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leave their judgment open. The definitive biography is yet to come. It may prove the book now almost in press by McCullough, or the book well along by Alonzo L. Hamby. But Truman's place in history must at least await the appearance of these books.
David McCullough's Truman was the first literary work that attempted to encompass the entire life of Harry Truman. Published in 1992, McCullough examined Truman's character and personality. However, McCullough's work answered Ferrell's call to the keyboard for a comprehensive and definitive look at Harry Truman's life. Demonized by scholarly historians as popular history, Truman is a voluminous work of over 1,100 pages. McCullough uses mostly primary resources to show how Truman thought about the world. More importantly, McCullough takes the next step in showing how Truman's personality and background influenced the decisions he made. McCullough stated, "Ambitious by nature, he was never torn by ambition, never tried to appear as something he was not. He stood for common sense, common decency. He spoke the common tongue. As much as any president since Lincoln, he brought to the highest office the language and values of the common American people."

Alonzo L. Hamby released his Man of the People in 1995. Hamby like McCullough delves into Truman's childhood and early political career to try to find out who Harry Truman was. However, Hamby does not think as fondly of Truman as McCullough does. Hamby criticizes Truman's use of the atomic bomb even though he concludes Truman did the right thing. Hamby attacks Truman's record on civil rights and Truman's domestic policy as a whole. Instead of adoring Truman's plain speaking demeanor as so many other historians have over the years, Hamby concludes Truman was doing nothing more than trying to make up for his overwhelming personal weaknesses. Hamby remarked, "The tension of becoming something he wasn't strengthened him in many ways but it also left scars: an inordinate touchiness, a quick temper, and an insatiable demand for recognition that stayed with him throughout his life." Hamby's work is also a comprehensive view of Truman's life and his presidency. Like McCullough, Hamby takes the important next of step of showing how Truman's personality and his actions as president were one in the same.
Thus lays the status of Harry Truman's legacy, and therefore, his historiography. A great rivalry now exists between scholarly historians and popular historians. Scholarly historians like Hamby argue that Truman's many weaknesses overshadowed any good that he did as president. Popular historians point to Truman as the kind of president the people should expect; a man of the people. Until Americans decide the qualifications for their leader, Truman will always be the example pointed to of the common man taking office. This is why the study of Truman is important. As long as the common man matters in American politics, Truman matters.

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