Bess Wallace Truman - (Modern First Ladies) by Sara L Sale (Hardcover)

About the Book

The first scholarly biography of Harry S. Truman's wife and "full partner" in the presidency. A traditional first lady who was repelled by personal publicity, Bess is revealed in this book as a shrewd political operator who knew how to achieve her own goals without fanfare and who influenced many of her husband's decisions.

Book Synopsis

Thrust into the world of Washington politics and power, Bess Wallace Truman steadfastly remained what she wanted to be: a representative of middle-American values and virtues. She ran the White House as she ran her own home, attending personally to details that many first ladies had left to the staff. She answered mail in longhand, took charge of bookkeeping, and carefully watched expenses. President Harry S. Truman fondly called his wife "The Boss."

The product of a small town aristocracy with nineteenth-century manners and morals, Bess Truman was repelled by personal publicity, even after ten years as a senator's wife. A woman's place in public, she observed, was "to sit beside her husband, be silent and be sure her hat is on straight." Sara Sale now casts a modern light on this traditional first lady through the first scholarly biography of Bess.

Unlike Eleanor Roosevelt, Bess did not want to be a public figure and struggled to keep the press happy. But Sale shows that, although Mrs. Truman avoided the public spotlight, in private she was a strong-minded, intelligent woman who influenced her husband's presidency--a shrewd political operator who knew how to achieve her own goals without fanfare.

Sale traces Mrs. Truman's many philanthropic efforts both before and during her White House years and places her public activities in the larger context of contemporary women's activism. She also reveals how the president discussed all of his policy decisions with her, making her his full partner.

Grounded in research into previously overlooked archives at the Truman Library and the Library of Congress, Sale's work expands our understanding of a remarkable American woman. More than a traditionalist, she worked behind the scenes to refashion the office of first lady into a modern institution by reflecting changes in the ways postwar American women lived their lives. Becoming first lady before the days of professional image making, she nevertheless served as an effective political communicator for the Truman administration even while her persona appealed to Americans of the postwar era.

For many years, Margaret Truman's official biography of her mother was the only work available. Now Sale's well-crafted history illuminates Mrs. Truman's immeasurable impact on the institution of first lady as it provides valuable insights into postwar life and politics behind the scenes at the Truman White House.

Review Quotes

"A generally engaging chronological survey for anyone interested in knowing more about Mrs. Truman. . . . Overall, a solid contribution to the literature and an enjoyable biography."--Kansas History

"Bess Wallace Truman did not desire to be first lady. Her adoring husband knew that. Here is a deft account of how he managed it anyway, and how she quietly replaced the not very quiet Eleanor Roosevelt."--Robert H. Ferrell, author of Harry Truman: A Life

"An engaging and important addition to the literature on modern first ladies. Sale shows how Bess Truman remade the office of the first lady to suit her own personality and along the way earned the admiration and respect of the American people. Readers who also want to know more about postwar politics will not be disappointed."--Nancy Beck Young, author of Lou Henry Hoover