Affection and trust: the personal correspondence of Harry S. Truman and Dean Acheson, 1953-1971
Author:
Publisher:
Alfred A. Knopf
Pub. Date:
[2010]
Edition:
1st ed
Language:
English
Description
In this riveting collection, published for the first time, we follow Harry S. Truman and Dean Acheson, two giants of the post–World War II period, as they move from an official relationship to one of candor, humor, and personal expression. Together they were primarily responsible for the Marshall Plan and NATO, among other world-shaping initiatives. And in these letters, spanning the years from when both were newly out of office until Acheson’s death at the age of seventy-eight, we find them sharing the often surprising and always illuminating opinions, ideas, and feelings that the strictures of their offices had previously kept them from revealing.
Adapting easily to their private lives, they nonetheless felt a powerful need to keep in touch as they viewed with dismay what they considered to be the Eisenhower administration’s fumbling of foreign affairs, the impact of Joseph McCarthy, John Foster Dulles’s foreign policy, and the threat of massive nuclear retaliation. Adlai Stevenson’s poor campaign of 1956, Eisenhower’s second-term mishaps, family events, speaking engagements, and Truman’s difficulties writing his memoirs are all fodder for their conversations. In 1960 their skeptical stance toward John F. Kennedy (and his father's influence) turned them toward Lyndon Johnson. After Kennedy won they discussed Acheson’s reluctant involvement in the Cuban missile crisis, his missions to de Gaulle and Prime Minister Macmillan, and the Allied position in Berlin.
Unbuttoned, careless of language, unburdened by political ambition or vanity, Truman and Acheson show their own characters and loyalty to each other on every page. Truman, a Missouri farmer with the unpolished but sharp intellect of the largely self-educated man, clearly understands that in Acheson he has a friend with a rare gift for providing unhesitant and truthful counsel. Acheson, well-educated, urbane, and well-off, understands which traits in Truman’s complex character to love and admire and when to admonish, instruct, and tease him. Both men share a deep and abiding patriotism, a quality that truly stands out in today’s world.
A remarkable book that brings to light the very human side of two of the most important statesmen of the twentieth century.
Adapting easily to their private lives, they nonetheless felt a powerful need to keep in touch as they viewed with dismay what they considered to be the Eisenhower administration’s fumbling of foreign affairs, the impact of Joseph McCarthy, John Foster Dulles’s foreign policy, and the threat of massive nuclear retaliation. Adlai Stevenson’s poor campaign of 1956, Eisenhower’s second-term mishaps, family events, speaking engagements, and Truman’s difficulties writing his memoirs are all fodder for their conversations. In 1960 their skeptical stance toward John F. Kennedy (and his father's influence) turned them toward Lyndon Johnson. After Kennedy won they discussed Acheson’s reluctant involvement in the Cuban missile crisis, his missions to de Gaulle and Prime Minister Macmillan, and the Allied position in Berlin.
Unbuttoned, careless of language, unburdened by political ambition or vanity, Truman and Acheson show their own characters and loyalty to each other on every page. Truman, a Missouri farmer with the unpolished but sharp intellect of the largely self-educated man, clearly understands that in Acheson he has a friend with a rare gift for providing unhesitant and truthful counsel. Acheson, well-educated, urbane, and well-off, understands which traits in Truman’s complex character to love and admire and when to admonish, instruct, and tease him. Both men share a deep and abiding patriotism, a quality that truly stands out in today’s world.
A remarkable book that brings to light the very human side of two of the most important statesmen of the twentieth century.
Subjects
Subjects
Acheson, Dean
Acheson, Dean, -- 1893-1971 -- Correspondence
Foreign relations
Personal correspondence
Politics and government
Truman, Harry S
Truman, Harry S., -- 1884-1972 -- Correspondence
United States -- Foreign relations -- 1945-1953 -- Sources
United States -- Politics and government -- 1945-1953 -- Sources
Acheson, Dean, -- 1893-1971 -- Correspondence
Foreign relations
Personal correspondence
Politics and government
Truman, Harry S
Truman, Harry S., -- 1884-1972 -- Correspondence
United States -- Foreign relations -- 1945-1953 -- Sources
United States -- Politics and government -- 1945-1953 -- Sources
More Details
Contributors:
ISBN:
9780307593542
Staff View
Grouping Information
Grouped Work ID | 0f6c2104-dfd1-c101-ae59-8e5e759ecc9e |
---|---|
Grouping Title | affection and trust the personal correspondence of harry s truman and dean acheson 1953 1971 |
Grouping Author | harry s truman |
Grouping Category | book |
Grouping Language | English (eng) |
Last Grouping Update | 2021-03-11 16:10:02PM |
Last Indexed | 2024-05-03 04:54:16AM |
Solr Fields
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0
auth_author2
Acheson, Dean, 1893-1971
author
Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972
author2-role
Acheson, Dean,1893-1971
author_display
Truman, Harry S.
display_description
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Books
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Book
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0f6c2104-dfd1-c101-ae59-8e5e759ecc9e
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9780307593542
itype_mellen
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last_indexed
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literary_form
Non Fiction
literary_form_full
Non Fiction
primary_isbn
9780307593542
publishDate
2010
publisher
Alfred A. Knopf
recordtype
grouped_work
subject_facet
Acheson, Dean, -- 1893-1971 -- Correspondence
Personal correspondence
Truman, Harry S., -- 1884-1972 -- Correspondence
United States -- Foreign relations -- 1945-1953 -- Sources
United States -- Politics and government -- 1945-1953 -- Sources
Personal correspondence
Truman, Harry S., -- 1884-1972 -- Correspondence
United States -- Foreign relations -- 1945-1953 -- Sources
United States -- Politics and government -- 1945-1953 -- Sources
title_display
Affection and trust : the personal correspondence of Harry S. Truman and Dean Acheson, 1953-1971
title_full
Affection and trust : the personal correspondence of Harry S. Truman and Dean Acheson, 1953-1971 / [by Harry S. Truman and Dean Acheson ; edited by Ray Geselbracht and David C. Acheson] ; with an introduction by David McCullough
title_short
Affection and trust
title_sub
the personal correspondence of Harry S. Truman and Dean Acheson, 1953-1971
topic_facet
Acheson, Dean
Foreign relations
Politics and government
Truman, Harry S
Foreign relations
Politics and government
Truman, Harry S
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record_details
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