Customer Reviews

Plain speaking: an oral biography of harry s. truman

5 star:		(20)
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3 star:		(3)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

When I first read "Plain Speaking" over fifteen years ago, I immediately thought that it was one of the best and most entertaining political books I'd ever read. And if I had to rate "Plain Speaking" on the sheer delight you get from reading it, I'd easily give it six stars instead of five. Unfortunately, recent research by historians at the Truman Library has revealed that at least some of Truman's statements in "Plain Speaking" were never spoken by Mr. Truman, but were entirely the products of Merle Miller's imagination. As a result, while "Plain Speaking" is still a wonderful read if you've got a few free hours, it is no longer taken as serious "history" by researchers and historians. "Plain Speaking" isn't a traditional, full-length biography of Truman, instead it is a brief "oral biography" of the man, presumably spoken in Truman's own words. Merle Miller, a veteran journalist, visited the ex-President in 1962 and taped a series of interviews with him. His hope was that he could sell these interviews to a TV network. But since no network ever bought the rights, in 1973 Miller simply printed the interview transcripts and turned them into this bestselling book. Miller clearly admired Truman, and as a result his questions are often partisan and/or favorable - Miller is certainly no Sam Donaldson or Connie Chung when it comes to doing "tough" interviews! In one question Miller asks Truman "Are they {the Republicans} just stupid?", and Truman gives a typically partisan response. Even so, many of Truman's replies to Miller's questions are delightfully blunt and laugh-out-loud funny: "I didn't fire General MacArthur because he was a dumb son-of-a-*****, although he was, but that's not against the law for generals...", etc. Over the course of the book Truman bluntly critiques Eisenhower, Henry Wallace, Douglas MacArthur, and even John F. Kennedy (whom Truman dryly calls "the boy" and matter-of-factly claims had his 1960 nomination and election victory "bought" for him by his sinister father, Joseph Kennedy). It's hard not to admire Truman and find him to be a refreshing change from the modern politician who calculates every word and lies constantly. Unfortunately, it turns out that at least some of Truman's statements were fake - they were nothing more than figments of Merle Miller's imagination. Truman even wrote a letter to Miller in which he strongly criticized Miller's "inaccuracies" in quoting him, and threatened a lawsuit if Miller ever tried to release the interview transcripts as factual (Miller waited until after Truman's death in 1972 to publish this book, thus making sure that Truman wasn't around to point out that a good deal of "Plain Speaking" is fiction, not fact). The fact that Miller ignored Truman's complaints and went ahead with this book's publication - and then presented himself as one of Truman's greatest admirers - leads me to give "Plain Speaking" no more than three stars. I suspect that Truman himself would be appalled at how Miller successfully passed this book off as an accurate portrait of what he said in the interviews. "Plain Speaking" is a great read, but as accurate history it is sadly lacking, and the reader should always keep this in mind.

This was a very good book. This book outlines how a man of very humble beginnings became the President of the United States. One of the more interesting parts was Truman's rise from a machine politician to a national figure. Also,I found amazing some of the historical roads that Truman had a role in traveling. His shaping of the world after World Wat II through the Marshall Plan was very readable. His role with Israel was also very noteable. His firing of General Mcarthur was laid out in great detail. I also liked reading his feelings and opinions about various political figures that we have come to know. Before this book I didn't have an opinion about Truman. After I read this book I became mightily impressed with Harry Truman. An excellent book.

Having just read another biography of Truman, I was reminded of Plain Speaking and of the newspaper articles a year or two ago which discredited this book. An historian actually checked out some of the most colorful quotations attributed to Truman by Miller and found Miller had either altered the real Truman statements or dressed them up to make them more colorful. The historian listened to Miller's own tapes - which are, as I recall, at the Truman Presidential library - and was astonished at what he found. He had no agenda to discredit Miller; he had initally simply wanted to hear Truman's voice making the statements and to also gather fuller context. So, while most of what Miller recorded is accurate, the intellectual dishonesty of manufacturing quotes is unforgiveable.

This candid biography was drawn from never-aired TV interviews filmed in early 1962 when former U.S. President Harry Truman was 77 and retired nine years. Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) had character, courage, and strong views, as is evident on each page. Truman provides straight answers to questions about his childhood, military service, and days as County Administrator, Senator (which Truman liked best), and President (1945-1953). Truman easily discusses tough issues like dropping the bomb on Japan, the Marshall Plan, and Korea. He praises associates Omar Bradley, Dean Acheson, Herbert Hoover, and especially George Marshall. He also shows scorn for wealthy special interests, Douglas McArthur ("Mr. Brass Hat"), Dwight Eisenhower ("difficult"), Richard Nixon ("Shifty-eyed...Liar"), and sees President Kennedy as capable but too young. Truman lacked a college education, but we see how his prolific reading in history and literature proved invaluable. The author/interviewer speaks with some of Truman's friends and relatives, but no critics, and he seldom challenges the President's responses as a good interviewer occasionally must. As a result, this highly engaging book is a bit thin and one-sided.

Merle Miller (1919-1984) admitted that during the course of these interviews he went from Truman skeptic to fan. This is an engaging and revealing look at one of America's better President's.

I admit that prior to this reading this informative and entertaining book, I was fairly ignorant about much of Truman's presidency and the events of his day. Truman's viewpoint is a unique and refreshing way to view him as a man and as the great president he was. Merle Miller, unlike so many other biographers, does not interject too much of himself. This is the unvarnished and best version of Truman who is, perhaps, the last human being to be president.

I'm not a Harry Truman fan but PLAIN SPEAKING:AN ORAL BIOGRAPHY OF HARRY TRUMAN is sensational!!! President Harry Truman was a bit of a hothead--it wasn't necessary for him to drop atomic bombs on Japan--and Truman never got over the public's love of Dwight Eisenhower, but even so this "oral biography" of Harry Truman is sensational!

I first read PLAIN SPEAKING while in college taking an English class over years ago, and it's still a book I think about often. Why? Well, like Theodore Roosevelt before him, Harry Truman was dead square, a President who you didn't have to guess where he stood--he'd let you know!

Merle Miller is pretty interesting himself, and his insight as a midwesterner--"I moved away from Iowa to get away from people like him (Truman)" is funny and fascinating. Miller does a super job with details like describing Truman's childhood, and even discusses Truman's ideas about morality like "the things that ruin a man." And Miller doesn't shy away from asking Harry Truman about The Bomb, and even suggests at the end of one chapter that while Truman may not have done any major second guessing about The Bomb, he "had obviously given the matter a lot of thought."

So what made Harry Truman special? CHARACTER!!! Merle Miller brings that out loud and clear! Truman wasn't fancy, but he got the job done, and without a lot of confusion about whether he was involved in covert operations overseas, bugging the White House, or soliciting sex from his female employees! (In fact, Miller suggests that Truman's knowledge of women was limited to his sisters, his wife, and his mother!)

As you read PLAIN SPEAKING, Merle Miller gradually becomes a Harry Truman fan, and so will you!

Chari Krishnan RESEARCHKING Tango2200@Hotmail.Com

A compilation of interviews with President Truman originally intended for a television series, _Plain Speaking_ offers some interesting insights into the mind of Harry S Truman. I'm not sure this is necessarily a good thing, as Truman was a man of strong convictions who had little patience for those with opposing views, based on his own words.

That doesn't hurt the book, however, as presumably the reader is looking to learn more about what drove Truman. But Merle Miller's severe case of hero-worship of the President does tend to get grating, as it would appear, based on this book, that Miller believes the country would have been better off to elect Truman President-for-Life, because he apparently could do no wrong, and Miller wants to be sure the reader understands this. Miller's hagiography aside, however, the book's primary focus remains on Truman's words, and those are well worth reading.

You may not consider Truman a great President or even a great man after reading _Plain Speaking_, but it will be hard not to respect Truman's willingness to say what he thought. Anyone looking to understand Harry Truman should start here, to hear things in his own words.

Harry Truman late in life telling it like it was. Here is Harry Truman speaking his mind and speaking the truth about politics and history. Through a series of interviews conducting by Miller, we see the true and great Harry S. Truman, the last regular person to be President. I especially enjoyed Truman's views on the Chinese Nationalists (Chiang Kai-shek) and on MacArthur and Eisenhower. A Great book. If Harry Truman is not your favorite President after reading this book, you might be from another planet. A Great read!

If you can find this book, pick it up. You will be drawn in for several reasons.

First, Miller is able to gain incredible access to one of the 20th century's most important presidents. While reading through another Truman biography, the reader may have yearned for explanation or justification from Harry for some particular action or incident. The oral biography provides the reader with insight into Truman's thoughts that is simply unavailable with any other medium.

Second, Miller's style fits the bill perfectly. He allows Truman to speak for himself, without trying to inject too much editorial commentary into the work. Truman's natural friendliness flows freely and envelops the reader.

Lastly, quite unexpectedly, I found myself taken in by Miller's self-effacing personality, which makes itself evident throughout the work. Miller treats Truman with a great amount of respect which borders on outright fear of the man. And Truman is not above reprimanding Miller when the latter's questioning becomes too invasive. This book almost begins to tell a story within a story, as Miller recounts his own personal dealings with Truman at the time of interviewing, in addition to the narrative of H.S.T.'s life. The foibles and idiosyncrasies which come out over the course of these interviews make Harry even more lovable. Just sitting back and listening as Miller and Truman talk and interact is worth the price of admission.

One should probably pick up a copy of a full-length Truman biography before reading this book (try David McCullough's definitive work); not that Miller doesn't do an excellent job of putting his interviews with Truman into context. However, knowing a bit more of Truman's life and character adds infinitely to the enjoyment of Miller's book. The reader will appreciate Miller's questioning of Truman after knowing more about Harry's life.

Highly recommended. H.S.T. fans will rejoice.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book. I had to read it as a summer reading book for my AP US History class and I didn't think I would like it because I don't usually like books assigned for summer reading. I read the whole book in 2 days it was so good. I recommend this book to anyone who is a Harry S. Truman fan, or who just wants to read about his life. It's quite interesting.