TRUMAN, Margaret

Born Mary Margaret Truman, 17 February 1924, Independence, Missouri

Writes under: Margaret Truman Daniel

Daughter of Harry S. and Elizabeth Virginia "Bess" Wallace Truman; married Clifton Elbert Daniel, 1956; children: Clifton, William, Harrison, Thomas

Like Reeve Lindbergh, Margaret Truman is another famous daughter-turned-writer. The child of President Harry S. Truman and First Lady Bess Wallace Truman, Margaret grew up around Washington, D.C., politics and politicians; her friends include Drucie Snyder Horton, daughter of John W. Snyder, Secretary of the Treasury for the Truman Administration. So it is no wonder that her writings, both fiction and nonfiction, center around her famous family, those involved in politics and history, and the nation's capital.

Truman attended public school in Independence, Missouri, until 1934, when her father was elected to the U.S. Senate. A talented singer, Truman began taking voice lessons at the age of sixteen and made her concert debut singing over a nationwide radio hookup with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. She graduated from George Washington University in 1946, receiving a B.A. in history. Her father, then the president, gave the commencement address and presented her with her diploma. In 1949 she made a concert appearance with the National Symphony Orchestra at Constitution Hall in Washington. In 1956 Truman married Clifton Daniel, who would later become the chief of the New York Times Washington Bureau.

Beginning her career as a writer of nonfiction, Truman's Souvenir: Margaret Truman's Own Story came out in 1956, the story of growing up in the White House and in politics. White House Pets (1969), a chronicle of the "First Pets" (animals in the Oval Office), followed. In 1972 she released a book about her father titled Harry S. Truman, a thorough biography of one of the most important political figures of the 20th century, containing unequaled insight and understanding of the man's extraordinary life and offering rare glimpses of the personalities and politics behind the world events of his time.

More books about the Truman family followed, with Letters from Father: The Truman Family's Personal Correspondence (1981) with and about her father, and then Where the Buck Stops: The Private and Personal Writings of Harry S. Truman (1989), by her father, and edited by Margaret, containing the 33rd president's interesting theories and opinions on leadership and leaders, plus his Letterman List of picks for the best and worst presidents, all penned in President Truman's bluntly honest "give 'em hell" style. Truman's son Clifton Truman Daniel also wrote Growing Up with My Grandfather: Memories of Harry S. Truman (1994), and Truman wrote a book about her mother, Bess W. Truman, published in 1986.

Women of Courage came out in 1976, called by some the female version of John F. Kennedy's Profiles in Courage. The book contains brief biographies emphasizing the courage of 12 women both famous (such as Susan B. Anthony and Dolly Madison) and little known in U.S. history, including Susan Livingston, Sarah Winnemucca, Ida Wells-Barnett, Elizabeth Blackwell, Marian Anderson, and others.

First Ladies (1995) examines the lives of the women who occupied the White House with their husbands. As a First Daughter, Truman has known and met First Ladies from Frances Cleveland to Hillary Clinton. The book also contains interviews with Lady Bird Johnson, Betty Ford, Nancy Reagan, Rosalynn Carter, Barbara Bush, and Mrs. Clinton; and recollections of Pat Nixon, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Edith Wilson, and Eleanor Roosevelt. In addition, Truman wrote about Dolly Madison, Mary Todd Lincoln, Grace Coolidge, Julia Tyler, Julia Grant, and Mamie Eisenhower. The result is a remarkable group portrait of the women who have more than merely resided in the house on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Truman has won numerous accolades as both writer and political figure. In 1984 she was the recipient of the Harry S. Truman Public Service award presented annually by the City of Independence (Missouri) to an outstanding American citizen, an ironic honor considering her lineage and city of birth are both represented therein.

In 1980 her first novel, Murder in the White House, was published, beginning a long career as a mystery writer. She subsequently released a novel a year until 1987. Murder at Kennedy Center came out in 1989, followed by Murder at the National Cathedral (1990), Murder at the Pentagon (1992), Murder on the Potomac (1994), Murder at the National Gallery (1996), Murder in the House (1997), and Murder at the Watergate: A Novel (1998). Three of her books were collected in Margaret Truman: Three Complete Mysteries (1994). Many mystery writers seem to try and capitalize on a theme—Sue Grafton with her alphabet mysteries, guaranteeing her at least 26 novels, Lillian Jackson Brown and her cat series, Dick Francis favoring horses. All of Truman's mystery novels center around the nation's capital and its monuments. Called the Capital Crimes Mysteries, starting in the White House in 1980 (a good place for a former First Daughter to begin), Truman takes us to Capitol Hill, the Supreme Court, the Smithsonian, Embassy Row, the FBI, to Georgetown, and the CIA before 1989, often featuring the elegant couple Mackensie "Mac" Smith and Annabel Reed as they become enmeshed in political imbroglios and murder.

Though not known for stellar dialogue, well-developed characters, or gripping cliffhangers, Truman's thoughtful meditations and sarcastic snickers about politics and politicians are a delight. We've yet to see the monuments (Washington, Jefferson, or Lincoln), the Treasury building, and others. What happens, though, when she runs out of famous places in Washington, D.C., about which to write?

Other Works:

Murder on Capitol Hill (1981). Murder in the Supreme Court (1982). Murder in the Smithsonian (1983). Murder on Embassy Row (1984). Murder in the FBI (1985). Murder in Georgetown (1986). Murder in the CIA (1987).

Bibliography:

Ferrell, R. H., ed., The Autobiography of Harry S. Truman (1980). McCollough, D., Truman (1992). Daniel, C. T., Growing up with My Grandfather: Memories of Harry S. Truman (1994). Klein, K. G., Great Women Mystery Writers: Classic to Contemporary (1994).

—DARYL F. MALLETT