Evening at Egan Lecture

Wild About Harry: The Myth of Truman in the Age of Bush
Dr. David Noon, Assistant Professor of History, UAS
October 24, 2008, 7 P.M., Egan Lecture Hall, University of Alaska Southeast

Like every American president, Harry Truman has seen his historical reputation rise and fall over the years. One of the least popular presidents upon departing office in 1953, Truman is now widely regarded as a successful president whose plain-spoken, feisty personality was uniquely suited to his cold war historical moment. In the past few years, however, Truman has served as a useful device for a variety of political figures -- among them George W. Bush and, more recently, Sarah Palin -- whose conservative beliefs offer a marked contrast to Truman's own New Deal liberalism.

For a variety of reasons that I explore in this talk, conservative political figures have made use of Truman's popular image to suit their own purposes. This talk examines the evolution of Harry Truman's historical reputation and the strange role that Harry Truman has played in the presidency of George W. Bush.

Dr. David Noon is a contributor to the blog, Lawyers, Guns and Money and the author of the blog, The Axis of Evel Knievel.

The Evening at Egan lecture series is held every Friday (unless noted) at 7 p.m. through November 21, 2008. Please note, there is no Evening at Egan lecture on October 31.

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