Bibliography of Harry S. Truman


This bibliography of Harry S. Truman is a selective list of scholarly works about Harry S. Truman, the thirty-third president of the United States. See also the bibliographies at Harry S. Truman, Presidency of Harry S. Truman, and Foreign policy of the Harry S. Truman administration.

Historiography, memory and teaching

  • Catsam, Derek. "The civil rights movement and the Presidency in the hot years of the Cold War: A historical and historiographical assessment." History Compass 6.1 : 314-344 .
  • Griffith, Robert. "Truman and the Historians: The Reconstruction of Postwar American History." Wisconsin Magazine of History 59#1 pp: 20-47, covers both foreign and domestic policy. .
  • Kirkendall, Richard S. ed. Harry S. Truman Encyclopedia, comprehensive coverage by experts.
  • 614pp; 27 essays by scholars focusing on historiography
  • Kirkendall, Richard S. ed. Harry's Farewell: Interpreting and Teaching the Truman Presidency essays by scholars
  • Levantrosser, William F. ed. Harry S. Truman: The Man from Independence. 25 essays by scholars and Truman aides.
  • McNay, John T. "The vibrant era from the depression to the cold war: the rich historiography of the Roosevelt and Truman years." Presidential Studies Quarterly 46.1 : 208-212.
  • Smith, Geoffrey S. "'Harry, We Hardly Know You': Revisionism, Politics and Diplomacy, 1945–1954," American Political Science Review 70, 560–582. Online at JSTOR

Biographical

  • about a 1953 vacation trip covered by the media
  • Frank, Jeffrey. The Trials of Harry S. Truman: The Extraordinary Presidency of an Ordinary Man, 1945-1953.
  • Grinder, Brian, and Dan Cooper. "The Personal Finances of Presidents, Part 2: Harry S. Truman." Financial History 144 : 6-9.
  • Hamby, Alonzo L. Man of the People: A Life of Harry S. Truman, a major scholarly study
  • . best-selling detailed biography
  • Miller, William Lee. Two Americans: Truman, Eisenhower, and a dangerous world.
  • Pemberton, William E. Harry S. Truman: Fair Dealer and Cold Warrior, short biography by a scholar.

Foreign and defense policy

  • Bickerton, Ian J. “President Truman’s Recognition of Israel.” American Jewish Historical Quarterly 58#2, pp. 173–240.
  • Casey, Steven. "Selling NSC-68: the Truman administration, public opinion, and the politics of mobilization, 1950–51." Diplomatic History 29.4 : 655-690.

  • Divine, Robert A. "The Cold War and the Election of 1948," The Journal of American History, Vol. 59, No. 1, pp. 90–110
  • Gaddis, John Lewis. "Reconsiderations: Was the Truman Doctrine a Real Turning Point?" Foreign Affairs 1974 52: 386–402. ISSN 0015-7120
  • Giangreco, D. M. " 'A Score of Bloody Okinawas and Iwo Jimas': President Truman and Casualty Estimates for the Invasion of Japan." Pacific Historical Review 72#1, pp. 93–132.
  • Hasegawa, Tsuyoshi. Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan
  • Heiss, Mary Ann, and Michael J. Hogan, eds. Origins of the National Security State and the Legacy of Harry S. Truman. xvi, 240 pp.
  • Hogan, Michael J. A Cross of Iron: Harry S. Truman and the origins of the national security state, 1945-1954.
  • Ivie, Robert L. "Fire, Flood, and Red Fever: Motivating Metaphors of Global Emergency in the Truman Doctrine Speech." Presidential Studies Quarterly 1999 29: 570–591. ISSN 0360-4918
  • Judis, John B.: Genesis: Truman, American Jews, and the Origins of the Arab/Israeli Conflict..
  • Lacey, Michael J. ed. The Truman Presidency
  • LaFeber, Walter. America, Russia, and the cold war, 1945-1996.
  • Long, Stephen. The CIA and the Soviet Bloc: Political Warfare, the Origins of the CIA and Countering Communism in Europe.
  • Maddox, Robert James. From War to Cold War: The Education of Harry S. Truman .
  • Maddox, R. J. "Truman, Poland, and the Origins of the Cold War". Presidential Studies Quarterly, 17, 27–41.
  • Matray, James. "Truman's Plan for Victory: National Self Determination and the Thirty-Eighth Parallel Decision in Korea," Journal of American History 66, 314–333.
  • Matray, James I. Northeast Asia and the Legacy of Harry S. Truman: Japan, China, and the Two Koreas
  • Merrill, Dennis. "The Truman Doctrine: Containing Communism and Modernity" Presidential Studies Quarterly 2006 36: 27–37. ISSN 0360-4918
  • Nelson, Anna Kasten. "President Truman and the Evolution of the National Security Council." Journal of American History 72#2, pp. 360–78.
  • Offner, Arnold A. "'Another Such Victory': President Truman, American Foreign Policy, and the Cold War." Diplomatic History 23: 127–155.
  • Parry-Giles, Shawn J. The rhetorical presidency, propaganda, and the Cold War, 1945-1955 .
  • Paterson, Thomas G. "Presidential foreign policy, public opinion, and Congress: the Truman years." Diplomatic History 3.1 : 1-18.
  • Pelz, Stephen. "When the Kitchen Gets Hot, Pass the Buck: Truman and Korea in 1950," Reviews in American History 6, 548–555.
  • Perret, Geoffrey. Commander in Chief: How Truman, Johnson, and Bush Turned a Presidential Power Into a Threat to America's Future .
  • Pierpaoli Jr., Paul G. Truman and Korea: The Political Culture of the Early Cold War.
  • Rovere, Richard H. General MacArthur and President Truman: The Struggle for Control of American Foreign Policy. .
  • Schiff, Mel. "President Truman and the Jewish DPs, 1945–46: The Untold Story." American Jewish History 99#4, pp. 327–52.
  • Theoharis, Athan. The Truman Presidency: The Origins of the Imperial Presidency and the National Security State.
  • Wainstock, Dennis D. Truman, MacArthur, and the Korean War
  • Walker, J. Samuel. Prompt and Utter Destruction: Truman and the Use of Atomic Bombs against Japan
  • Walker, J. Samuel. "Recent Literature on Truman's Atomic Bomb Decision: A Search for Middle Ground" Diplomatic History 29#2 pp 311–334
  • Webb, Clive. "Harry S. Truman and Clement Attlee: 'Trouble Always Brings Us Together'." The Palgrave Handbook of Presidents and Prime Ministers From Cleveland and Salisbury to Trump and Johnson pp. 157-178 on relations with prime minister of United Kingdom.
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Politics and elections

  • Divine, Robert A. "The Cold War and the Election of 1948," Journal of American History, 59#1, pp. 90–110
  • Leuchtenburg, William E. The White House Looks South: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson.
  • Parmet, Herbert S. The Democrats: The Years After FDR
  • Pietrusza, David, 1948: Harry Truman's Improbable Victory and the Year that Changed America, New York: Union Square Press.
  • Ryan, Halford R. Harry S. Truman: Presidential Rhetoric
  • Savage, Sean J. Truman and the Democratic Party.
  • Schoenebaum, Eleanora W. ed. Political Profiles: The Truman Years 715pp; short biographies of 435 players in national politics 1945–1952.
  • Sitkoff, Harvard. "Harry Truman and the election of 1948: The coming of age of civil rights in American politics." Journal of Southern History 37.4 : 597-616 .
  • White, Philip. Whistle Stop: How 31,000 Miles of Train Travel, 352 Speeches, and a Little Midwest Gumption Saved the Presidency of Harry Truman.

Domestic issues

  • Berman, William C. The politics of civil rights in the Truman administration
  • reprinted in Hamby 1974, pp. 52–68.
  • Billington, Monroe. "Civil Rights, President Truman and the South." Journal of Negro History 58.2 : 127-139.
  • Bolles, Blair, How to Get Rich in Washington: Rich Man's Division of the Welfare State, New York: Norton.
  • Brooks, Karl Boyd, ed. The Environmental Legacy of Harry S. Truman, : 268–282., on agriculture
  • Daynes, Byron W. and Glen Sussman, White House Politics and the Environment: Franklin D. Roosevelt to George W. Bush pp 36–45.
  • de Luna, Phyllis Komarek. Public versus Private Power during the Truman Administration: A Study of Fair Deal Liberalism.
  • Gardner, Michael R. Harry Truman and Civil Rights: Moral Courage and Political Risks.. xx + 276 pp. .
  • Hartmann, Susan M. Truman and the 80th Congress
  • Heller, Francis H. Economics and the Truman Administration
  • Juhnke, William E. “President Truman’s Committee on Civil Rights: The Interaction of Politics, Protest, and Presidential Advisory Commission.” Presidential Studies Quarterly19#3, pp. 593–610.
  • Koenig, Louis W. The Truman Administration: Its Principles and Practice
  • Lacey, Michael J. ed. The Truman Presidency
  • Lee, R. Alton; Truman and Taft-Hartley: A Question of Mandate.
  • Marcus, Maeva Truman and the Steel Seizure Case: The Limits of Presidential Power
  • Matusow, Allen J. Farm policies and politics in the Truman years.
  • Mazuzan, George T., and J. Samuel Walker. Controlling the atom: The beginnings of nuclear regulation, 1946-1962.
  • Richardson, Elmo. Dams, Parks and Politics: Resource Development and Preservation the Truman-Eisenhower Era.

Primary sources

  • Avner, Yehuda The Prime Ministers: An Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership
  • Bernstein, Barton J., Ed. The Truman Administration: A Documentary History ; 2nd edition published as Politics and Policies of the Truman Administration.
  • Merrill, Dennis. ed. 35 volumes; available in some large academic libraries.
  • Miller, Merle Plain Speaking: An Oral Biography of Harry S. Truman Putnam Publishing Group.. London: Gollancz Ltd.
  • Neal, Steve ed. Miracle of '48: Harry Truman's Major Campaign Speeches & Selected Whistle-Stops
  • Truman, Margaret. Harry S. Truman. William Morrow and Co.. memoir by his daughter

Online sources

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Audio and video sources

Truman on US postage stamps

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Other bibliographies