The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World

A hypnotically fast-paced, masterful reporting of Harry Truman’s first 120 days as president, when he took on Germany, Japan, Stalin, and a secret weapon of unimaginable power—marking the most dramatic rise to greatness in US presidential history.

Chosen as FDR’s fourth-term vice president for his well-praised work ethic, good judgment, and lack of enemies, Harry S. Truman was the prototypical ordinary man. That is, until he was shockingly thrust in over his head after FDR’s sudden death, a turning point in World War II history.

The first four months of Truman’s administration saw the founding of the United Nations, the fall of Berlin, victory at Okinawa, firebombings in Tokyo, the first atomic explosion, the Nazi surrender, the liberation of concentration camps, the mass starvation in Europe, the Potsdam Conference, the controversial decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the surrender of imperial Japan, and finally, the end of World War II and the rise of the Cold War. No other president had ever faced so much in such a short period of time.

The Accidental President, a gripping work of narrative nonfiction, escorts readers into the situation room with Truman during a tumultuous, history-making 120 days, when the stakes were high and the challenges even higher.

“[A] well-judged and hugely readable book . . . few are as entertaining.” —Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times

Thrown into the world’s most powerful office, the untested president faced a relentless series of history-making crises.

• Leadership Under Pressure: Follow the "prototypical ordinary man" as he is thrust into the presidency after FDR's death and forced to make decisions that will shape the modern world.
• The Fall of Nazi Germany: Witness the final, dramatic days of the war in Europe, from the fall of Berlin and the liberation of concentration camps to the unconditional surrender of the Third Reich.
• High-Stakes Diplomacy: Go behind the scenes at the pivotal Potsdam Conference, where Truman stands toe-to-toe with the formidable Winston Churchill and a calculating Joseph Stalin.
• Dawn of the Atomic Age: Uncover the story behind the world’s most terrifying secret weapon and the controversial decision to unleash its unimaginable power on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.