The Accidental President

Reviews / Votes

The story of Truman's accession to the presidency is worthy of a Hollywood melodrama, and A J Baime's zippy, well-judged and hugely readable book more than does it justice . . . although there are plenty of good biographies of Truman, few are as entertaining as Baime's. * SUNDAY TIMES * Intimate and absorbing, A.J. Baime's biography uses new sources to paint Harry Truman as a complex and thoroughly American figure. A sharply-drawn portrait of an era as well as a man. A.J. Baime is a master. His reporting and storytelling are woven to hypnotic effect. Opening the first page of The Accidental President is like pulling up a chair to Truman's White House desk where we sit engrossed as world events unfold in the most intimate manner, titanic in scale. Baime brings us as close as we are likely to get to this completely surprising, quirky, wily, and transformational president. This is history and humanity in lush, vivid colour. An entertaining new history of Truman's first months in office . . . filled with events that are strikingly proportionate to what the Trump administration has weathered since January. * THE DAILY BEAST * A fast-paced, well-detailed chronology of Truman's transformation from an official with little administrative responsibility into a politically astute and ultimately beloved leader . . . a warmly human portrait of an unlikely president. * KIRKUS REVIEWS * A.J. Baime is a master storyteller, and The Accidental President contains everything a reader could ever want from a work of history: characters that jump off the page, tension that makes your pulse pound, and smooth, smart writing that makes you think. Amazing! People sometimes ask me if I've ever considered running for office. My answer is usually, "Sober? No." All it would take is to recall what my grandfather went through in the first four months of his presidency. No president in history - particularly one who came in without having been briefed by his predecessor - has faced such monumental decisions. A.J. Baime has put a spotlight on those four months, recounting them faithfully and with heart, so that you come away with not only a sense of history, but a sense of the man, Harry Truman, as well. As Grandpa himself said a few years later, "It's hell to be President of the Greatest Most Powerful Nation on Earth". An attractive tale for fans of both presidential and WWII history . . . Baime opens a clear . . . window on a pivotal moment in history. * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY * Baime is a master story-teller who appears to have invented a time machine. His carefully crafted narrative transports the reader back in time . . . each sentence is carefully constructed and colourfully packed with details that makes Harry Truman and this period in history come alive. The Accidental President reads more like a captivating novel than non-fiction.