Kansas City Blacks,
Harry Truman
and the
Pendergast
Machine
BY LARRY GROTHAUS*
Pres. Harry Truman
In recent historical literature President Harry S. Truman has
been characterized as a centrist in American politics and criticized
as an over cautious and restrained leader in the promotion of civil
rights. To Barton Bernstein, Truman was a moderate who, "Only
slowly and falteringly . . . move[d] beyond the racial prejudices of
his section."1 William C. Berman views Truman as ambivalent in
his verbal advocacy of civil rights and in his failure to formulate a
substantive program.2 Though both authors see Truman as occasionally helpful, Bernstein pictures him as clearly biased and
not deeply troubled by the plight of blacks, while Berman charges
* Larry Grothaus is professor of History at Concordia Teachers College,
Seward, Nebraska. He received the B.S. Ed. Degree at Concordia Teachers
College, River Forest, Illinois, and the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
1 Barton J. Bernstein, "The Ambiguous Legacy: The Truman Administration and Civil Rights," in Barton J. Bernstein, ed., Politics and Policies of the
Truman Administration (Chicago, 1970). The quote may be found on page
271.
2 William C. Berman, The Politics of Civil Rights in the Truman Administration (Columbus, Ohio, 1970), 238.
65
