Dear Bess: The Letters from Harry to Bess Truman, 1910-1959
edited by Robert H. Ferrell
University of Missouri Press, 1998 Paper: 978-0-8262-1203-0 | eISBN: 978-0-8262-6043-7 Library of Congress Classification E814.A4 1998 Dewey Decimal Classification 973.918092
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Once again available is the critically acclaimed Dear Bess, a collection of more than 600 letters that Harry S. Truman wrote to his beloved wife, Bess, from 1910 to 1959. Selected from 1,268 letters discovered in Bess's house after her death in 1982, this extraordinary collection provides an inside look at Truman's life, his thoughts, and his dreams.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Robert H. Ferrell (1921-2018) is the author or editor of numerous books, including Presidential Leadership: From Woodrow Wilson to Harry S. Truman,Harry S. Truman: A Life, and Five Days in October: The Lost Battalion of World War I, available from the University of Missouri Press.
REVIEWS
"Dear Bess is at once a love story, an astonishing record of what one industrious man managed to accomplish, and an intimate look into the heart and mind of the 33d President of the United States. . . . Truman's letters confirm what his friends and enemies alike always said about him: He was precisely what he seemed, no less, no more. What is startling is how little he seems to have changed over nearly 50 years. The voice of the young farmer of 1910 is almost identical with that of the President he became."—New York Times Book Review
"Theirs was a great American love affair, as practically every one of these 600-plus letters from Harry to Bess attests. . . . But this volume is more than the portrait of a perfect marriage. It's also a dramatic and sometimes hilarious account of how Truman's devotion to self-improvement gradually moved him away from farming and small-town haberdashery and ultimately propelled him into the White House. . . . There has rarely been such a comprehensive record of how a modern statesman thought."—Newsweek
"There are glimpses here of a forgotten America, when the phone was a novelty and the horse still king. . . . [Ferrell] has done an admirable job putting the letters into perspective. Best of all there are passages in these letters that give an idea of the way Truman's mind worked."—Christian Science Monitor
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTENTS
PREFACE
EDITORIAL NOTE
I.
ON THE FARM
1.
Head Over Heels
2.
Just Another Year
3.
… and Another
4.
From Father to Son
5.
Aiming to Get Rich: Lead, Zinc, and Oil
II.
YOU'RE IN THE ARMY NOW
6.
Camp Doniphan, Oklahoma
7.
Somewhere in France
8.
Action and Aftermath
III.
POLITICS, LOCAL AND NATIONAL
9.
Jackson County Politician
10.
Freshman Senator
11.
Hard Work Pays Off
IV.
LEADING THE COUNTRY
12.
The Committee
13.
Sixteen Hundred Pennsylvania Avenue
14.
Changes for the Future
EPILOGUE: LATER YEARS
LIST OF LETTERS
INDEX
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
Dear Bess: The Letters from Harry to Bess Truman, 1910-1959
edited by Robert H. Ferrell
University of Missouri Press, 1998 Paper: 978-0-8262-1203-0 eISBN: 978-0-8262-6043-7
Once again available is the critically acclaimed Dear Bess, a collection of more than 600 letters that Harry S. Truman wrote to his beloved wife, Bess, from 1910 to 1959. Selected from 1,268 letters discovered in Bess's house after her death in 1982, this extraordinary collection provides an inside look at Truman's life, his thoughts, and his dreams.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Robert H. Ferrell (1921-2018) is the author or editor of numerous books, including Presidential Leadership: From Woodrow Wilson to Harry S. Truman,Harry S. Truman: A Life, and Five Days in October: The Lost Battalion of World War I, available from the University of Missouri Press.
REVIEWS
"Dear Bess is at once a love story, an astonishing record of what one industrious man managed to accomplish, and an intimate look into the heart and mind of the 33d President of the United States. . . . Truman's letters confirm what his friends and enemies alike always said about him: He was precisely what he seemed, no less, no more. What is startling is how little he seems to have changed over nearly 50 years. The voice of the young farmer of 1910 is almost identical with that of the President he became."—New York Times Book Review
"Theirs was a great American love affair, as practically every one of these 600-plus letters from Harry to Bess attests. . . . But this volume is more than the portrait of a perfect marriage. It's also a dramatic and sometimes hilarious account of how Truman's devotion to self-improvement gradually moved him away from farming and small-town haberdashery and ultimately propelled him into the White House. . . . There has rarely been such a comprehensive record of how a modern statesman thought."—Newsweek
"There are glimpses here of a forgotten America, when the phone was a novelty and the horse still king. . . . [Ferrell] has done an admirable job putting the letters into perspective. Best of all there are passages in these letters that give an idea of the way Truman's mind worked."—Christian Science Monitor
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTENTS
PREFACE
EDITORIAL NOTE
I.
ON THE FARM
1.
Head Over Heels
2.
Just Another Year
3.
… and Another
4.
From Father to Son
5.
Aiming to Get Rich: Lead, Zinc, and Oil
II.
YOU'RE IN THE ARMY NOW
6.
Camp Doniphan, Oklahoma
7.
Somewhere in France
8.
Action and Aftermath
III.
POLITICS, LOCAL AND NATIONAL
9.
Jackson County Politician
10.
Freshman Senator
11.
Hard Work Pays Off
IV.
LEADING THE COUNTRY
12.
The Committee
13.
Sixteen Hundred Pennsylvania Avenue
14.
Changes for the Future
EPILOGUE: LATER YEARS
LIST OF LETTERS
INDEX
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE