The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World by A.J. Baime
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
An enjoyable, well-researched and yet fast-moving peek at an intriguing president. It certainly boosted my respect for a man who came from my home state and started serving before I was born. The author uses minute-by-minute records to draw out the drama of the day he took office when FDR died and his wife and daughter had to take a taxi to the white house for his oath of office. Right up to the day the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Truman was sailing across the Atlantic returning from the Potsdam Conference with Churchill and Stalin. I loved the quotes chosen as well such as Truman telling the other two he wanted “decisions not discussion.” Good read.