They gavel it is session saturday morning and ten eastern. Watch the debate live on cspan good evening. Every saturday night throughout the summer, book tv is putting on several hours of a wellknown author. Kind of hard twisted on binge watching. Tonight teacherg author is historian David Mccullough for it is author of a dozen books including bestselling histories, on the american revolutions, and the invention of mans spacefligh for some ofe Northwest Territory in the creation of the brooklyn bridge. Hes a two time winner about Pulitzer Prize and the National Book of board and his appearance he over 75 times. And coming up over the next several hours, we will show you some of those programs. S. First up in 1992, they appear on cspans program to talk about his biography of president harry truman. The book won thepr pulitzer prie biography would have changed the view on the truman presidency. Here is David Mccullough from 1992. You start out by saying im a as far back as nearly as he could remember, truman had held to the ideal of the mythical roman hero. What is that all about. David will cincinnatus was the mythical hero who left the plow, the farm to go to the aid of his country in time of war and became a gary and great general. And was victorious and then he renounced all of his power and returned to farm. That is the same that this country was founded on. If you go to the rotunda and the uuppercaseletter look at the great many of the tremble of George Washington. Turning over his powers as commanderinchief in the army to the congress. The cincinnatus similar alternet painting. Because the Founding Fathers really believe that this is what democracy entailed. It meant that citizenship method any citizen should be called could be called upon it anytime to Service Country or her country in any capacity including the greatest power. In the power belong to the people therefore the power would be returned byow this and held t for a free time. And truman like to say try never to forget who i was. Breaking from, and where we go back to. That is the cincinnatus theme obviously but it also shows that he is who he was pretty new he was. And he proud of who he was. In the return to independence, after he left the office of the presidency in 1953 was his way of his actions speak louder than his words but when he got home, he found that he was living up to the idea was not as he expected. While we all remember i think with affection, the harry truman of independence missouri was walking the same streets of the town he grownnd up in. Adjusting citizen truman, neighbor truman once again. It was all of that easy for him pretty missed washington and the pressure the stimulation in the excitement of washington. In order to understand truman, you have to understand it seems to me, life in jackson county. He lived nearly 70 years there pretty proved almost 90 spent 20 years as a senator in washington as a Vice President and eventually president s. Peter the year that he went back was wet. David honey 53 when he took the oath of office as a 44th president. When eisenhower took the oath down offtruman walked of the perform he was right back down on ground level again. In the pension and allows, no office space. No secret service cards. His only income was his army pension which was aon hundred ad 19 a month. He got the train and the president general eisenhower and given him or low temp the president ial parlor car, like a railroad car. It had belonged to Franklin Roosevelt. To write home to independence. In all the way across the country, he was greeted it one town after another by the crowds who would come down to the station to see him. He got restless and he got up and walk around. He was just a regular passenger train. In the presence train was full of regular passengers. He just walked up and down the train and said hello to everybody. Unless part of his life in many ways, is as fulfilling and happy and interesting part of his life is all the rest of them. Is it great story, harry truman. A mask sometimes did you do truman. And many obvious reasons but one of them certainly is for me, as a writer is wonderful story and the story of his retirement two years. His best the polling quizzes the billing for me to write is almost anything in the book. 1117 pages. David including starkness. Correct. If he stopped there then it would be 92 pages of text. David the big problem was to keep it to one volume. I was determined that it would not be two volumes biography. I wanted it all in one volume. And i wanted to be a big book. I didnt know its going to wind up quite as big as this. But its a big subject, i think life. In the span the art of his life is really, a chronicle of American Life in those years. He goes from what is essentially a jeffersonian, jacksonian american, farms and small towns which eat experience directly as a boy growing up in a small town. In a former 11 some years. To a country that the nation had described to the world with our based primarily on industrial technological and scientific accomplishments. Peter so his 19 sit tribune. David he was born in all manner of speech, have an thought taste everything. For that. Before the First World War. Yet he has to face the most momentous of all decisions of the 20th century. But which theoretically he was not prepared but we were not prepared as a country either. To me is like bunyans pilgrims progress. He has his complications and ordeals the difficulties that he is overcome and get beyond. Each one that represent something which to me symbolizes the history of our country. This is a book about america me. And i wanted it to be as much a book about america as it was very truman. Peter will only have a short hours. E im going to stick with the last chapter and also some of your notes here. So we can write can help myself michael all over the police. In this last chapter because its relevant today, you talk about that harry truman and his wife got inot the room card aftr he was president and rocked by themselves to the stamford into new york. Took about that. David h had a chrysler need lod driving an. Which is interesting because it was one of the few recreations he had. He didnt know how to play any sports. He didnt play golf, he did not play tennis. He didnt even know how to dance. So driving an automobile in reading and walking were his primary recreations. Anybody knew chrysler. And as he said, he wanted to give it a workout. So cute but decided he would drive from independence back to washington. And friends tried to dissuade them from doing that. They were determined and they set off the car and it was an adventure in itself because every town they came to people would of course recognize them and the police would get very concerned that they were in town and would worry about their safety and for that something happened to them, it would be the fault of the local police so they would literally pressure them out of town. As quickly as possible. Mr. Truman like to drive quite fast. Above the speed limit. And miss missus truman did not approve of that so she would have him hold to the seat speed limit so as a consequence of all they often be passed. People who passed by ammon park and they would recognize them. There was a former president of the United States and his wife driving along the highway. In the cars would drop back and pass them again just to see if there eyes were playing tricks on them. Truman journey. Said there goes our incognito. And then when they arrived in many ofon, all of the the press corps would cover him drove out to maryland. It would think about the beard was coming the wood for the car cement and they will follow him. And he loved that. When he stopped at mayflower got out, he had shirtsleeves on, driving the car. The crowd all gathered around. Traffic backed up. And the cause quite a commotion. And then they drove up to new york to see margaret clewiston living in new york went to some shows, which is seen on the town. And they went to restaurants. Just like anybody who lives in new york. And again, causing a commotion. Taxicabs would pull over to the curb and drive out and say hi harry youre my man and all that. And then on the way that, on pennsylvania turnpike, a state trooper pulled him over. Apparently he had been cutting people too closely when he passed them. They said the trooper just wanted to say hello to them and shake his hand. And that was the last automobile trip the day attempted. From then on they would go by train or plane or boat. And when they went to europe. There had been an attempted assassination in the number of president s had been assessing assassinated. Why would the government have protections for himid pretty. David they didnt do it. Army officers and pensions everybody else but not the rated becky had very little money. To borrow money. Quite secretly. Which dean assigned brent to take the tobacco. This is not well known. It is a meaning didnt have any money did have money but he needed some cash to cover all of the of moving out of the white house. When he got home in order to to provide himself some income, he undertook the writing of his autobiography, his memoirs. No the president never done except for herbert hoover. Hoover time in office was much briefer than was in trumans and trumans presidency covered far more tumultuous history. So to undertake that twovolume memoir is very major ambitious task and then he built his library. They been a previous president ial library, Franklin Roosevelt library but it was established after roosevelt died in office. So truman was the first president to actually officiate on the establishment of the president ial library. There again, he was beginning something new. I think one of the things i try to imply or to emphasize the book is that truman is part of a very creative public figure. As a creative president. He didnt filter all of his life. He built roads and courthouses. When at washington, when he became president he built the famous Truman Company in the back of the white house which caused a great flurry of criticism. And then of course, is the one who entirely rebuilt the white house. The white house we havere today, is really the house that harry built. Except for the outer shell which is maintained to the original outer shell. The entire interior and the reconstruction of the original house. And he took part in every detail but that reconstruction. He loved it. He loved building the leftoo creating. And of course, in a larger way, his presidency is marked with such creative and innovative acts as a marshall plan. And truman doctrine and nato and so forth. So to again be a builder in this last chapter of his life, appealed to him tremendously. And in the library, building the library and having his office at the library, welcoming guests there and taking people around the library became his life. Except for his troubles when he went toli europe. Peter did you ever meet him pretty. David no i saw him once when i was a youngster. One of my first jobs in new york, i was very starry eyed. I got the job at a new magazine called sports illustrated. Those coming home from work one night. With a different brooklyn. I came out of the subway stop at the george hotel. The big car pulled up to bradys small crowd waiting. The big car pulled and the governor said stepped out and ive never seen governor reports was quite excited about that. So out stepped former president truman. I was just astonished. I remember thinking myy god hes in color. Because we only had blackandwhite television. Cablackandwhite newspaper. I think the fact they get very hot color. He radiated good health. It made him seem very just vital. He certainly didnt seem like a little meant to me. To me at that moment, he was 6foot eight. But i never spoke to him, never met him. I often thought to be interesting if you go back in time and i could reach out and touch him on the shoulder in 1956 that fall i did see mr. President , i am going to write your biography someday. Peter knowing what you know about him, what you think you would think about this. David im sure some of that he wouldnt like. Because this is after all, an honest attempt to see the complete man with his flaws and faults. But i would hope that in some, he would think that i had understood him but of the known for people booked up. I think he was a much more complicated complex keenly intelligent man. Thoughtful, considerate man the stereotype. Truman portrait. He is it james whitmore. These nothing of it just a kind of salty downhome missouri will rogers. All of the people that ive interviewed and have him and work with him and for the white house with him, theyll say please understand this man was much more than met the eye. Peter how many interviews did you do. David 126. The range across a broad spectrum. Some people who are the new event all of us often come and go as neighbors or independents. And also some of whom were so important that i interviewed them many times over during the ten years it took me to read the book. Peter who did you spend the most time with. David i would guess a total perhaps either Margaret Truman his daughter or george elsie who is white house staff. And clark clifford. Is on the secretif service peope who are invaluable because we were with him all of the time. And so many of whom have never been interviewed before about him. Peter are secret Service Allowed to a talk about it after the fact. David apparently so. Theyre wonderful because they saw him offstage. They saw himco under all conditions. And often under enormous tension. And he mentioned the attempted assassination. By two of the secret serviceman youre still here in washington. They walked me through the whole event. Both inside and outside clear housework took place. Spent the better part of one saturday doing that. I dont think, im sure this never done before. So my account of that, is based on material that can only be had by reaching that time through living people. In their devotion to him is a very compelling thing toco listn to. To and its true of all of the people who work for him at all levels. He not find a Single Person who knew him welcome worked with him he wanted to tell me what is terrible backstage temper was what an ungrateful or difficult policy was to work with. In the close of the people were to him, they were devoted to him and they liked him predict and awake at tubbing i would find some people who really did not like him who had some skeletons to pull out of the closet. But that never happened. I started this in 1982, ten yearse ago. Peter what was the reason pretty. David well, i was looking for a subject for a night started working a book about picasso. I had to go around the barn with Pablo Picasso around the barn beforemo he found truman. To me, he was a repellent human being. It didnt really have a story at the time that interested me. He was instantly successful. He never really went very far or had any adventures so to speak. He was immensely important player. He was great with modern arch. But he found his treatment of his family, send towed towards women, he was a somebody i to spend five years with. As a roommate so to speak. In my editor at the time and jump Simon Schuster suggest that we do Franklin Roosevelt because at that time there was not a good biography of Franklin Roosevelt. Impulse, just an additional way snow, im going to do a 20th century president it would be harry truman. And he said well, why not harry truman predict so looked into it i found that there was not a good biography of harry truman. Complete life and times. The last chapter that you are talking about, that part of his life hass never been written about before. They comprised of 20 years of his life. A very important part of hisrs life. And beyond that, there was his immense collection of letters rsand diaries he poured himself, paper, all of his life and he left a written personal, very revealing record unlike that of any other present the north and im sure will never have another president that leaps anything like that. We dont write splitters much anymore we dont keep diaries much anymore. I did build his own life and multicore he ever realized it and he would be a figure in history predict and one month to give you an example in 1947, when he was president and when onhis wife was back in independence looking after her mother. Harry truman, the president of the unitedth states whichever 37 times. And these were just simple how are use in the weather is turning cool or whatever. These were real letters. Did you ever find out how hero them, for the in longhand. David yes, he had wonderful clear straightforward strong and ready. Just like he was. But fortunately, very legible. There was never a problem reading his handwriting and very seldom understanding what he was talking about. Peter likely his wife called their daughter margaret every night. In new york. David yes. Yes. They work very very close. Theos same people were living in secret Service Agents or is white house staff. Domestic staff. In the mention. They said they were by far the closest they had known in the white house. Though they dont want to be quoted, by person elsie truman was their favorite president. It was the first president ever to walk out into the kitchen. In their memory to ever walk out into the kitchen. To thank the chef cooks for the dinner that night. They remember Calvin Coolidge coming out once or twice but they felt it was perhaps to see if anybody was taking food. Interment knew everybody by name on staff. All of the families. And this was sort of the politicians device. This is the way he was. And the whole give them harry, harry truman on the job, at the office, in the white house and with his people. The loss of art or the highest level never give anybody a hack. He never raised his voice. If anything is remembered for being considerate. And part small favors and courtesies he would do. Peter i get back to prison truman. Quality born. It is my new 1933. The third of four sons. My family lived in pittsburgh for many many generations. I grow up in a very happy household. My own children i told me, you have no chance of ever being serious writer pop because it to copy of a childhood. Peter what did your parents do pretty. David andi Electrical Supply business, and Electric Company which is st