Harry S. Truman: His Life and Legacy
H&G5-10-Thu2
Fran Feldman
This course will take place in person at 60 Turner Street. The room will be equipped with a HEPA air purifier.
September 12 - November 21
(No Class October 3)
On Harry Truman’s 75th birthday, Eleanor Roosevelt stated, “The decisions he made shaped the very world we live in today.” What exactly were those decisions and in what ways do they continue to resonate today? We begin by exploring Truman’s early years in Missouri to see how they shaped his values and sense of personal loyalty. Our attention then turns to his years in Washington, including his service on the “Truman Committee” and, of course, the presidency, which was thrust on him so suddenly. The dropping of the atom bomb in 1945 ushered in the nuclear age. Truman’s actions at the start of the Cold War and the establishment of NATO set the trajectory of the United States as the champion of democracy, an issue we are grappling with right now. His stance in favor of racial equality initiated the civil rights movement, a battle we are still fighting. His efforts to shore up the middle class at the expense of the very wealthy are still seen today. With David McCullough’s epic book Truman as our text, we meet a steadfast and honorable man who never wanted to be president but who, once in the presidency, worked courageously and vigorously to do the best job possible.
Learning is collaborative, with no lectures, lots of discussion, and, importantly, research and reports by participants on various aspects of Truman’s life. This is a 10-week version of an earlier five-week course called “The Presidency of Harry S. Truman: The Lore, the Leadership, the Legacy.”
More facilitated discussion than lecture.
Truman by David McCullough.
3 hours weekly
Passionate about government and history, Fran Feldman majored in government at Smith College, received a Master of Arts in Teaching (in history) from Yale, and taught social studies. Later, in California, she edited books for Sunset Books. After returning to Boston, she worked as an administrator/financial trainer in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard. Her avocations include golf, traveling, and volunteer work. Among the courses she taught previously at BOLLI are “The Remarkable Roosevelts,” “The Reluctant Ally,” “A Life of Purpose in 20th-Century Moscow,” and “The Presidency of Harry S. Truman: The Lore, the Leadership, the Legacy.”