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Serve to Lead® | James StrockThe Next Nationalism Author: Mobilizing Citizenship for America's Fourth Founding.
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James Tyson Currie | 'Missouri Mule: How Harry Truman’s Stubbornness and Determination Helped Win World War II and Led Him to the Presidency'
Sunday, 21 June, 2026
James Tyson Currie combines academic rigor with the savvy garnered from experience in government to illuminate a critical, little-explored turn of American history: Missouri Mule: How Harry Truman’s Stubbornness and Determination Helped Win World War II and Led Him to the Presidency.In four short years Senator Harry Truman ascended from back-bench obscurity to nomination as Franklin Roosevelt’s third and final vice president. Initially dismissed as the product of a notorious political machine, Truman distinguished himself in overseeing the operations of the unprecedented “arsenal of democracy.” His reputation for personal probity was bolstered by savvy in dealing with other political actors. In this wide-ranging discussion, Currie discusses Truman’s complicated relationship with FDR, his effectiveness in the Senate, and the enduring role of personal character in our politics. He makes the case for why Harry Truman still matters—eight decades since his consequential presidency played an indispensable role in the creation of the postwar world order.Publisher’s SummaryOn February 3, 1940, Harry S Truman, a freshman Senator from Missouri, held a press conference to announce that he would run for reelection. Truman also said that year that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt should not run for a third term as president because, in Truman’s words, “There is no indispensable man in a democracy.” Roosevelt ignored Truman’s admonition, secured the Democratic nomination, and ran successfully for a third term. Roosevelt punished Truman by pitting the White House political apparatus against him in the Missouri Democratic Senate primary. His plot to defeat Truman failed, however, and Truman was reelected. Four years later, Roosevelt chose Truman as his running mate, a decision that led directly to Truman’s becoming president when Roosevelt unexpectedly died only eighty-two days into his fourth term. Why, then, did FDR choose Truman over all others? The answer to that question is the primary subject of Missouri Mule, prize-winning author James Currie’s new book, which traces Truman’s rise from Senate backbencher in 1940 to Roosevelt’s running mate in 1944. As secondary—and intriguing—themes, this book draws upon extensive original research in the National Archives to expose massive Army and Navy wartime bungling and wastefulness and reveals how some U.S. corporations were more interested in increasing shareholder dividends and corporate profits than in providing the quality materiel needed to defeat the Nazis and the Japanese. As chair of the primary Senate oversight committee that investigated our country’s World War II defense build-up and expenditures, Harry Truman displayed all the best characteristics of the Missouri mules he had worked with as a young man on his farm: the stubbornness and determination that helped us win the war and made him one of our best presidents.Critical Acclaim“An amazing job of research and the writing is clear and precise ... scrupulous in not going beyond the evidence and avoiding idle speculation ... I’m sure the book will get a favorable reception.” —James M. McPherson, George Henry Davis ’86 Professor of American History Emeritus, Princeton University; Pulitzer Prize for History for Battle Cry of Freedom (1989)“This is an impressive work. James Currie has organized the book around issues where the committee’s investigations led to significant improvements in the American war effort: jolting the Army out of bureaucratic intransigence; compelling the Navy to adopt civilian-designed ships; forcing defense contractors to make improvements to military equipment; and even improving the morale of soldiers in their camps.” —Donald A. Ritchie, Historian Emeritus of the U.S. Senate“A masterful account of a key episode in American history—Harry Truman’s leadership of the key Senate committee investigating government expenditures for World War II. This book provides an important and fascinating addition to our understanding of how the federal government operated during this historic conflict and gives valuable insights into the folkways of Congress, the realities of American politics, the functioning of the media, and the rise of Truman to the top of American politics as he became Franklin D. Roosevelt’s vice president and successor. The research is meticulous; the writing is lucid, and the storytelling is vivid and entertaining.” —Kenneth T. Walsh, longtime U.S. News & World Report White House correspondent, past president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, and author of ten books about the presidencyAbout the AuthorJames Tyson “Jim” Currie grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, and graduated summa cum laude from the University of Mississippi with majors in history and political science. He then attended the University of Virginia, from which he received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in history. Dr. Currie is also a graduate of the Army’s Command and General Staff College and the Defense Department’s Industrial College of the Armed Forces, now the Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy. He taught history at Mississippi College, Millsaps College, Jackson State University, and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at National Defense University. He was the first Historian of the U.S. Department of Education and Associate Historian of the House of Representatives. He worked for Senator Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr. as speechwriter, legislative assistant (defense and foreign policy), and staff member on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. While on the SSCI staff, he also worked for Senators David Boren and John Glenn. Dr. Currie served a total of thirty years, active and reserve, in the U.S. Army, retiring with the rank of Colonel. His military awards include the Legion of Merit, four awards of the Meritorious Service Medal, and the Army Parachute Badge. His last assignment was with the Army’s Office of Legislative Liaison. Currie is the author of five books and twenty-five articles, one of which was awarded the Charles Thomson Prize by the National Archives/Southern Historical Association. He is a longtime member of SAG-AFTRA (AFL-CIO) and has appeared as a background performer in the television series House of Cards and Homeland. Currie lives in Fairfax County, Virginia, with his wife Janis. They have one son, Matthew, who practices as a clinical psychologist in Maryland.The New Nationalist™ is an independent, non-partisan publication advocating political reform. Your support makes this project possible and is greatly appreciated.Image Credit | Author photograph, via James Tyson Currie. Get full access to The New Nationalist at jamesstrock.substack.com/subscribe
