Description
Harry Truman departed the Presidency with the lowest approval rating in history, yet today most historians regard Truman as one of our best Presidents. Truman ended World War II, integrated the armed forces, established the Truman Doctrine, supported the Marshall Plan, recognized Israel and ordered the Berlin Airlift. However, his controversial decisions to seize American steel mills and fire Douglas McArthur combined with his failure to end the Korean War cost Truman the support of most Americans. Blaine Davies examines the life of the “accidental President” who upon learning of the death of Franklin Roosevelt lamented that he “felt as though the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me.”