''Truman'' is a 1997 two-part

television documentary Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. *Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

film about

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

, the 33rd

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

. Produced by

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

for '' The American Experience'' (now ''American Experience'') documentary program, it recounts Truman's life from childhood to his presidency. Written, co-produced, and directed by

David Grubin David Grubin (born 1944) is an American documentary filmmaker. Career Grubin is best known for producing television documentaries for PBS, notably ''American Experience'' and ''Healing And The Mind with Bill Moyers''. His work has won two Alfr ...

, the film first aired on PBS in two parts on October 5 and 6, 1997. In 1998, ''The American Experience'' became the inaugural recipient of the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series is handed out annually at the Creative Arts Emmy Award ceremony. The award was established in 2013 as the awards restructured previous categories for Outstanding Nonfiction ...

for ''Truman''.

Interviewees

*Charles Babcock, Truman family neighbor * Walt Bodine, journalist * George M. Elsey, administrative assistant to the president *Sue Gentry, editor, ''

The Independence Examiner ''The Examiner'' is the daily newspaper of eastern Jackson County, Missouri, including Independence, Blue Springs and Grain Valley. It is published five days a week – Tuesday through Saturday – and its webpage is at www.examiner.net. ''Th ...

'' *Ruth Gruber, Eddie Jacobson family friend *

Alonzo Hamby Alonzo L. Hamby (born January 30, 1940) is an American historian and academic. He is distinguished professor of history emeritus at Ohio University and the recipient of two National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowships, a Harry S. Truman Li ...

, biographer *Pat Hannegan, daughter of

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

chairman (

Robert Hannegan Robert Emmet Hannegan (June 30, 1903 – October 6, 1949) was an American politician who served as Commissioner of Internal Revenue from October 1943 to January 1944. He also served as chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1944 to 1 ...

) *

Ken Hechler Kenneth William Hechler (September 20, 1914 – December 10, 2016) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented West Virginia's 4th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1959 to 197 ...

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

assistant *

Vernon Jarrett Vernon Daurice Jarrett (born Daurice Vernon Jarrett; June 19, 1918Jarrett's year of birth according to the 1920 United States Census, U.S. Social Security Death Index, and the U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index is 1918. Conflicting ...

, journalist *

Walter LaFeber Walter Fredrick LaFeber (August 30, 1933March 9, 2021) was an American academic who served as the Andrew H. and James S. Tisch Distinguished University Professor in the Department of History at Cornell University. Previous to that he served as t ...

, historian *

David McCullough David Gaub McCullough (; July 7, 1933 – August 7, 2022) was an American popular historian. He was a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. In 2006, he was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States ...

, biographer and historian * Victor Reuther, assistant to the president,

UAW The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers (UAW), is an American Labor unions in the United States, labor union that represents workers in the Un ...

*Wilbur Sparks, Truman Investigating Committee *McKinley Wooden, Battery D

Home media

''Truman'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

on February 14, 2006. Later, it was also released in an ''

American Experience ''American Experience'' is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American his ...

'' DVD box set collecting its films about

United States presidents The president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, indirectly elected to a four-year term via the Electoral College. The officeholder leads the executive branch of the federal government and ...

on August 26, 2008.

Accolades

References

External links

PBS official site
{{Harry S. Truman 1997 television films 1997 films 1997 documentary films American Experience American documentary television films Cultural depictions of Harry S. Truman Documentary films about presidents of the United States Films directed by David Grubin 1990s English-language films 1990s American films