April 2011 Read: Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure

Just putting up a thread for it! We'll start talking about it on Monday, April 4!

I loved this book. It's refreshing to read a lighthearted book for a change. It makes me want to visit the Truman Library in a bad way.

Terri, I read on Stephen's thread that you are going to Dayton, OH soon. Maybe you can check out Harry's presidential airplanes "The Sacred Cow" (love the irony in that name) and "The Independence" at Wright-Patterson Air Base if you have time.

I'm ready to talk about this book when everyone is finished with it.

I loved it, too, and found the author's sidelines (like the one about the Shah of Iran) to be fascinating. It was also nice to meet Bess Truman for the first time.

I was constantly reading passages out loud to my husband and sons.

I loved this book and read it straight through in a single evening.

I have trouble wrapping my brain around Harry Truman. I'm looking forward to reading more about him someday, but in the meantime.... He comes across as such an "everyman" - someone instantly likeable and approachable by common folk. And yet, he was sent to Washington by the Pendergast machine. How did he do that? It should not have been possible that he be able to keep his seat in the Senate, be elected as Vice President and then President without paying his due to the Pendergasts. And if he was beholden to them, how is it that he could seem to be so open to ordinary people? I know those questions are beyond the scope of this book, but I would have liked to have just a little more personal history about the Truman's.

One thing that bothered me about him as depicted in this book was his unending modesty - his insistence that he would pay his own way. Admirable, but it came across as a little false to me.

What I liked best about the book was the pleasure of the people who came into contact with the Trumans on their trip. I also loved the photos which show Harry dressed in a suit and tie while on vacation - driving his own car!

I've still got about 100 pages left to go, so I'll be back to talk more about the book soon. But one thing that struck me early on was how much this book is like a good road trip - or at least like the road trips that my family takes. Sometimes the best part isn't the main trip, but the interesting things you just stumble on along the way. I love how the author works in a brief history of the highway system or the first motels. I love those details!

It was also fun to read about Truman's stop in Hannibal. I grew up near there. The diner and ice cream shop were gone by the time I came along though.

>3 marise:: I wanted more stories about Bess. She seems to have lived in Harry's shadow, perhaps like most women of that time.

>4 sjmccreary:: I gulped it down, too, Sandy. I know nothing about the Pendergasts...is this a Kansas City thing? Sounds like the stockyard mafia or something. ;-)

Unending modesty... My take is Harry is a politician and knows how to "work" an angle. I don't know how much is his true nature or how much is for show, but he had plenty of opportunity to perfect his game...if it was a game. As for paying his own way, he may have paid for his Chrysler New Yorker, but according to the author, it was rumored that he paid as little as $1.00 for it!

I really know very little about Truman. I guess I'll have to crack open that 1,000+ page McCullough bio of him one of these days.

Can you believe that he wore than dang white suit while driving in summertime heat with no A/C? And there was Bess, in her silk dress. I wonder if she had on a girdle and nylons?

>5 porch_reader:: Amy, I was sad for all the places they stopped for the night or for a meal that are no longer there. I liked the details the author gave us, too. I wasn't expecting that. Let us know when you finish and we can talk more about it.

I'll add to the chorus of praise - I loved this book too. It struck me that this is a much better example of what the guy who wrote the earthquake book we read last year was trying to do. The story was about Truman and his road trip, but the author stuck in little asides about the Rosenbergs and McCarthy and the end of main street and politics and all, but they fit. It didn't seem forced, or in the wrong place. I loved the guy who saved the Coke bottle.

Truman is a hugely worthwhile read - before I read it, I had only the vaguest idea of who Truman was, and afterward I was a devoted Truman fan (I'll never forgive Eisenhower for treating him so badly at the inauguration. What a jerk. The author of this books blows over it, but according to McCullough Truman was really hurt by it). I like Sandy's comment about how he is an "everyman" - he actually reminds me a lot of my grandpa (looks and all) in the way that he was able to talk to anyone about everything.

I own a copy of the McCullough book, but haven't read it yet. Might attempt it soon, but doubt that I will breeze through it like I did this one.

I had no idea that Truman had only a high school education!

I thought it very telling that Margaret Truman said that when the Secret Service agents were assigned to them in Independence, her mother reacted as though they were being sent back to Washington, DC. I wish Bess had kept a diary!

I also loved the book. I felt like it showed a side of Harry that people of our generation don't really know. And I felt like it showed more of Bess than I had ever seen before, although, like Donna said, not enough. From other things I've seen, I think Bess was totally NOT about the politics, and it was probably great fun for her to take a trip like this. Overall, the book made me anxious to read McCullough's Truman (but I'm quite a ways off from that! I'm still on Jefferson.).
Jennifer, interesting comment about the earthquake book. I can see that. At first, when I read a synopsis of this book, and it said that it included the author's comments on his own trip, I was afraid it would be distracting. But I thought he did a great job of working his comments into the story, and it was kind of sad to hear that so many places were gone.
In fact, it was kind of sad to realize that such a way of life is gone. Like he mentioned many times, Harry Truman was the last President who could do this. I read a book recently of Eisenhower's years after the White House, and his experiences were completely different. And there's a big, overwhelming WHY? crying out to me. I see another book in my future...

I'm glad we read this one. It was nice to do something light but still enlightening.

Donna, I've been to WPAFB before, but I don't remember Harry's planes. I'll have plenty of time, so I may just do that. I had the same thought when I read about it in the book!

My (humble and uneducated) opinion of Harry overall is that he is a prime example of having been in the right place at the right time. He was probably our least likely President, probably chosen because "the machine" thought he could be manipulated easily. I don't know enough about him to know if he was dumb, or lucky, or conniving, but it seems he did pretty well overall. To the point that I may skip ahead to Truman out of sheer curiosity!

#6 Donna, that $1 Chrysler is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about! Up front, he talked a good talk about paying his own way but in the end he took the "free" Chrysler. Not the very best one, but still nice enough to turn heads it seems. The same with the hotel suite in New York. A free visit this time and he'll pay the next time - did he ever go back?

The Pendergasts ran the Democratic party in Jackson County and controlled the Kansas City municipal government. Their legitimate business was construction - concrete - and they won plenty of sweet contacts as a result of getting candidates elected. I think you're right about Truman being a politician and knowing how to work the angle, and having a perfect game. It makes me wonder whether the Pendergasts knew what they were getting when they picked Harry Truman - country bumpkin farmer and store clerk. Or did they knew EXACTLY what they were getting with him - know what I mean?

Another thing that surprised me about Truman that came out in this book was that he received no government pension for his service in either the Senate or the presidency. And that he had been required to pay his own expenses while in the White House! I sure don't blame him for lobbying for assistance. I've heard stories about how George Washington was burdened by the expense of being ex-president but didn't realize the situation hadn't been resolved before the 20th century. I wonder how many other former presidents were also pinched - or were they all wealthy enough to bear the cost?

#10 - Sandy - Thanks for the information about the Pendergasts. This book made me want to learn a lot more about Truman. I've got a feeling McCullough's book is in my future somewhere.

I finally finished the book last night, and I continue to be struck by how much more this was than just a book about Harry and Bess's road trip. The contrast between the places that Harry and Bess stopped compared with what the author found when retracing their steps provided an interesting contrast between the 1950s and present day. My family is pretty fond of road trips, but somehow we usually end up at the just-off-the-interstate chain restaurants rather than diners and restaurants like the ones Harry and Bess found.

As a resident of West Branch, Iowa (where Herbert Hoover's library is located), I was glad to read a couple of nice things about Hoover too. I thought it was interesting that he took the pension when it was offered so that Truman wouldn't feel bad about accepting his.

That is a good point, and something that struck me too - the book did have a lot of nice things to say about Hoover, that I didn't know anything about. Usually when I think "Hoover" I think shantytowns, and depressions, and all-his-fault. But it sounds like he did a lot of good once he left office.

Thanks, Sandy. I was also glad to learn more about the Pendergasts. Since Truman had no "family" money, it makes sense that he was "adopted" by another family. Hey, that's politics I suppose.

Amy, I think it's much harder to find the locally run restaurants that were common in the 1950s. When we go on a road trip, it's all about getting there and back as quickly as possible. We either take our own food or do the gas'n'grub stops...gas up and eat fast food in the car. Someday I want to take a trip without a set agenda and explore the back roads. I'll probably have to leave my Type-A husband at home, though.

Did anyone have a favorite Truman story from the book? Jennifer mentioned the man who saved Truman's Coke bottle. I'm not sure I would have thought to do that. I loved the story about him being on the Today show, although I'm a little skeptical about the "man in the street" telling of it. I kind of think there was a little set-up involved. Either way, it was a great story...one of many.

I do plan to read Truman by McCullough as one of my big summer books. I think there are several in our group who have already read it. Anybody want to read along with me?

One final thing. I thought the last two sentences were the perfect ending to this fine book: "Harry and Bess are buried next to each other in he courtyard of the Truman Library. Harry is on the driver's side."

#12 - Yes, Hoover often gets a bad wrap - although the staff at the Hoover Museum and Library do a good job of framing him in a positive light. I went on a field trip to the Hoover Museum with my son's kindergarten class last year and the tour guide skipped right over the depression. She focused mostly on his efforts to fight hunger. It's all about the spin. :)

#13 - We're the eat in the car kind of travelers too. There would be something nice about a vacation on the back roads although I think I'd have a mutiny on my hands too.

I had several favorite Harry stories. I liked hearing about him on his early morning walks and playing the piano after a few drinks. But the best stories were the Bess stories. I can just picture her nagging him about driving too fast. That's what made the last sentence so perfect.

I might be up for a read of Truman this summer, Donna - although I tend to be painfully slow with big biographies. I haven't read it yet, and I really want too.

I think a group read of McCullough's Truman is a great idea, but I'm not sure I'll be up for it this summer. More likely next fall/winter. However, if the consensus is for summer, I'll give it a go.

One of our long-standing travel rules is to avoid eating in places we have at home. That encourages us to seek out local places, or at least the chains that haven't come to our town yet. It is getting harder and harder to follow this rule.

Lots of great insights about this book. Read it a few years ago and loved it. (Also read the weighty Truman bio by McCullough years ago and loved that one as well.)

If you all read the Truman bio, I may find another Truman book and read that as I don't want to tackle such a long book again.

ETA: I should add, too, that the McCullough bio of Truman and John Adams, his bio of our second president, are my two favorite presidential biographies. Both excellent.

The author of the Truman book, Matthew Algeo, has a new one out about Grover Cleveland called The President Is a Sick Man: Wherein the Supposedly Virtuous Grover Cleveland Survives a Secret Surgery at Sea and Vilifies the Courageous Newspaperman Who Dared Expose the Truth.

I've got it checked out from the library. Looks interesting and I like Algeo's style.

Linda, I saw that one at a book store, and I put it on my list too. I'll bet it's interesting.

Be sure to let us know what you think of it, Linda