![[Abridged] Presidential Histories - 33.C) Truman and the Pendergast Machine, an interview with Jon Taylor](https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/episode_images/6525cc0e1e417ed39f762f8124d08715bf80d60045828e7dbdde538ee5b7f9b9.avif)
33.C) Truman and the Pendergast Machine, an interview with Jon Taylor
[Abridged] Presidential Histories
08/07/23
•51m
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Before he was president, and before he formed the Truman Committee, Harry Truman was known primarily for one thing: his connection to an infamous Kansas City political machine - the Pendergast Machine. But what was the Pendergast Machine? How did it work? What was it into? Historian Jon Taylor discusses Truman's connection to the infamous operation, and who was helping who in the relationship.
Previous Episode
33.B) Truman and the Bomb, an interview with D.M. Giangreco
July 24, 2023
•53m
"16 hours ago, an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima ... It is an atomic bomb. It is a harnessing of the basic power of the universe. The force from which the sun draws its power has been loosed against those who brought war to the Far East" - President Harry S. Truman, Aug. 6, 1945, in his announcement of the first atomic attack in world history
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When Harry S. Truman unexpectedly became president on April 12, 1945, the United States was still in the midst of World War II - but there were plans to hasten its resolution. Secret plans. Atomic plans. In the following four months, the first atomic bombs would be tested in New Mexico and then dropped on the Empire of Japan. Historian D.M. Giangreco, author of the new book Truman and the Bomb: The Untold Story, discusses what Senator Truman knew about the bomb and when he knew it, the casualty forecasts that Truman weighed in his decision to drop the bomb, and whether dropping the bomb ended World War II.
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“The full impact of the war comes more to me, I think, in some respects than it does to anyone in this country. The daily casualty lists are mine. They arrive in a constant stream, a swelling stream, and I can’t get away from them.” - Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall, June, 1945
Next Episode
As millions of Americans demobilized after World War II, some were welcomed home as heroes, but others were attacked by their neighbors. When a white South Carolina sheriff attacked a black sergeant, still in uniform, on his way home from the war, the resulting outrage inspired Harry Truman to risk his presidency for the cause of Civil Rights. Judge Richard Gergel, author of Unexampled Courage: The Blinding of Sgt. Isaac Woodard and the Awakening of President Harry S. Truman and Judge J. Waties Waring, discusses the attack and its impact on a nation and its conscience.
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