IGX

This book by Richard Lawrence Miller is one of the best biographies I've read in a while. It goes into Truman's early life, WWI service, and career as an elected official in Missouri and in the Senate.

The parts about his military service and early life are pretty dry. What made the book for me was the rest. The theme running through the book was that all politics is local, and Miller goes into this in detail. Miller goes into detail about the Pendergast political machine-- how it worked, and how Truman rose to power through it. Miller writes about KC politics like a crime novelist, and makes even legal issues and manipulation of the judicial process exciting (Truman started in politics as a judge). Even FDR is presented as someone who understood and sometimes influenced local political dynamics for his own benefit.

He goes into detail about how Truman was able to rise to prominence-- primarily through being ahead of the curve in public works planning, and in exposing financial fraud and market manipulation. He paints a picture of Truman as a politician who got into the details of unexciting issues, communicated them intelligently to a public who might not have cared otherwise, and who was able to make the most out of limited resources. Through all this, Truman is presented as an effective and consummate politician who can't be separated from either Pendergast or Missouri.

Miller does not present Truman as either a sympathetic figure or as a villain. Those who are inclined to like Truman will probably see him as someone who had to balance his good government instincts with the realities of machine politics. Those inclined to dislike him will find a lot more reason to do so.

Those interested in old school local politics will probably enjoy this book.

http://www.amazon.com/Truman-Power-Rich ... 578&sr=1-5

I read this David McCullough tome back in the late 90's and really learned a shitload.

Truman was a solid commander back in WWI.

vern wrote:I read this David McCullough tome back in the late 90's and really learned a shitload.

I read that one too a few years back and remember enjoying it. Looking back I see it more like the autobiographies that every presidential candidate seems to publish these days. It seemed, if I remember right, to present Truman as a Mr. Smith Goes to Washington type of President-- rather than the skilled politician he was.

This one is about Boss Pendergast as much as about Truman, and shone a lot more light on the mess that was Missouri politics. This book is more complex and presents the politics as messier and dirtier-- that's probably why I liked it so much.