Harry Truman and the Liberal Tradition: A Textbook Survey

Abstract

Michael Henry is a history teacher at Bowie High School in Prince George s County, Maryland. Introduction Today, the country is in the midst of a Harry Truman renais sance. Although Truman's liberalism may seem out of step with today's smaller government rhetoric, popular opinion of the man from Missouri has risen in the last quarter century. Since his death in 1972, and with the Watergate crisis of 1974, he has grown in the nation's heart to a position of hero worship and adulation (1). Currendy he is viewed as an uncomplicated, honest and decisive man (2). As Newsweek said on the centennial of his birth in 1984, did not have what is known as a 'hidden agenda' as (3). After the duplicity and disingenuousness of our Presidents during Vietnam and Watergate, these were qualities the country admired in a leader. Among politicians and historians, the 33rd President is also riding high. He is consistendy rated among our top ten chief executives in presidential polls. Even Republicans have embraced his memory. President Ford placed a bust of Truman in the Oval Office during his administration. And President Reagan reportedly had a paperweight on his desk that proclaimed Buck Stops Here? one of Truman's favorite sayings (4). Truman's domestic agenda was an unabashed attempt to expand the powers of the federal government that began in the 1930s. He pushed for expansion of Social Security, public housing, civil rights and old age-health insurance. Over the half century since Truman's Presidency, there has been a growing skepticism about the role of the federal government in society. Currently, when the appeal of big government appears over, Truman's liberal views might seem out of place, and he an unlikely hero. Given the nation's mood of less government involvement and in this golden anniversary era of the Truman Presidency, this is an appropriate time to compare his popular persona with his depiction in our public schools today. Specifically, one may ask how widely used, United States history textbooks currendy appraise Truman? Are students likely to find in these books a view of the 33rd President that coincides with his assessment in the general society? Do textbooks see his attempt to extend the New Deal as positive or negative? Is Truman presented as an effective leader who expanded the powers of the government with the approval of the nation and the Congress? Or, is his legacy more of a personal one, with his character admired, but his political agenda criticized as out of step with the late 1940s and early 1950s? In order to answer these questions, I reviewed Truman's domestic program as presented in eight widely used United States history books. The books are found in average to above average