Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure: The True Story of a Great American Road Trip

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From Publishers WeeklyPublic radio reporter Algeo (Last Team Standing) brings the 1950s into focus with a fascinating reconstruction of Harry and Bess Truman's postpresidential 2,500-mile road trip. I like to take trips—any kind of trip, Truman wrote. They are about the only recreation I have besides reading. Between 2006 and 2008, Algeo retraced their journey with stopovers at some of the same diners and hotels the couple visited. When Truman left the White House in 1953, he returned to Independence, Mo., rejecting lucrative offers he felt would commercialize the presidency. His only income was a small army pension. Acquiring a 1953 Chrysler, the Trumans set out with no fanfare and a curious notion of traveling incognito. However, reporters and newsreel cameras soon turned their vehicular vacation into an ongoing media event. The book benefits from extensive research through oral history interviews and papers at the Harry S. Truman Library, and Algeo's own interviews with eyewitnesses. With deliberate detours, this book is a portal into the past with layers of details providing unusual authenticity and a portrait of the president as an ordinary man. 20 b&w photos, 1 map. (May) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review"One of the Best Books of the Year." —Washington Post"An engaging account . . . Well-researched." —Wall Street Journal“Now, this is what’s called a road trip.” --In Transit, New York Times travel blog"Matthew Algeo recalls [my grandparents'] memorable trip beautifully and with the sense of humor it deserves." —Clifton Truman Daniel, grandson of Harry S. Truman"Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure resonates Aaron Copeland's 'Fanfare for the Common Man'—brassy, bright, energetic, brief and declaratively American." —Washington Times"Enlivened by Algeo"s endeavors to see the places where Truman stopped, this is an engaging historical sidebar." —Booklist Online“Algeo chronicles this unlikely excursion in great and wonderful detail. . . . [An] enchanting glimpse into a much simpler age.” --Library Journal“An absolutely wonderful book.” —Virginian-Pilot