Truman

Nonfiction | Biography | Adult | Published in 1992

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapters 1-2

Part 1, Chapters 3-4

Part 2, Chapters 5-6

Part 2, Chapters 7-8

Part 3, Chapters 9-10

Part 4, Chapters 11-12

Part 4, Chapters 13-14

Part 5, Chapters 15-17

Part 5, Chapter 17-Part 6, Chapter 18

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Part 2, Chapters 5-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 5 Summary: “Try, Try Again”

Truman and Bess got married in 1919. Their honeymoon took them through Chicago, Detroit, and Port Huron, Michigan. Soon afterward, Truman and his Jewish friend Eddie Jacobson opened Truman & Jacobson men’s clothing and accessories store in Kansas City. This venture was not Truman’s career aspiration, but he worked very hard. Unfortunately, for various reasons such as the economic environment, the business failed in 1922. Eddie declared bankruptcy unable to pay the debts, whereas Truman continued paying them off for almost two decades.

It was at this point that Truman began his political career. His army friend, Jim Pendergast was related to Alderman Jim Pendergast who played a key role in Kansas City Democratic politics. Pendergast was proudly Irish Catholic and served on the city council for 18 years. It was, however, his much younger brother Tom—TJ—who launched Truman’s political career. TJ exerted significant political influence by using a vast network of friends and associates.

With the blessing of the Pendergasts, Truman ran as a judge for Jackson County. The latter was an administrative, rather than judicial, position, not unlike a county commissioner. Truman launched the campaign in 1922 just before turning 38. He delivered speeches and promised, McCullough says, “better roads and a return to sound management of county business” (158). In early 1923, Truman succeeded in becoming a county judge in an election that was a formality since all Democrats won. During his tenure, the county reduced its debt in half, raised its credit ratings, and improved the roads and bridges as promised.

In addition, Bess gave birth to the couple’s only child, Margaret, in February 1924. As Margaret grew up, she had health issues, and Truman became a worrier. There was also an apparent attempt to kidnap Margaret from her school in 1930, but it was unclear whether it had anything to do with politics. Truman lost the next election but was soon elected presiding judge, a four-year term, which gave him real authority. Truman was responsible for a budget that exceeded that of some states as well as 700 government employees. His tenure displayed, McCullough says, an “enthusiastic devotion to county affairs” (170). Truman continued to improve infrastructure, including roads, a courthouse, and a hospital. Overall, McCullough suggests that Truman “had not found his real work until late in life” when he was almost 40, and that work was politics—and helping people (188).

Chapter 6 Summary: “The Senator from Pendergast”

The sixth chapter discusses Truman’s rise to a senator. By 1934, he had served two consecutive terms as a judge, which made him ineligible for reelection. He found himself at a crossroads at age 50 because he did not have a steady career to return to. In 1934, Truman decided to run for Senate even though he was not Pendergast’s first choice: the other candidates declined to run. Pendergast was at the height of his power running things in Kansas City behind the scenes. At the same time, the Pendergast operation had links to corruption and even organized crime.

During the campaign, Truman’s opponents were Congressmen Jacob Milligan and John Cochran. The other senator from Missouri, Bennett Clark, supported Milligan. Truman did not gather large crowds, nor was he a skilled speaker. Appearing at the same event as these political heavyweights, McCullough says, “Truman was clearly outclassed” (250). Clark, for instance, stated that Truman’s campaign was one of “mendacity and imbecility” (250).

Both Truman and Cochran competed for the rural vote. The political campaign occurred against the backdrop of the economic conditions of the 1930s when farm prices had plummeted. In the primary, Truman won by 40,000 votes with his margin of victory coming from Jackson County. The media portrayed this outcome as a Pendergast triumph. Arriving in Washington, Truman practically knew no one and had no experience in legislation.

Initially, Truman was placed on two major and other lesser committees. His first term coincided with the “Second Hundred Days” of the New Deal, which included reform and important legislation. Truman considered himself to be a New Dealer. Meanwhile, TJ Pendergast was in decline. Not only physically but financially because of habitual gambling. At the same time, the Kansas City district attorney Maurice Milligan started an investigation of corruption in the area such as the allegations of voter fraud in 1936. It turned out that almost 60,000 “ghost” votes were cast in Kansas City that year. Eventually, multiple trials led to 279 convictions. These prosecutions made Milligan very popular. In February 1938, Truman attacked Milligan and the federal judges in Kansas City, calling Milligan Roosevelt’s “personal appointment” (279). McCullough reveals that “this was the one time he had ever attacked the President” (279).

In 1939, Missouri Governor Lloyd C. Stark, Truman’s political opponent, announced a run for Truman’s senate seat. Truman announced his candidacy for reelection in February 1940. He ran on his track record of the New Deal era and supported civil rights. With TJ Pendergast in prison, Truman was on his own. As before, Truman’s speeches were weak and the odds were against him, with Stark and Milligan being ahead. In the end, Truman won the primary by only approximately 8,000 votes performing better with the farmers and carrying the Jackson County vote. Later that year in the general election, Truman won resoundingly over his Republican opponent, Manvel Davis (295).

Chapters 5-6 Analysis

In Chapters 5 and 6, McCullough continues to develop his theme of The Rise of an Underdog. The author traces Truman’s gradual rise from county judge to senator. Whereas TJ Pendergast offered initial help in both cases, Truman’s hard, consistent work and delivery on promises earned him the respect of his peers and the public. In the case of his administrative judge role, he systematically worked to improve the local infrastructure. Becoming a senator also seemed unlikely: he was not Pendergast’s initial choice nor did have any legislative experience unlike his opponents—seasoned congressmen.

Another important aspect of this section is Truman’s character. McCullough juxtaposes Truman with his patron, TJ Pendergast. The latter was a political boss who relied on preferential contracts and other types of corruption. In contrast, ethics were important to Truman. McCullough says, “He reckoned he could have already pocketed $1.5 million, had he chosen” (183). Later, during his tenure as a senator, he blasted large American corporations for doing business with Nazi Germany and criticized materialism. Despite his ethical conduct, Truman’s link to Pendergast caused him problems in the senate after the latter was arrested for tax evasion. Overall, he displayed the same consistency as a senator as he did as a county judge.

In the previous chapters, McCullough demonstrated that Truman did not complain publicly about his father’s debts and having to work on the farm. However, he was self-conscious about lacking money despite his hard work. Here we learn that Truman was also self-conscious about social status. Being referred to as “Judge” pleased Truman because it gave him rank. Yet even in Washington, he led a modest social life and looked for an affordable apartment.

In addition to Pendergast’s criminal record, another controversy at this time was Truman’s link to the Ku Klux Klan (KKK)—an organization that, McCullough says, “hated everybody,” including Blacks, Jews, and Catholics (161). At first, he rejected membership but then joined. The breaking point for Truman that made him disassociate himself from the KKK was the pressure not to hire Catholics. Just a year prior, Truman had, McCullough says, lent his support to a Masonic effort to suppress the Klan in St. Louis” (161). McCullough seems uncertain about Truman’s motives arguing that it was either naiveté or “a willingness under pressure to sacrifice principle for ambition” (161). Truman later said the Klan had threatened to kill him.