Customer Reviews

Biography - Harry S. Truman [VHS]

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Although he always remained a self-proclaimed "simple man from Missouri", Harry Truman was anything but simple. He never flinched from making a decision with great consequences, he stood up for the rule of law against powerful figures and he was a great president. The decisions that Truman made in office to use the atomic bombs against Japan, to define and implement the Truman Doctrine, to commit the United States to armed conflict by the NATO treaty, to send aid to Europe under the Marshall Plan, to intervene in Korea and to fire General MacArthur all had consequences decades in duration.
While this tape does not delve into the depths of Truman's actions as president, the makers of the tape cannot be faulted for that. There were so many major decisions made by Truman and the consequences so far-reaching that it is simply impossible to achieve any depth in 50 minutes. This is an excellent overview of the life of a great man and president, to delve deeply into what he did would take many hours. With some of the lowest approval ratings of all time when he left office, history has been kind to Harry Truman and for good reason.

this was a great biography of President Harry S Truman. Showing how he went from a farmer and local businessman in The state of Missouri to becoming the President of the United States.

I teach U.S. History, and I was looking for a film about Truman to show my students, and I thought that this would be a good one. It is okay, but that is all. I think what is lacking is why Harry S. Truman is considered one of the great presidents, as they claim at the beginning of the program and then again at the end. Nothing in between really gives an indication of why he was such a great president. If all I had to do was watch this, I would not have any reason to think he was great. This film is lackluster, flat, rather boring, and holds little interest for today's teenagers. It's like a sales job from the government via Biography. I expected so much more.