Regardless of one's political bias, it would be hard to read this
biography of Harry S. Truman without a sincere conviction that this
is what posterity may very well say of him. Jonathan Daniels has
succeeded in doing a perceptive, sympathetic and yet an objective
story of the man and his role, to sustain the American democratic
faith in the capacity of ordinary men to govern themselves. One
might almost say that Daniels has rescued Truman from the needlings
of petty criticism, in much the same measure that Sherwood rescued
Harry Hopkins. And he does it - not by fulsome praise or
whitewashing, but by sincere portraiture of a man who met a
challenge with magnificent modesty and clear self possession. He
rebuilds the picture of Truman's early life, symbolic of those
qualities that characterize American democracy; the meaning of the
1948 election is "resounding re-emphasis of a continuing American
Revolution". The facts of his early years are familiar ones;
Daniels has given them no particular re-emphasis; he has simply
selected those aspects that bear on the man today and illustrate
his courage, his courage, his optimism, his gift for loyalty, his
stubbornness, his genius for friendship. The political
conditioning- a spoke in the Pander-gast machine-barely touched him
with "guilt by association", for his honesty was unimpeachable -
his fault that quality of loyalty. He saw Pendergast as the epitome
of the business man boss. But in Washington, as Senator, he was
able to make his own place, never subservient to his chief. He
didn't want the post; but he made a success of it. He didn't want
the Vice Presidency- but he enjoyed it. He certainly didn't want
the Presidency- but he wanted to be reelected on his own record-
and he went to the people for the verdict. He feels his mistaken
have been those of pushing too fast, and Daniels cites his aid to
Russia stand, his cancellation of Land-Lease, and other instances.
These last months have shown that he possessed a unique gift for
forceful expression, a determination to stand by his beliefs built
out of the soil and the spirit of America. A heartening book,
somehow, a good book to read when one needs to reenforce one's own
faith in America. (Kirkus Reviews)
Having worked closely with Harry S. Truman in the triumphant
campaign of 1948, Jonathan Daniels believed that President Truman
was an "everyday" American, an ordinary human who aspired to
greatness and achieved it. Thus, it was Daniels's intention that
The Man of Independence not be a conventional biography; rather, he
wanted it to reveal in real terms "the Odyssey of the 'everyday'
American through our times". As a result, this comprehensive work
not only presents Truman's life, it also details the development of
the America in which the president grew up.
Truman spent his youth and his political life believing that
old-fashioned, determined conservatism was vital to the
preservation of personal liberty. Daniels re-creates Truman's
remarkable journey through life -- employing newspapers, letters,
memos, family papers, as well as interviews with Truman, his
family, and his close acquaintances. In the process, Daniels
provides powerful evocations of the time during which Truman
lived.
Daniels tells this extraordinary story by following this simple
farm boy from Missouri through his youth and his years as a farmer,
a veteran, and a businessman, on to his early career in politics,
and then his presidency. Along the way, Daniels deals with issues,
events, and ideas that were part of Missouri and American politics
in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s; ultimately, he gives us the Truman
who was to become the legend.
This inside account provides thought-provoking and personal
information about Truman. His relationship with Thomas Pendergast,
the seeming conflict between Truman's midwestern conservatism and
his belief in equality for American blacks, and his momentous
decision to use the atomicbomb to end the war -- these are just a
few of the topics touched on. Ending in 1949 when Truman was for
the second time sworn in as president, The Man of Independence
provides a fascinating and valuable look at one of America's most
important and beloved presidents, as well as a crucial look at the
America from which he emerged.
General
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