"[1] At first, McCullough attempted to write a biography about Pablo Picasso, but abandoned the project in favor of doing a book on Truman.

"[1] In effort to better understand his subject, McCullough took several actions to emulate the life and activities of Truman.

[1] He also raced through the United States Capitol retracing the path Truman ran when he was summoned to the White House after the death of Franklin D.

[1] To help research the book, McCullough interviewed hundreds of people who knew Truman, including relatives and Secret Service agents, read numerous letters and documents, and read almost all the books written about Truman.

McCullough stated that during that 10 years many things changed in his life, "In those 10 years, my youngest daughter changed from a girl into a woman, both my parents died, grandchildren were born, we moved our residence twice, we put a child through college and law school, and paid off a mortgage.

"[1] McCullough has stated that he intended Truman to be not only for "the Arthur Schlesingers and the academics" but instead intended the book for "your grandmother," and other common folk including present and future politicians so "they may see, even when flawed, how great a man in [the office of the President] can be.

[1] One of the largest crowds he encountered was when he went to the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum in Independence, Missouri.

One notable dissent was an article in The New Republic titled "Harry of Sunnybrook Farm" by Ronald Steel where he called the book a "1000 page valentine.

"[1] Gene Lyons at Entertainment Weekly gave the book an A, stating that "No brief review can begin to do justice either to Truman or to the monumentally persuasive job McCullough has done re-creating his life and times.... Immeasurably aided by Truman's vividly written diaries and letters to his beloved wife, Bess, McCullough brings the man and his times to life with painstaking clarity.