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Kenneth Weisbrode
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The Year of Indecision, 1946: A Tour Through the Crucible of Harry Truman's America Hardcover – March 1, 2016

by Kenneth Weisbrode (Author)
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 20 ratings
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A vivid account of America at the pivot point of the postwar era, Harry Truman’s first full year in office
 
In 1946, America had just exited the biggest war in modern history and was about to enter another of a kind no one had fought before. We think of this moment as the brilliant start of America Triumphant, in world politics and economics. But the reality is murkier: 1946 brought tension between industry and labor, political disunity, bad veteran morale, housing crises, inflation, a Soviet menace—all shadowed by an indecisiveness that would plague decision makers who would waffle between engagement and isolation, as the country itself pivoted between prosperity and retrenchment, through the rest of the century.
            The Year of Indecision, 1946 overturns the image of Truman as a can-do leader—1946, in fact, marked a nadir in his troubled presidency. Relations broke down with the Soviet Union, and nearly did with the British. The United States suffered shortages and strikes of a magnitude it had not seen in years. In November 1946, the Democrats lost both houses of Congress. The tension between fear and optimism expressed itself too in popular culture. Americans rejoiced in talent and creative energy, but a shift was brewing: Bing Crosby making room for Bill Haley and B.B. King; John Wayne for Montgomery Clift. That year also saw a burst of spirit in literature, music, art and film—beneath the shadow of noir. 
            The issues and tensions we face today echo those of seven decades ago. As we observe in this portrait of the era just before our own, as America learned, piecemeal and reluctantly, to act like a world power, it tried, and succeeded only partially, to master fear. Indecision, Weisbrode argues, is the leitmotif of American history.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    320 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Viking
  4. Publication date
    March 1, 2016
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 1.25 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0670016845
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0670016846
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

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Praise for Churchill and the King

"Wonderfully readable . . . This is popular history at its best."—Michael Korda

"A thoughtful, deeply insightful account of two unconventional friends . . . joining forces to rally their countrymen and inspire the world."—Lynne Olson, author of Citizens of London

About the Author

Ken Weisbrode is a diplomatic and cultural historian currently working in Turkey. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University, where he studied under Akira Iriye and the late Ernest May. He is the author of Churchill and the King and The Atlantic Century.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Viking; First Edition (March 1, 2016)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0670016845
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0670016846
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.25 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 20 ratings

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Kenneth Weisbrode

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4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
20 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Aidan M
5.0 out of 5 stars Study Great Men, Not Great Historians
Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2023
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President Truman is one of those great men. Even though this book criticizes many of his "indecisions", he is remembered as a great President. I strongly recommend this book.
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DonL2507
4.0 out of 5 stars An Interersting, Multifaceted Look at the Immediate Post-War Years
Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2016
The title is somewhat misleading. While events in 1946 -- political, diplomatic and otherwise -- seem to be the "centering" focus of this book, the author primarily broadens his coverage to the post-war years, from FDR's death and Truman's accession to the Presidency to Korea and beyond. Moreover, while political and diplomatic events are covered that lead up to the Cold War and the Truman Doctrine (announced in 1947), the author's scope includes much cultural history of the time including the New York literary scene and film noir emanating from Hollywood. Some reviewers want more attention paid to Harry Truman's presidency, but I appreciated the broader scope, particularly the coverage of cultural issues. I would say, however, that if the author is aiming at a multifaceted coverage of immediate post-war issues and concerns, then his coverage of economic issues is somewhat weak. Post-war "reconversion" of the economy had policymakers and economists fearful that a return to the depression of the 1930s would occur. Instead, inflation accelerated as war-time price controls were lifted, and that inflation caused huge demands for wage increases by labor unions (more powerful at that time) resulting in numerous and prolonged strikes that contributed to the Republican victory in the 1946 Congressional elections and the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947. Other than the political costs of the 1946 strikes we read nothing about Taft-Hartley or the very significant Employment Act of 1946 that for the first time tasked the Federal government with macroeconomic management of the economy leading to full employment.

I learned many fascinating bits of information while reading this book of modest length, including political, social, cultural, and personality items. Sometimes I viewed the author's literary style as brilliant, and other times it reflected more of an elliptical style that was hard both to follow and to identify just where the author was coming out on an issue. (The author might prefer his style being called "balanced and carefully nuanced.") It's no surprise that the author admires the Hungarian-American historian John Lukacs because he quotes him numerous times, expresses his admiration, and to my mind, writes in a similar style where parenthetical "asides" often occur and ambiguous interpretations, at least to me, abound.

In summary, I enjoyed this book, and found its comprehensive scope interesting. Unfortunately for the author's title and his apparent intended focus, Harry Truman's presidency had more dramatic events that followed 1946 (Marshall Plan, Berlin blockade, birth of Israel, Soviet A-bomb, election of 1948, Korea, etc.) than the actual events of 1946 which while important don't carry the same dramatic impetus. For example, the three most important events in 1946 might be Churchill's Iron Curtain speech, the "Long Telegram" from the Moscow embassy developing the containment strategy, and the huge number of labor strikes that angered the middle class and drove the country further from New Deal policies.
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5.0 out of 5 stars A terric read.
Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2016
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The book, written by a trained historian but also gifted writer ( a rare combination) is a superb evocation of a crucial period in the 20th century. 1946 was , a pivotal moment when the world turned, for many people for the better, but for others for worse. The author looks at Second World War's aftermath, through the American lens while recalling also how that year appeared to others - the war's survivors, victims and loses, including those ever suspicious of the United Statesand blissfully gullible about the Soviet Union. Progressives circa 1950, in short. The author is also a skilled narrator, who brings to life the period's characters, what they did and how the world we today inhabit was shaped by their decisions.In so doing, we are reminded of our predecessors' shortcomings and frequent incapacity to assess correctly the predicaments they confronted. A sobering reminder given the current political scene. Should be required reading for idiots right and left.
5 people found this helpful
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D. B. Hendrix
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2016
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excellent
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Thomas J. Brucia
1.0 out of 5 stars I can best describe this book by saying it's as if thousands ...
Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2016
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It isn't often that I say a book is worthless, but this one meets the test. If you expect a cogent and incisive analysis of the year 1946, this is not it. For that matter, even if you think it will be a penetrating look at the Truman years... nope. I can best describe this book by saying it's as if thousands of paragraphs about tens of thousands of topics covering most of a hundred year period were put into a blender and then laid out one after another. Also, if you like glittering generalities with no statistical evidence to back them up, they are here in abundance. I regret the hours I've spent on this mish-mash, hoping vaguely to sift out value. It never happened. If you choose to purchase this book, my parting words are 'good luck'. (Oh, I was born in 1946).
11 people found this helpful
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Arkansaw Traveler
2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting anti-Truman Piece -- Weak on the Facts
Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2018
The author presents Truman as way over his head for the entire time (focusing on 1946.) Although I agree with much of his analysis, he failed to understand the depth of communist penetration in the Roosevelt Administration that became the Truman Administration for his first term. The author should have known for example, but didn't, that Henry Wallace was a Soviet Agent, and the one who reported on the Quebec Conference directly to Stalin. Author Weisbrode apparently is still unaware of the Venona Project, and ascribes noble motives to underserving Soviet agents in his work. Some 300 Soviet agents have been identified as active in 1946, a number disturbing close to the numbers McCarthy presented when liberals are forced to truly analyze the period. This would have been an interesting anti-Truman work written for the election of 1948, but today the scholarship is outdated and often simply incorrect.
One person found this helpful
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DMM
3.0 out of 5 stars Good story, bad writing style
Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2017
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I understand a lot of what occurred from the end of WW II to the initiation of the Korean War. It's a great story and important, but Kenneth Weisbrode seems to have succumbed to some form of the run on sentence disease. This frequently is a result of falling in love with your own words (and having a weak editor).
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