Truman [Hardcover]

Roy Jenkins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1986

In his time, Harry S. Truman was one of the most under-rated presidents of the twentieth century. Succeeding the charismatic Roosevelt, he was often seen as an uninspiring leader, a poor diplomat and a fumbling politician. He was the first man to authorise the use of nuclear weapons, and was in office at the time when the multiplicity of hopes which arose at the end of the Second World War were inevitably disappointed. Nothing could be further from Roy Jenkins' view of him. This is the first biography of Truman to be written by an author with anything approaching the subject's own range of political experience, and Roy Jenkins brings to this book a quality of appreciation of Truman's political skills which has not been seen before. It is also the first biography to be written by a British author, giving it a new objectivity on the international affairs which occupied so much of Truman's presidency and by which he must be judged. Truman came from a small-town background in western Missouri. Propelled not so much by his own ambition (in distinct contrast to his successors Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon) as by the Pendergast machine, he rose through local politics to be elected to the US Senate in 1934. He was chosen almost carelessly by Roosevelt as his vice-presidential running mate in 1944 and it was thus with no overview and only ten years senatorial experience that he became President of the United States on Roosevelt's death in 1945.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This succinct, admiring biography views Harry Truman as a strong, decisive and much-underrated president. A British politician and author (Asquith, Jenkins stresses Truman's accomplishments in the world arena, where the failed haberdasher achieved an "even more difficult" feat than his wartime predecessor, FDR, by becoming "the leader of the free world at peace." After briefly recalling Truman's youth and early political career, Jenkins shows that he assumed the presidency ill-prepared, with only the "courage of desperation," yet managed to begin the era of Pax Americana. The author's fresh views on such Truman achievements as the Marshall Plan and NATO are informed by Jenkins's own vantage as a British leader in the postwar period. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

A co-founder of Great Britain's centrist Social Democratic party, and biographer of several British political leaders, Jenkins shows with this concise life of Harry Truman that he knows about American politics as well. He has written an admiring, while not uncritical, study, with emphasis upon Truman's public career. Based upon a handful of well-known sources, the book offers little that is new in the way of research or interpretation. What it does offer is an exceptionally fine, entertaining writing style and a British viewpoint on events, such as Jenkins's underlining of Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin's role in the success of the Marshall Plan. Too slight to interest scholars, Truman is an optional choice for public and undergraduate libraries. Robert F. Nardini, M.L.S., Concord, N . H .
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 220 pages
• Publisher: Collins (1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0002175843
• ISBN-13: 978-0002175845
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,240,367 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars a trudge with a few insights, May 12, 2011

By 

tjsloss - See all my reviews

This review is from: Truman (Paperback)

I chose to give this little volume two stars so it would appear with the excellent review previously posted. I am satisfied to stress two points Mr. Fenton made. (1) Jenkins prose reads like a bored, British schoolmaster. The King's English, rendered by Roy, is often harder to understand than the Beatles' English. But that is a distraction. The reviewer's other point (2) about a general sense of the author's disconnect with United States politics and politicians is valid and crucial ... if one is to consider a short paperback whose shipping cost will triple the purchase price. Roy Jenkins set out to explain Harry Truman and his era but never reached his goal (not gaol, which means jail in American). Love him or hate him, Truman was a fascinating man who stepped from the dual shadows of WW2 and FDR with a style all his own. All this is missing from His MPness, Roy Jenkins. Do not consider giving this book to a friend with even a nodding acquaintance of those times and that man.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Annoying, distracting and confusing writing, April 22, 2011

By 

Thomas A. Fenton (Walton, Kentucky, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Truman (Paperback)

Roy Jenkins' "Truman" is a particularly distracting and annoying work of a British author/politician writing about a distinctly American president; in this particular case, I do not find it to be a good fit. Numerous British writers have produced excellent studies of American history and American figures. In my opinion, Jenkins is not one of them. His historical facts are correct, but I do not find his comprehension of American politics and politicians to be particularly impressive.

The front cover review calls it a "highly readable view of Truman"; one back cover review calls it "insightful and highly readable". I would disagree with both of these reviews. British spelling (leant & learnt instead of leaned and learned) and distinct British idioms (post = post office or to mail a letter; gaol = jail; along with motor-car and aeroplane; candidature = candidacy) were to me, annoying, distracting and confusing, and sometimes required three or four readings to comprehend a single sentence or phrase. Perhaps I have a different definition of "readability", but I do not include things that distract and annoy me under the category of readability. Some of his writing seems to lack clarity as to what he is talking about, forcing me to backtrack and re-read several pages to understand what he is saying. One of the most annoying of Jenkins' tendencies is misquoting Americans by substituting British words for American words, (p 205) Margaret Truman did NOT use the word "gaol" when referring to the White House as "the great white JAIL". A quote is supposed to be a QUOTE, not a translation into British language.

One of the reasons I decided to read this work was the two reviews Amazon chose to use on its listing, Publishers Weekly and Library Journal. Contrary to Publishers Weekly's opinion, I do not find it an admiring account. Rather, I find it a sometimes respectful and sometimes accusatory account of Harry S. Truman. At times it seems he goes out of his way to point out errors in judgment using particularly harsh words (e.g. "rashness, ill-judgment, pig-headed...", pg 40). I am neither a Truman fan nor a Truman foe, historically, and want a writer to be fair, but I found myself confused as I read Jenkins' version of who Truman was. Jenkins does not do him justice in bringing forth his dynamic personality. He gives a form of understanding what made him tick, but misses the substance of what made this man different and unique. Further, Publishers Weekly calls Jenkins' work "fresh", meaning, roughly, "never put like that before". I find myself wishing he had not "put it like this" at all.

Further, Jenkins has an absurd tendency to use language that doesn't just report the actions of his subject, it also insults. On page 91, for example, he says the President "made an ass of himself". Perhaps Truman looked foolish, or a host of other appropriate descriptive adjectives, but reading this, in light of other less inflammatory but still accusatory language, I began to wonder if Mr. Jenkins had a very bad case of total lack of respect for a man who held the office of President of the United States. The effect of Mr. Jenkins' choice of words, and style of story telling has made me feel something I never felt before: dislike for a modern British politician. In short, I find this presentation of an American President to be highly offensive, and will not read another of his works.

One thing most of the reviewers and I agree on: it is short. Usually I like, even appreciate short biographies for their contribution to the body of literature and understanding. In this case, its shortness, 215 pages, is the only reason I hung around long enough to finish the book. I just finished reading "John Adams" by David McCullough, at 651 pages. Perhaps McCullough spoiled me. He did, after all, win the Pulitzer prize for "John Adams". On the other hand, Roy Jenkins drove me to distraction, although he did sufficiently inspire me to consider tackling McCullough's book on Truman, even if it is over a thousand pages long, if only because I don't trust Mr. Jenkins' interpretations. I am left feeling I have witnessed a "whack job". I am confident that was not the authors goal, but it was the impression with which he left me. Perhaps a good editor would be able to "fix" this situation and republish it.

Three stars for historical content, two stars for readability