Memoirs by Harry S. Truman. Vol. Two.

Memoirs by Harry S. Truman. Vol. II: Years of Trial and Hope
Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc. 1956.

Why read it? The second volume of Truman's Memoirs concerns the major issues with which he had to deal after WWII: Russia and the Cold War; the Berlin Blockade; labor, management and the Taft-Hartley Law; Korea, Communist China; MacArthur's revolt; the Marshall Plan and, of course, his reelection.

As I read Truman's detailed account of what happened with each of these issues, I was impressed by his reasoning in making decisions, his knowledge of history, his unwillingness to be goaded into conflict by the Russians, his belief in negotiation when the only alternative was war, his determination to avoid WWIII, his understanding of the differences between British and American systems of government, his magnanimity in winning his reelection, his purpose in rehabilitating rather than avenging the German and Japanese societies and restoring the societies of countries that were victims of the Germans and Japanese, and his belief that world-wide sound economies and free trade would go far to maintain the peace. His goal was to help countries devastated by WWII to help themselves. He also saw the need to keep civilian control of the military and the uses of atomic energy.

Without missing a beat, he orchestrated America's change from a war-time economy to peace-time economy. He did not win all his battles, but he articulated what he wanted to do and why he wanted to do it. Mr. Truman is a prime example of a human being's use of education--in his case, self-education and reading--to be successful without a college education. He prepared himself for decisions by learning as much as he could about the nature and history of the problem. He understood that the President, not committees or commissions, made decisions.