In the Shadow of Fear

July 10, 2023
Historian Bunker (An Empire on the Edge) asserts, in this innovative account of the Truman presidency, that September 1949 to June 1950 was a period of immense upheaval and a turning point in American history. In foreign affairs, Bunker cites such landmark events as Russia’s first test of an atomic bomb, the establishment of NATO, Mao’s conquest of China, and the outbreak of the Korean War. On the domestic front, he surveys the development of the hydrogen bomb, the rise of rabid anti-communism led by Senator Joseph McCarthy and his fellow Republicans, and the rapid spread of new technologies (televisions, automatic transmission Chevrolets). According to Bunker, President Truman had grown out of touch with a quickly changing culture, leaving him unprepared for these disruptions, which interfered with his plans to expand on FDR’s New Deal programs. Detailing the coal miners unions’ intensifying battle with the federal government, Secretary of State Dean Acheson’s struggle to get a handle on fast-moving developments abroad, and other matters, Bunker persuasively makes the case that this tumultuous period birthed the Cold War’s pervasive mood of “bitterness, distrust, intolerance, and fear.” It’s an illuminating take on 20th-century American history.

August 15, 2023
A vivid look at a pivotal year at the beginning of the Cold War. Most readers are familiar with the circumstances surrounding Harry Truman's spectacular election upset in 1948. Fewer recall that this momentous event was followed by four disheartening years. Bunker, the winner of the George Washington Book Prize for An Empire on the Edge, delivers a sympathetic portrait but emphasizes that Franklin Roosevelt was a hard act to follow. The author begins on Labor Day 1949. The day before, Paul Robeson, brilliant baritone and "hero of the far left," performed for an audience of 15,000 until a mob broke it up, hurling rocks and overturning cars. The day after, a World War II veteran killed 13 people in Camden, New Jersey. Alternating between international and domestic affairs, Bunker constructs a convincing argument that 1950 was a disaster. It began as America was reeling from news that Russia had the atom bomb and that Mao's communists had conquered China, thus making the world's most populous nation (in the minds of many) another Soviet satellite. Six months later, North Korea invaded the South. Domestic affairs verged on the grotesque. Even before the "volatile, intemperate, and unpopular" Joseph McCarthy exploded into the headlines, it was widely accepted in the popular mind that clever communists had burrowed deep into government and schools, stealing secrets and corrupting our children. Maddened by 20 years out of power, Republicans focused narrowly on winning it back by opposing every Truman policy without exception. He desegregated the armed forces on his own authority, but Congress would not pass a broader civil rights program. "Most Republicans supported civil rights reform; but if it came to a choice between that and weakening the president, their leadership would opt for the latter," writes Bunker. Despite his admiration, the author, a diligent, evenhanded writer, notes that Truman lost his political prowess after 1948, and he and his party failed to pass the reforms of his vaunted "Fair Deal." Great history of a dismal period.

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Starred review from September 1, 2023

In the years following World War II, the United States' economic and industrial output were unmatched. President Harry S. Truman hoped to build on FDR's New Deal legacy with his Fair Deal: a broad set of liberal reforms, including higher taxes for new infrastructure, education, and a national healthcare plan. Historian Bunker (Making Haste from Babylon) details the months between September 1949 and June 1950 when several crises, domestic and foreign, rocked the Truman administration. Strikes by the mine workers and steelworkers, demanding higher wages and job stability, threatened the United States' economic boom and coal supply during the winter months. Communists solidified control of China and later signed a pact with the Soviet Union, expanding communism over much of Asia, while in the U.S., Democrats maintained control of the House and Senate, but emboldened conservatives advocated for reduced budgets and lower taxes, derailing many of Truman's proposals. VERDICT Based on extensive primary research, this highly readable account highlights these critical months when the U.S. enjoyed its prosperity, and part of the world descended into violence. An important read for those interested in postwar American history, both domestic and abroad.--Chad E. Statler

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