A.J. Baime's "The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World"

Harry S. Truman was an ordinary man without a college degree who was too poor to own his own home. A.J. Baime's book "The Accidental President" is an outstanding depiction of his performance as chief executive. His ascent to the most powerful office on Earth stunned him and his wife, Bess.

The celebrated sign on his desk — THE BUCK STOPS HERE — was apt. In the course of the early months of his administration, he was confronted with the collapse of Nazi Germany, atomic explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the beginning of the nuclear arms race, and the Potsdam Conference at which he negotiated with Churchill and Stalin, men clearly out of his league.

No presidential reputation has been more controversial. While some scholars place him in the category of "the greatest presidents," others authoritatively place him in the classification of "the worst presidents."

Katherine Potter Bailey, Bloomington

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