The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World

Bought as a gift for later in the year. Should be well appreciated

This isn't a biography from cradle to the grave, which,lets be honest -spend too many pages on tedious stuff, this mainly covers a few months when Truman went from not even a household name in his family to the most powerful man on the planet taking momentous decisions almost daily. In his first four months of his presidency he had seen Germany defeated, spent days horse trading with Churchill and Stalin (one of them would have been too much for most politicians) on what Europe would look like post-war and give permission to drop two nuclear bombs that forced Japan to surrender. Throw in the first seeds about the state of Israel being created and Truman's decisions still have huge consequences today. Throw in the fact he never wanted to be President and his wife hated the idea all the while he was in office nakes the title completely accurate of someone who was thrust into office and power and judging by this book did a pretty good job under circumstances probably no world leader had seen before or since.

I knew nothing of Truman before reading this, and Baime does a good job of painting a compelling portrait of the man, who he obviously admires and likes. It is difficult not to share that view after reading this book (which ends at America at the zenith of its power and Truman at the zenith of his popularity: no Korea or McCarthy here). There are some irritating factual errors - even I knew that Gromyko was not the Soviet Foreign Minister in 1945, nor was Anthony Eden yet Lord Avon - and it might have been interesting to explore how history has treated the decision to drop the bomb: Baime rather suggests that it was dropped largely because no one seemed to have much of an idea what else to do with it. Those niggles aside, a recommended read.

An excellent account of Truman's baptism of fire (literally). A must read for anyone interested in modern history, and anyone who isn't.

It was not until April 25, 1945 (or page 167 of A.J. Baime's "The Accidental President"), that newly inaugurated president Harry Truman was told about the US development of the atomic bomb. That was nearly two weeks after Truman succeeded Franklin Roosevelt, who had died on April 12th. (I'm not exactly sure, but I think the Soviets may have known about the bomb before Truman did because of the spying done at Los Alamos.) Why hadn't Truman, who had been Vice-President since January 20, 1945, been let into the loop? A.J. Baime covers this and lots more in his book, "The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World". It's a book that concentrates on a short time in history, but gives the reader the full story of how that period of time relates to the periods that came before and after. He writes a short bio of Truman and his family before moving into his nomination as Vice-President (the voting was actually done on the floor of the Democratic convention, different from today when the Presidential candidate selects his running mate and a perfunctory floor vote is taken). Truman was considered a dark horse and underestimated by those who didn't know him - like Franklin Roosevelt - but he was much respected by his peers in the Senate. His formation in 1941 of the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program boosted his national profile a bit, but he was still an unknown quantity by the American public, shocked and saddened after Roosevelt's sudden death. Baime covers the Allied meeting at Potsdam, the decision to drop the two atomic bombs, and the early formation of the United Nations, among other topics. But most of all, Baime examines Harry Truman, the man and the statesman and how the challenges of his "accidental presidency" were met and exceeded. A.J. Baime's book is one of the best history books I've read. He's an easy writer and his words seem to flow on the page.

In his recently published book about FDR's final days, David Woolner explains how -- with mixed results -- FDR struggled to respond to all manner of challenges after he was elected to a fourth term. He focused on the deliberations of the Yalta conference with Churchill and Stalin, the near completion of the atomic bomb, how best to end the war with Japan, establishing a homeland for the Jews (in Palestine), the increasing importance of Middle East oil, the transition from a wartime to a peacetime economy, concerns about Soviet ambition and aggression in Central and Eastern Europe, and most important of all to him, the establishment of a new system of international security, which became the United Nations." All the while, he also had to "attend to the domestic needs of a public weary of the demands of war and to a battlefront reeling from a surprise counteroffensive that threatened to drive the western alliance into the North Sea." It is important to keep in mind that FDR was in rapidly failing health at his fourth inauguration in January of 1945 and would be dead 102 days later. It is noteworthy that FDR met with his vice president, Harry S. Truman, only twice during those final 102 days. Until Truman was sworn in as president after FDR's death, he knew almost nothing about the Manhattan Project, had not attended any of FDR's three summit meetings with Churchill and Stalin in Tehran, Malta, and Yalta (nor had he been briefed on what had been discussed), and observed "when they told me yesterday what had happened, I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me.” Be that as it may, he is now considered to be among the greatest U.S. presidents. As A.J. Baime explains, his leadership played a major role in dozens of major achievements that include the use of atomic weapons to end the war with Japan 2-3 years sooner than would have otherwise been possible, thereby saving millions of lives; the Berlin Airlift; founding the UN and NATO as well as the NSC, CIA, and NSA; a 10-point plan to abolish racial segregation in the U.S. military services; the Housing Act ("Fair Deal"); providing for 200,000 adults and 17,000 children who had been displaced during World War Two (Displaced Persons Act); transfer of control of atomic energy from the military to civilian authority (AEC); and funding of the Marshall Pan, in honor of George C. Marshall who had served as a five star general and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Secretary of State and then, after a brief retirement, Secretary of Defense. Baime quotes Truman's daughter, Margaret, after her father defeated Thomas Dewey in the 1948 presidential election: "Harry S. Truman was no 'accidental President,' for now he had been elected by the American people." I agree with Baime that despite all of Truman's numerous and significant achievements, he remains remembered "first and foremost for his decision to employ atomic weapons -- Little Boy and Fat Man, the only two nuclear bombs ever used against human beings. More than seventy years later, this decision remains almost certainly the most controversial that any president has ever made." Truman: "It occurred to me that a quarter of a million of the flower of our young manhood were worth a couple of Japanese cities, and I still think they were and are...Let there be no mistake about it. I regarded the bomb as a military weapon and never had any doubt that it should be used." Near the end of his book, A.J. Baime makes a very revealing comment: "Ironically, Truman's greatest strength came from what was perceived on April 12, 1945 [when he was sworn in as president], as his greatest weakness: his ordinariness." That may have been true of Truman the man but certainly not true of Truman the President of the United States and the same can be said of Abraham Lincoln. Truman kept a copy of a Lincoln quotation near at hand in a leather portfolio on the desk in the Oval, Office: "I do the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so to the end. If the end brings me out all right right, what is said again me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right won't make any difference."

Fascinating insight into the life of Truman and the events of his unexpected Presidency .very well written and researched .Not a dry a read as one might imagine .Would you believe a factual page turner .Gripping even when one knows very very well the outcomes of most of the situations covered .

Well written and well researched, based on original documents. A very enjoyable and useful account. I did spot one or two minor errors when dealing with Japan, but these did not take away from the clear portraiture of an underrated president.