Research Catalog

Title

Choosing Truman : the Democratic convention of 1944 / Robert H. Ferrell.

Author

Ferrell, Robert H.

Publication

Columbia : University of Missouri Press, [1994], ©1994.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xiii, 137 pages; 24 cm

Summary

• As Franklin D. Roosevelt's health deteriorated in the months leading up to the Democratic National Convention of 1944, Democratic leaders confronted a dire situation. Given the inevitability of the president's death during a fourth term, the choice of a running mate for FDR was of profound importance. The Democrats needed a man they could trust. They needed Harry S. Truman.
• In the days between July 11 and July 21, 1944, the vice-presidential nomination went to Truman in a series of moves, countermoves, and near chaotic happenings. This first detailed account of those tumultuous days explains how Truman, a man whom Roosevelt barely knew and who had not actively sought the nomination, became the president's running mate.
• Robert Ferrell tells an engrossing tale of ruthless ambition, secret meetings, and party politics. Roosevelt emerges as a manipulative leader whose desire to retain power led to a blatant disregard for the loyalty of his subordinates and the aspirations of his vice-presidential hopefuls.
• Ferrell demonstrates how the conspiratorial efforts of a handful of White House insiders unseated Vice-President Henry Wallace as a contender, while the president himself thwarted the hopes of powerful White House aide James F. Byrnes
• . The events surrounding Truman's nomination would have seemed almost unbelievable, had not so much been at risk. But as the convention came to a close, the kingmakers of the party could assure themselves of one thing: Truman would be the next president of the United States. Startling in its conclusions, impeccable in its research, Choosing Truman is an engrossing, behind-the-scenes look at the making of the nation's thirty-third president.

Subject

• Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972
• Democratic National Convention (1944 : Chicago, Ill.)
• Presidents > United States > Election > 1944
• United States > Politics and government > 1933-1945

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN

0826209483

LCCN

93040833

OCLC

• 29255856
• ocm29255856

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries