HYDE PARK, NY -- The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum is pleased to present an author talk and book signing with
A.J. Baime, author of THE ACCIDENTAL PRESIDENT: HARRY S. TRUMAN AND THE FOUR MONTHS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
. The program will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 21, 2017 in the Henry A. Wallace Center at the FDR Presidential Library and Home. Following the presentation, Baime will be available to sign copies of his book.
This is a free public event but registration is required. Visit www.fdrlibrary.org to register.
Synopsis:
THE ACCIDENTAL PRESIDENT
explores the dramatic story of Harry Truman's first four months in office, when this unlikely president had to take on Germany, Japan, Stalin, and the atomic bomb, with the fate of the world hanging in the balance.
Heroes are often defined as ordinary characters who get thrust into extraordinary circumstances, and through courage and a dash of luck, cement their place in history. Chosen as FDR's fourth term Vice President for his well-praised work ethic, good judgment, and lack of enemies, Harry S. Truman -- a Midwesterner who had no college degree and had never had the money to buy his own home -- was the prototypical ordinary man. That is, until he was shockingly thrust into the Oval Office after FDR's sudden death. During the climactic months of the Second World War, Truman had to play judge and jury, pulling America to the forefront of the global stage. The first four months of Truman's administration saw the liberation of concentration camps, victory at Okinawa, firebombings of Tokyo, the fall of Berlin, the Nazi surrender, the mass starvation of Europe, the Potsdam Conference, the controversial decision to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the first atomic explosion, the surrender of Imperial Japan, and the founding of the United Nations.
Tightly focused, meticulously researched, rendered with vivid detail and narrative verve, THE ACCIDENTAL PRESIDENT escorts readers into the situation room with Truman during this tumultuous, history-making 120 days, when the stakes were high and the challenge even higher. The result is narrative history of the highest order and a compelling look at a presidency with great relevance to our times.
A.J. Baime
is the
New York Times
bestselling author of THE ARSENAL OF DEMOCRACY: FDR, DETROIT, AND AN EPIC QUEST TO ARM AN AMERICA AT WAR and GO LIKE HELL: FORD, FERRARI, AND THEIR BATTLE FOR SPEED AND GLORY AT LE MANS. Both books are in development for major motion pictures. Baime is a longtime regular contributor to the
Wall Street Journal
, and his articles have also appeared in the
New York Times
,
Popular Science
, and
Men's Journal
. He lives in Granite Bay, California.
