Publishers Weekly
02/26/2024
Historian Roll (George Marshall) offers a perceptive examination of Harry Truman’s first presidential term. Tracking Truman’s evolution from accidental president into confident leader, Roll contends that this period comprised the country’s “most consequential and productive events since the Civil War.” When Roosevelt died 82 days into his fourth term, first-term vice president Truman found himself “utterly unprepared” as Roosevelt had “made no effort to bring him up to speed.” He threw himself into “a days-long crash course in foreign affairs” in order to carry on negotiations with the Allies regarding the handling of postwar Germany and come to a decision on America’s use of nuclear weapons against Japan. Domestic issues also arose, including the need for a “reconversion plan” for returning troops. A disastrous 1946 midterm election for the Democrats was what finally “liberat Truman from the long shadow cast by FDR,” according to Roll, as it led Truman to take proactive stances on the Soviet Union’s expansionist efforts abroad and civil rights at home. Truman adopted “a level of engagement in the world beyond anything that FDR had envisioned” with the Marshall Plan to reconstruct Europe and the harsh anti-Soviet Truman Doctrine, while his Committee on Civil Rights set a firm foundation for future progress. Exceptionally thorough, Roll’s blow-by-blow makes for an insightful portrayal of high-stakes diplomacy and politicking. This will enthrall mid-century history buffs. Agent: John Wright, John Wright Literary Assoc. (Apr.)
From the Publisher
A thoroughly researched narrative, rendered in clear, unadorned prose, of a journeyman politician who became president while being “utterly unprepared” for the job.”
—The Wall Street Journal
“With a complete mastery of the sources, David Roll takes us on the gripping journey from Harry Truman’s election as vice-president in 1944 through to his death, rightly concentrating on the crucial years that ended in his stunning re-election as president in 1948. Roll has a fine sense of all the key figures around Truman, but it is his insights into the man himself that are so valuable. Well-researched, well-written and intensely readable, this book confirms Truman as a giant of American—indeed global—history.”
—Andrew Roberts, New York Times bestselling author of Churchill: Walking with Destiny
“The sudden death of Franklin Roosevelt shook the world; the recognition that power would pass to Harry Truman shook it even more. But the untested Truman turned out to be just what America and the world needed as World War II segued into the Cold War. No one has told this vital story more thoroughly or with greater verve and insight than David Roll does in this fine book.”
—H. W. Brands, Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of The General vs. the President
“After winning World War II, America rebuilt the world—including its enemies. How that happened is one of the great stories of any age. Equally remarkable is how Harry Truman, a modest man of the people, took over from the great FDR to achieve this miracle. The author of brilliant biographies of Harry Hopkins and George C. Marshall, lawyer-turned-historian David Roll brings a clear and sharp eye for evidence and a deep human understanding to telling this tale. As the global order Truman built teeters at the brink, Ascent to Power could not be more relevant.”
—Evan Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of Road to Surrender
“Did any president inherit so many challenges, and such consequential ones, as Harry S Truman? After just eighty-two days as vice president—without ever being taken into the FDR’s confidence—the Missouri pol was left to deal with the end of a war and the launch of a new world order. David L. Roll’s riveting account of that momentous transition shows Truman rising to the occasion and more—forging a Western alliance, containing the Soviet Union, converting to a peacetime economy and supporting pent-up demands for civil rights. Writing with skill and drama, Roll tells us how this accidental president reshaped America and the world.”
—Susan Page, Washington Bureau chief, USA TODAY, and author of Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Lessons of Power
“Truman wasn't just a great president, he was a great human being—a model of integrity and resilience and duty that we can all learn from. Most people are changed by power, yet Truman somehow changed for the better. David Lee Roll's incredible book shows this process and its timeless lessons.”
—Ryan Holiday, #1 bestselling author of The Obstacle Is the Way and The Daily Stoic
“A riveting account of Harry Truman’s unexpected emergence onto the world scene, written with authority, candor, verve, and a keen eye for piercing and illustrative detail. David Roll has produced a marvelous account of the highs and lows of the consequential Truman Administration—from which so little was at first expected—triumphs and missteps included unflinchingly. Happily, Truman’s salty dialogue permeates these pages, flavoring Roll’s expert analysis of the leadership this accidental, but supremely confident, new president provided so boldly after the death of FDR. We can and should still argue about Truman’s legacy, but not about David Roll’s major contribution to the debate; this book sets a new standard.”
—Harold Holzer, director of the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College and author of Brought Forth on This Continent
“The Cold War demanded fertile statesmanship, which David Roll recreates with all the drama and credibility that distinguished his biographies of George Marshall and Harry Hopkins. This is history as literature, intensely relevant and a great read.”
—Richard Norton Smith, director of presidential libraries and author of An Ordinary Man
“In Ascent to Power, David Roll again proves himself a master of the immensely consequential years immediately after World War II, this time exploring one of the odder couples of American politics—the patrician Franklin Roosevelt and his everyman successor, the often-underestimated Harry Truman. Ascent to Power reveals how Truman steered the world's greatest global power through agonizing decisions about atomic weapons, deadly confrontations with recent ally U.S.S.R., and the beginning of a long-overdue reckoning with its hateful legacy of racism.”
—David O. Stewart, author of George Washington and Madison's Gift
“Franklin Roosevelt towers over the history of the mid-20th century United States. But David Roll reminds us that it was FDR's sudden successor—plain, unassuming Harry Truman—who, more than any other single individual, consolidated and even defined an emerging American consensus about the organization of the free world and the first big steps toward civil rights at home. Experienced in writing about this period, Roll has a feel for the people and their times. He does a wonderful, readable job of placing readers at Truman's side as he and his colleagues felt their way through the upheavals and partisan crossfire of the great transition from war to peace.”
—Philip Zelikow, Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, former counselor of the United States Department of State, and coauthor of To Build a Better World
“This riveting story examines a pivot point in American history, the transition from the patrician reformer Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Harry Truman, an apparently more ordinary person. David Roll captures the dynamism and resilience of democratic governance and its ability to respond to the most profound crises. He shows that leadership matters, but that democracy can work with leaders of very different sorts. Ascent to Power is both an extraordinary work of history and a book full of insights for our time.”
—Austin Sarat, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Political Science at Amherst College and author of Lethal Injection and the False Promise of Humane Execution
“Sprawling, insightful, well-researched and engagingly written... In 1952, Winston Churchill told Truman, 'You more than any other man saved Western civilization.' Ascent to Power's carefully crafted narrative superbly shows how he did it.”
—BookPage, starred review
“This is an engrossing account of post-WWII history and a thrilling portrait of a humble man who did much to shape history.”
—Booklist, starred review
“Exceptionally thorough, Roll’s blow-by-blow makes for an insightful portrayal of high-stakes diplomacy and politicking. This will enthrall mid-century history buffs.”
—Publishers Weekly
“An intriguing historical study of a major presidential transition period... With solid research, Roll brings to life a short time frame that laid the foundation for the decades to come.”
—Kirkus
Kirkus Reviews
2023-12-28
An intriguing historical study of a major presidential transition period.
Some historians view Harry Truman’s presidency as little more than a footnote to the eventful, tumultuous Franklin Roosevelt era. In his latest book, Roll, author of George Marshall and The Hopkins Touch, shows that nothing could be further from the truth. The author examines the period between Roosevelt’s death in 1945 and the 1948 election, which saw Truman unexpectedly win office in his own right. The two men had known each other, but not particularly well, and bringing Truman onto the Democratic ticket in 1944 was largely a way to displace the far-left Henry Wallace. As vice president, Truman had been cut out of important decisions and information, so he was entirely unprepared when Roosevelt died. Roll describes how he initially focused on continuing Roosevelt’s policies about fighting the war and winning the peace, but he gradually brought in his own ideas and became entirely his own man after the 1948 victory. He was logical and systematic on issues such as the use of the atomic bombs, the rebuilding of Germany and Japan, opposition to the Soviet Union, and support for a Jewish homeland, which Roll explores. On the domestic front, Truman moved much further on civil rights than Roosevelt had done, winning support from Black leaders. Many of his policies were bitterly opposed, but he mostly prevailed, always emphasizing that the buck stopped on the presidential desk. Roll tells the story with authority, although some of his detours, such as the chapter on Roosevelt at the Tehran conference in 1943, seem to stray a long way from his theme. However, for readers who are not familiar with Truman, Ascent to Power is informative and accessible.
With solid research, Roll brings to life a short time frame that laid the foundation for the decades to come.
