Prologue: The Missourian -- President Truman -- Terminal -- An unsteady alliance -- "The basic power of the universe" -- Truman's "conniver" -- Churchill makes mischief -- The quick and the dead -- A season of disharmony -- The doctrine's dilemma -- Wealth of a nation -- Strange interludes -- A cemetery for dead cats -- Minority reports -- The frontiers of hazard -- The scrapper -- Office politics -- "First lightning" -- "A new fanatic faith" -- A "border incident" -- "The second hand of destiny" -- A meeting on a small island -- Mense horribilis -- "Voice of God" -- "The mess in Washington" -- Dubious battles -- Bad chemistry -- The bitter end -- Epilogue: Citizen Truman

"The nearly eight years of Harry Truman's presidency--among the most turbulent in American history--were marked by victory in the wars against Germany and Japan; the first use of an atomic weapon; the beginning of the Cold War; creation of the NATO alliance; the founding of the United Nations; the Marshall Plan to rebuild the wreckage of postwar Europe; the Red Scare; and the fateful decision to commit troops to fight in Korea."--Amazon