readers like me by answering the questions not even asked yet (but surely coming) as the events unroll in this president's unintentional role in life. I was surprised by how unexpected his situation was, and yet, how he greeted these astonishing moments with an everyday kind of logic and steadiness that I remember in my older male family members. There was an aspect of him that feels familiar to this kid born in the 50's - echoed in my uncles, grandfathers and elder community members. . . the kind that is - for better or worse - less and less present in our national context.

Now that I know more about Mr. Truman, I'm pretty sure he would not have gotten my vote. But, who knows? It was a different time, with a different national point of view and focus. It was helpful that the author kept reminding the reader of the journalistic POVs, the governmental objectives, and the cultural climates that varied from one region of the US to another and the influences and outcomes resulting from those incongruities.

I am impressed by the writing, the thoroughness with which the topic has been deftly dealt, and will be checking out other works by this author.

A Sincere Thank You to Jeffrey Frank, Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review.

[David Shaffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished Jeffrey Frank’s, The Trials of Harry S. Truman: The Extraordinary Presidency of an Ordinary Man, 1945-1953. Just 452 pages of reading not including the photos at the end. An interesting book that truly discusses the Trials of an ordinary but good man who became President.

The books strengths are in the painting of a simple man who though not college educated continued to rise despite setbacks throughout his life. Rather like Ulysses S. Grant who had despite numerous business failings found his true identity as military leader, Harry Truman despite numerous setbacks found his strength in politics, first and foremost as a senator who led the Truman Committee and then blossomed as the president during the end of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War.

He endured the decision to drop the bomb on Japan, led the world in fighting communism with the Truman Doctrine, The Marshall Plan, the formation of NATO, the recognition of Israel and the first hot war of the era the Korean War.

His failure include bucking to pressure to instill loyalty oaths, the taking over of the steel mills and his slowness in dealing with General Douglas MacArthur.

A man less afraid of making a bad decision than no decision.

My biggest complaint is that the book often too quickly glosses important events, but still an interesting book that is willing to identify both the strength and weaknesses of Harry Truman. Not David McCullough’s Truman bit still a worthy addition to the scholarly study of Harry Truman.