Description

Easton Press leather edition of David McCullough's "Truman," COLLECTOR'S editions, two of the LIBRARY OF THE PRESIDENTS series, published in 1994. Bound in hunter green leather, the books have decorative paper end leaves, satin book marker, acid-free paper, Symth-sewn binding, hubbed spine, gold gilding on three edges---in near FINE condition---except for blank attached bookplates on inside fly leaf and a small crimped book press on first two pages of each volume. COLLECTOR'S NOTE is included. Harry S. Truman, who lived from 1884--1972, was the 33rd President of the U.S., 1945-1953. Ten years in the writing, this remarkable Pulitzer Prize-winning biography began where Truman began, on the Western Missouri frontier, where he lived a hard, but in many ways typical, turn-of-the-century boyhood on the family farm. With no formal education beyond high school, he was 33 before he left the family farm to enlist in the army. When he returned he married his childhood sweetheart, BESS WALLACE. At 38, after his haberdashery business went bankrupt, Truman was plucked from obscurity by KANSAS CITY'S Democratic political boss, TOM PENDERGAST, the uncle of an army buddy. Pendergast orchestrated Truman's election to county judge, and then, in 1934, to the U.S. Senate. Once in Washington, Truman was often scorned as the "Senator from Pendergast." He became President Franklin D. Roosevelt's running mate in 1944 and less than a year later, he assumed the Presidency. Truman dealt with GEORGE MARSHALL, DEAN ACHESON, and WINSTON CHURCHILL. He was responsible for reconstructing America's foreign policy after WWII, and for the MARSHALL PLAN, NATO, and the BERLIN AIRLIFT. He established the Defense Department, started the CIA, approved the development of the hydrogen bomb, and made a forceful response to the invasion of South Korea. He even stood up to DOUGLAS MACARTHUR over the principle of civilian control over the military. Truman wasted no words in expressing how he felt. "Give 'em Hell Harry," "Mr. Prima Donna," "Brass Hat," "Five Star MacArthur," "the Sabotage Press," "The buck stops here," "The Great White Prison"---Harry was feisty and sensitive. John Hopkins University history professor David McCullough said: "As much as any president since Lincoln, he brought to the highest office the language and values of the common American people. He held to the old guidelines: work hard, do your best, speak the truth, assumer no airs, trust in God, have no fear. . .qualities that made him a figure of world stature, both a great and good man, and a great American president." After the presidency, Truman and his wife Bess returned to Independence, Missouri, where they adapted to country living and enjoyed their retirement years. Truman worked establishing his Presidential Library. Even in retirement, when President Truman arose, he dressed in a shirt, necktie, and jacket and he wore this until he undressed for bed. He and Bess ate in the dining room each evening. Yale-educated historian David McCullough has won both the Francis Parkman Prize, the Los Angeles Times Book Award, and is a two-time winner of the National Book Award. These two volumes have 1117 pages, including a Bibliography and Index---and are considered by many historians as the "definitive" biography. I offer Combined shipping.