Volume 21, Number 5 · April 4, 1974
The Trouble With Harry (and Henry)
By Murray Kempton
The Price of Vision: The Diary of Henry A. Wallace 1942-1946
edited by John Morton Blum
Houghton Mifflin, 707 pp., $15.00
Plain Speaking: An Oral Biography of Harry S. Truman
by Merle Miller
Berkley/Putnam's, 448 pp., $8.95
The ghost of Franklin Roosevelt rises unexpectedly when we consider Henry Wallace and Harry Truman. For how can we think about these two without Roosevelt's shadow upon them? Their place in history was appointed by his will, the first discarded, the second raised up and now with the rays of apotheosis around him. Great historical presences are continually intrusive; we read about these two creatures of Roosevelt's will and we wonder why he disposed of Vice President Wallace and elevated Vice President Truman, and thus, having commanded his own twelve years, set with his dead hand the course of the next eight.
Review, 4861 words
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