I go on a 4th of July roadtrip with Harry and Bess

"Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure" ***

by Matthew Algeo

Over the July 4 weekend of 1953, Harry and Bess Truman set out from Indepedence, Mo., in a Chrysler New Yorker that Harry got at a deep discount from a local car dealer, to New York City and points east.

The Trumans had no pension from Harry's time in the White House, and presidents were not then afforded Secret Service protection. So the former first couple took off as private citizens--though delighted Americans recognized and treated them to everything from free gas and coke (see pic above left that will take you to the Harry S. Truman Library site) to a suite in NYC's Waldorf-Astoria.

"Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure" is a quick, easy read with lots of trivia about the sights Harry and Bess might have encountered along their route, interviews with people they met, and historical perspectives about how much the American roadways have changed in 57 years.

As a Boomer conceived just a year after Give 'Em Hell Harry left office, and a fan of the late president, I felt a bit disappointed with the lack of depth in the book. But this would be a great way to introduce GenXers and Millennials to a time they won't remember their parents--or perhaps even grandparents--discussing around the supper table.