1 - The mind and character of Harry S. Truman

Summary

Twenty-five years ago, nothing of academic consequence had been written on the Truman presidency. Today, one could fill a six-foot shelf with the books on Truman's White House years. They range from tightly defined monographs on peripheral issues to Robert Donovan's excellent two-volume history of the Truman presidency. Yet, although we know much about the Truman years, we know comparatively little of Harry S. Truman. Most Truman-era historians have little or nothing to say about the first sixty-one years of Truman's life. The monographic writers may work him into their story almost as a supporting actor for other figures deeply involved in this or that special issue. But whether their objectives are narrow or broad, the Truman historians generally begin with a well-defined set of assumptions. Some writers have picked up the idea that he was at heart a conservative know-nothing; others have the conviction that he was a constructive democratic leader with a sound grasp of elemental truths. Very few have done the sort of research necessary to establish a solid base for their assumptions.

Harry Truman remains a problem in biography for which historians have yet to produce an entirely satisfactory book. Here a point of explanation may be in order. By the term biography I refer to a work that centers on an individual's life. A biographer is interested above all in explaining his subject's growth and development, personality, character, and view of his times.