Harry Truman did not always seem destined for the White House.
Often referred to as the "accidental president," Truman spent years as a farmer, haberdasher, national guardsman and Jackson County judge before he landed his gig as a U.S. Senator.
While holding that office, he led a Senate committee known as the "Truman Committee," which identified and investigated inefficiencies and corruption in U.S. war production as the country entered World War II.
In his new book, "The Watchdog: How the Truman Committee Battled Corruption and Helped Win World War II," NPR's Steve Drummond looks at how the committee altered our country's war efforts and how it ultimately helped catapult Truman into the presidency.
Drummond says Truman was certainly not a household name prior to his work on the committee.
"But, (after the Truman Committee) he's on the cover of Time Magazine. He's putting out these reports about investigations finding billions of dollars being wasted. He's on the front of all the newspapers in the country," said Drummond.
"Remarkably, his committee is run honestly, it's partisan. It's very careful to get the facts straight. It's not grabbing headlines or trying to make Truman into some kind of cult figure," Drummond continues. "And by doing all that, he ends up being a pretty respected, extremely popular public figure and slowly rises to the top of people who the Democratic leaders are looking for who would join Franklin Roosevelt on the ticket in 1944."
Drummond joined KCUR's Up To Date to discuss his new book on the Truman Committee.
- Steve Drummond, NPR senior editor and executive producer, author of "The Watchdog: How the Truman Committee Battled Corruption and Helped Win World War II"
