Boston Athenæum

October 10, 2017 at the Boston Athenæum. Harry S. Truman was one of the most unpopular presidents in American history. Heir to a struggling economy, a ruined Europe, and ever-increasing tension with the Soviet Union, on no issue was the path ahead clear and easy. General Douglas MacArthur, by contrast, was incredibly popular, as untouchable as any officer has ever been in America. The lessons he drew from World War II were absolute: appeasement leads to disaster and a showdown with the communists was inevitable. In his new book, Henry William Brands presents their contest of wills against a turbulent backdrop of terrors, both overseas and at home, to evoke the making of a new American era.