Letters Home by Harry Truman

by Monte M. Poen (Editor)

Overview

Letters Home by Harry Truman is a fascinating collection of colorful letters and “diary notes” by Truman, all compiled and edited by Monte Poen. The letters, gathered from many sources, include missives sent by Truman to his daughter, his mother and sister, his cousins, and of course his wife, Bess. This potpourri of information provides an intimate and revealing portrait of a man who went from being a farmer in dire straits—trying to make enough money to marry the woman he loved—to becoming the leader of the most powerful country in the free world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826214744
Publisher:	University of Missouri Press
Publication date:	06/12/2003
Series:	Give 'Em Hell Harry Series , #1
Edition description:	1
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	14 Years

About the Author

About the Editor
Monte M. Poen is Regents' Professor of American History Emeritus at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. He is the author or editor of several books, including Harry S. Truman versus the Medical Lobby and Strictly Personal and Confidential: The Letters Harry Truman Never Mailed, both available from the University of Missouri Press.

Table of Contents

	Introduction	9
I	Horatio	15
II	"This, Without the Paint, Looks Like My Joint"	21
III	"I Have Oil on the Brain"	28
IV	"I'm a Soldier Now"	33
V	"Am Gone to France"	44
VI	"If I Was a Sobsister ..."	54
VII	"No One Wants to Be a Professional Soldier ..."	62
VIII	"I Wanted to Go Home with You So Badly ..."	71
IX	"... Haven't Had a Headache Since I Arrived"	79
X	"Am I a Fool or an Ethical Giant?"	84
XI	"If the Almighty God Decides That I Go There ..."	92
XII	"I'm Going to Finish the Job or Die ..."	99
XIII	"It Just Takes Work ..."	113
XIV	"Wouldn't That Be a Trip?"	124
XV	"I've Just Got to Win ..."	137
XVI	"We Don't Need Old Stiffs Like You"	145
XVII	"My, What a Difference ..."	155
XVIII	"I Have Been Afraid It Would Come ..."	163
XIX	"Oh Harry, You Mustn't Fly!"	180
XX	"... Just Look Where It Landed Me!"	185
XXI	"Wish I Didn't Have to Go ..."	190
XXII	"The Hill Gets Higher and the Climb Steeper ..."	197
XXIII	"Dear Mamma"	204
XXIV	"Bess: I'd Like to Go ..."	213
XXV	"We Are Going to Lick 'em and Lick 'em Good!"	219
XXVI	"X Marks the Spot Where I Sleep"	229
XXVII	"I Am in the Midst of the Most Terrible Struggle ..."	236
XXVIII	"Let's Shoot Him. God Knows He Should Be!"	242
XXIX	"It Won't Be Long Until You'll Have Neighbors"	248
XXX	"I Took the Grips Up to the Attic"	259
	About the Editing	272
	Source Notes	273
	Index	297

Editorial Reviews

"Truman's letters are those of a man who deeply loved his family. He worries about his wife's health, meanwhile reassuring her that he is taking care of his own health. He encloses in his letters an occasional dollar bill for Margaret when she gets an A on a grammar school test, and apologizes when he can't get back to Missouri oftener to visit the other relatives. Occasionally, Truman's frustrations with his job as president boil over and his prose gets frank and salty. . . . These letter give us an engaging picture of an ordinary man growing into a job of paramount importance."—Grand Rapids Press

"More so than the previous volumes of letters, this volume, primarily because it contains a large number of letters to Margaret, reveals a doting and concerned father continually interested in her doings and anxious about her well-being from infancy onward. In all, these letters, carefully edited by Monte Poen, make for pleasant reading."—Presidential Studies Quarterly

"Letters Home is a useful firsthand account of Truman's rise to greatness, partial but vivid from the pen of the author himself."—Chicago Sun-Times

"Letters Home by Harry Truman contains highly personal correspondence never before published and thought to be long lost. . . . This is a new, fuller look at Truman than other volumes of letters have provided, and he shines through as a human being above and beyond his power and prestige."—Charleston Evening Post

From the Publisher