Enjoyable road trip book along the line of the "einstein's brain" book. Mixes history with personal experience for a glimpse as what it might have been like to be President, and then, not be, anymore. Lot of fun ( )

Delightful read of a forgotten time, never to return. ( )

6 months after leaving the White House, Harry and Bess Truman embarked on a road trip from Independence, Mo to Philadelphia, where he was to give a speech, and New York (to visit their daughter). Without secret service protection, they made their way from town to town, stopping at hotels and diners along the way. The author followed the path of the Trumans, looking for places they stopped, and observing how things have changed over the decades. We learn a bit about history, the development of the road systems in the early '50s (and the motels that followed), and a time that is long gone. Chock full of interesting details. ( )

A fun and very readable account of Harry and Bess Truman’s 1953 post-presidential road trip from Independence, MO, to Washington D.C., Philadelphia and NYC, and then back home again. The author retraced the trip himself, staying and dining at the same places Harry and Bess did as much as possible, and included a good amount local color and history about the communities he traveled through along the way. The focus of the book was clearly the road trip although it did touch on Truman’s presidency and briefly on his decision that ended WWII. Overall, this was a wonderful *almost* first-hand glimpse into a different era where an ex-president could actually take to the road like any other citizen. ( )

An endearing light history about an interstate road trip Harry Truman took with his wife not long after leaving the presidency in 1953. An honest, genial ex-farmer living a simple post-retirement life in his Missouri hometown (presidents then having no pension plan and paying their own expenses), who famously refused to cash in on his status as an ex-president (rightly claiming such lucre would diminish the office), Truman is a good person to read about for a few hundred pages, and a far cry from the politicians of today.

That might be overly cynical of me (particularly considering Truman crossed swords with the likes of Richard Nixon) but there is a sense of warmth, bonhomie and American prosperity and vitality embodied in Truman's road trip. There are no seatbelts, no corporate endorsements, and no Secret Service detail. But there are chromed Chryslers, flashbulb press photographers and Fifties diners. Even though the road trip itself is rather uneventful, author Matthew Algeo captures that wistfulness we might feel towards a long-gone age. It is all very wholesome, with ordinary 'folks' stopping Truman every two minutes just to shake his hand or say hello. And through it all is "that famous toothy smile" (pg. 33) of Harry S, one of the last truly decent men to hold the office of the US presidency. ( )