Margaret Truman Books In Order

Capital Crimes Books In Publication Order

  1. Murder in the White House (1980)
  2. Murder on Capitol Hill (1981)
  3. Murder in the Supreme Court (1982)
  4. Murder in the Smithsonian (1983)
  5. Murder on Embassy Row (1984)
  6. Murder at the FBI (1985)
  7. Murder in Georgetown (1986)
  8. Murder in the CIA (1987)
  9. Murder at the Kennedy Center (1989)
  10. Murder at the National Cathedral (1990)
  11. Murder at the Pentagon (1992)
  12. Murder on the Potomac (1994)
  13. Murder at the National Gallery (1996)
  14. Murder in the House (1997)
  15. Murder at the Watergate (1998)
  16. Murder at the Library of Congress (1999)
  17. Murder in Foggy Bottom (2000)
  18. Murder in Havana (2001)
  19. Murder at Ford’s Theatre (2002)
  20. Murder at Union Station (2004)
  21. Murder at The Washington Tribune (2005)
  22. Murder at the Opera (2006)
  23. Murder on K Street (2007)
  24. Murder Inside the Beltway (2008)
  25. Monument to Murder (2011)
  26. Experiment in Murder (With: Donald Bain) (2012)
  27. Undiplomatic Murder (With: Donald Bain) (2014)
  28. Internship in Murder (With: Donald Bain) (2015)
  29. Deadly Medicine (With: Donald Bain) (2016)
  30. Allied in Danger (With: Donald Bain) (2018)
  31. Murder on the Metro (With: Jon Land) (2021)
  32. Murder at the CDC (With: Jon Land) (2022)

Non-Fiction Books In Publication Order

  1. Souvenir (1954)
  2. White House Pets (1969)
  3. Harry S. Truman (1973)
  4. Women of Courage (1976)
  5. Letters from Father (1981)
  6. Bess W. Truman (1986)
  7. Where the Buck Stops (1989)
  8. First Ladies (1995)
  9. The President’s House (2003)

Capital Crimes Book Covers

Non-Fiction Book Covers

Margaret Truman Books Overview

Murder in the White House

In a town where the weapon of choice is usually a well aimed rumor, the strangling of Secretary of State Lansard Blaine in the Lincoln Bedroom is a gruesome first. White House counsel Ron Fairbanks is ordered to investigate. There are persistent rumors that the Secretary was an accomplished womanizer with ties to a glamorous call girl. There is also troubling evidence of unofficial connections with international wheeler dealers. In death as in life, Blaine is a power to be reckoned with. For Fairbanks, who loves the President’s daughter, one point is soon clear: only a few highly placed insiders had access to the Lincoln Bedroom that fateful evening. And one of them was the president…
.

Murder on Capitol Hill

Between them, Senator Cale Caldwell and his blue blooded wife controlled as much power on Capitol Hill as the law would allow. Sadly, it wasn t sufficient to protect him from a killer, even surrounded by his friends at a champagne reception in his honor.

The senator’s murder wasn t the family s first brush with violence. Only two years ago, a niece had been murdered, her killer never found. But when attorney Lydia James, counsel to a senate committee investigating the tragedy, suggests there might be a connection between the two deaths, she s voted down fast. Yet strange rumors persist. The senator s death could benefit many people, among them a bitter political adversary, an ambitious talk show host, and a master of spin who makes even murder look
good…
.

Murder in the Supreme Court

‘A thriller…
a novel…
a fun thing, an entertainment and good reading.’LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK REVIEWWho would want to kill Clarence Sutherland, a bright and handsome young man? The answer: practically everybody.

Murder in the Smithsonian

‘Nonstop action and a brillianly evocative setting make this another winner!’BOOKLISTDr. Lewis Tunney, a brilliant historian who had stumbled onto an international art scandal, was brutally murdered in front of two hundred guests at an elegant party at the Smithsonian. When his fiancee, Heather McBea, flies in from Scotland to learn more, Mac Hanrahan, the captain in charge of the case, takes a heated interest in her. And when two more murders are committed, Hanrahan has reason to worry about Heather’s sleuthing. But Heather is stubborn and insists on going her own way right into the arms of a killer…
.

Murder on Embassy Row

Ambassador Geoffrey James might be a British citizen, but when he dies on the night of a gala party, it’s up to Captain Sal Morizio of Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department to investitgate. Despite orders to desist, Morizio and his lady love, fellow officer Connie Lake, know too much. And what they learn on an international search for missing clues tells them a lot about corruption in high places and the effects of caviar on otherwise rational people…
.

Murder at the FBI

Special agent George Pritchard was nobody’s favorite at the FBI. But when his murdered body is found, agents Ross Lizenby and Christine Saksis look for answers only to find that the bureau wants questions kept to a suspicious minimum…
.

Murder in Georgetown

‘The oil of inside knowledge lubricates the asembled whole into a smooth running, fast moving narrative.’
CHICAGO SUN TIMES
Beautiful twenty year old Valerie Frolich, a Senator’s daughter, is killed at a posh Georgetown party. And when Joe Potamos, of the Washington Post’s police beat, is assigned to report the murder, he finds out a number of things about Valerie which lead him to a number of startling questions about Georgetown’s most powerful men and women questions whose answers have the power of life or death…
.

Murder in the CIA

Barrie Mayer, a beautiful Washington literary agent, finds her trip to Budapest cut short when her body turns up dead. But her best friend, Colette Cahill, a CIA agent, knows that Barrie was carrying something else in her briefcase, and she suspects the worst. When the Agency instructs her to investigate, Colette could lose her own life in the high stakes search…
.
‘Smooth…
seductive.’
ASSOCIATED PRESS

Murder at the Kennedy Center

‘An exciting romp.’THE DALLAS MORNING NEWSDuring a gala benefit for a Democratic Party hopeful, a young woman dies, the victim of quick and brutal violence. The murder weapon belongs to the candidate, Kenneth Ewald, and his son is the chief suspect. Out of the classroom comes professor Mac Smith to tackle a case that is bad for the senator, but may prove disastrous for the nation…
. From the Paperback edition.

Murder at the National Cathedral

‘One of her most enjoyable books.’ASSOCIATED PRESSThe brutal murder of a friend drags Mac Smith and Annabel Reed from their newlywed bliss into an unholy web of intrigue and danger. When a second murder is commited in England, which the honeymooners had just visited, the Smiths go back across the seas, and straight into the center of an ungodly plot of secret agents, a playboy priest, a frustrated lover, a choleric cleric…
and a murder so perfect it’s a sin. From the Paperback edition.

Murder at the Pentagon

‘Margaret Truman has become a first rate mystery writer.’
LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK REVIEW
When a genius doctor is murdered and a desert madman gains the means to kill millions, Major Margit Falk, a helicopter pilot and Pentagon lawyer, is drawn into Project Safekeep an antimissile scheme under congressional investigation. The alleged murderer has his share of secrets, but Falk smells conspiracy in the air. And although she turns to her mentor, law professor Mackenzie Smith for help, she’s got to beat a cunning madman and a nuclear blast…
.
An Alternate Selection of the Literary Guild

Murder on the Potomac

NATIONAL BESTSELLERMARGARET TRUMANBestselling author of MURDER AT THE PENTAGONMurder on the Potomac‘A first rate mystery writer.’ Los Angeles Times Book ReviewFirst time in paperback!’Harry’s daughter knows her milieu; better still, she knows how to portray it convincingly.’ The San Diego UnionLaw professor Mac has unflagging passion for two things in his life: his wife Annabel and the majestic Potomac River. When Mac discovers a weed shrouded body in the latter, the former gets edgy. Lovely Annabel, owner of a flourishing Georgetown art gallery, must not only endure her husband’s obsession with another killing, but she must believe Mac when he says that a stunning female former student is one of the only people who can help him. They discover that the corpse was once the confidante’ of a wealthy Washingtonian, which leads to the Scarlet Sin Society, a theatrical group that perilously reenacts historical murders. And soon, the only thing that matters more to Mac than solving this serpentine case is preventing Annabel’s untimely death .’Truman ‘knows the forks’ in the nation’s capital and how to pitchfork her readers into a web of murder and detection.’ The Christian Science Monitor’Margaret Truman has settled firmly into a career of writing murder mysteries, all evoking brilliantly the Washington she knows so well.’ The Houston Post

Murder at the National Gallery

‘POWERFUL…
FASCINATING…
Truman absolutely amazes.’
Atlanta Journal & Constitution

When the senior curator at Washington’s famed National Gallery finds a missing painting by the Renaissance master Caravaggio, he mounts a world class exhibition and plots a brilliant forgery scheme that will stun the art world.

‘A THRILLING CHASE.’
Publishers Weekly

But an artful deception suddenly becomes a portrait of blackmail and murder as gallery owner and part time sleuth Annabel Reed Smith and her husband go searching for clues in the heady arena of international art and uncover a rare collection of unscrupulous characters that leads all the way to Italy.

‘HIGHLY RECOMMENDED…
One of Margaret Truman’s best.’
Booklist

Murder in the House

Congressman Latham has maintained an impeccable record in Washington, and so he seems the logical choice when nominated by his friend, President Scott, to become the next secretary of state. His confirmation hearings appear to be a formality until rumors emerge of sexual misconduct and influence peddling. Then, early one morning, he is found shot to death, an apparent suicide. Nobody close to Paul Latham believes his demise a suicide; there are just too many questions left unanswered. Why would he kill himself, and why would he do it in a public place? Why was there no suicide note? Where did he get the gun? Where is Latham’s appointment secretary, Marge Edwards? So Latham’s close friend lawyer professor Mackensie Smith goes about uncovering the truth. In the process he unearths connections to the CIA, businessman Warren Brazier, Russian communists, and a shady private detective. Eventually Smith’s own life is threatened, leading him to a dramatic and shocking truth. Murder in the House is a story about the webs of influence people weave to protect their interests, and about those innocent people who, by accident or design, get caught in these webs. It is the story of the abuse of power for personal gain, and of the increasing influence that the global economy has on the way our nation is being run. Margaret Truman, with her intricate know ledge of the political, social, and practical workings of Washington, masterfully explores these connections in this highly suspenseful tale of intrigue, deception, and murderous intent. From the Hardcover edition.

Murder at the Watergate

The Watergate in Washington, D.C., is one of the world’s most famous addresses although not everyone knows exactly what it is. This imposing, fabulous complex is made up of a hotel, residences, restaurants, offices, shops, and more. It is a haven for the famous after they break out and, on occasion, for the infamous when they break in. Its very name has become part of our history. Margaret Truman, herself the bearer of one of the world’s most famous names, knows Washington’s ins and outs, including who is ‘in’ and who is ‘out.’ In this absorbing, timely Capital Crimes mystery, she shows us around this fascinating city that is America’s center of power and some would say corruption. Some of those who are ‘out’ here are very dead indeed. The glittering cast of characters includes Vice President Joe Aprile, who plans to become president, if he can avoid a tempting vice; a glamorous Washington hostess and fund raiser, Elfie Dorrance, with a propensity for marrying rich and powerful men and then grieving prettily at the end their end; and Chris Hedras, a special assistant to the vice president, with some very special ambitions. And, of course, Annabel Smith, gallery owner, and Mac Smith, law school professor. The story deals in part with the influence on political campaigns of ‘soft money’ and its hard consequences, as well as this country’s tortuous and often ambiguous relationship with Mexico, in particular the glorious San Miguel de Allende, home of the well to do, and a few ill to do, a place involving drugs, politics, and police and politicians looking the other way. Once again Margaret Truman offers a delight to the reader who likes a fast turning page, the pleasure of inside information, the allure of high life crossing paths with lowlife, and the return of the attractive crime solving couple Mac and AnnabelFrom the Hardcover edition.

Murder at the Library of Congress

Margaret Truman looks inside one of D.C.’s great institutions, the Library of Congress, the place where much of the wisdom of the nation is collected, and finds blood on the floor. Was there a second diary, beyond the one Columbus kept, describing his voyage to the New World? Leading scholars at the Library of Congress think so, and Annabel Smith, with her pre Columbian interests, has been commissioned by the library’s magazine, Civilization, to write about it. She is not the only person interested. Word comes through the rare books black market that a wealthy bibliophile has been offered the second diary: He’d not only pay, he’d almost kill to possess it. Starting her search in the library itself, Annabel soon finds herself competing with an ambitious TV journalist. As both women come closer to finding the hidden documents, other questions creep up. Was the murder of the library’s most prominent Hispanic scholar connected to the missing diary? Further research leads them deeper into barely explored corners of the library and closer to having to face their own mortality. Murder in familiar yet surprising surroundings a great library leads to a surprising conclusion in this latest Capital Crime novel.

Murder in Foggy Bottom

In Margaret Truman’s latest mystery, the scene opens with an obscure death in Washington’s Foggy Bottom, home of the State Department, shifts to mass murder in the downing of aircraft, and then moves on to mayhem in the streets of the new Moscow. Leaving an airport near New York, a D.C. bound commuter plane falls to earth. At almost the same time, another crash occurs. And then…
Firmly ruling out coincidence, investigators seek means and motive. The means are soon apparent: small scale weaponry with large scale impact. Their country of origin? A place where nearly everything hardware, information, love can be found for a price. Max Pauling, a State Department investigator, seasoned, good looking, and hard to fool, quickly takes off on a trail still as warm as the smoking wreckage. A host of vivid characters people the narrative, including a lovely State Department analyst who finds herself attracted to undercover types; a militia leader in Idaho who leads his people into gunfire; a reporter at odds with his boss but not with a good story; and a secretary of state who loves baseball slightly more than her job. Fast paced and informative about flying, food, statecraft, and the violent ‘wetwork’ under the dryly elegant exterior of diplomacy, Margaret Truman’s Murder in Foggy Bottom is another winner in the Capital Crimes series. Praise for Margaret Truman ‘A first rate mystery writer, said Charles Champlin in the Los Angeles Times Book Review, ‘drawing on an I was there expertise that makes the Washington scene clang with credibility.’ ‘She can write suspense with the best of them,’ says Larry King. Her work is ‘the most satisfying sort of popular fiction, a thoughtful thriller,’ adds The Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Murder in Havana

Max Pauling, of Murder in Foggy Bottom, is coaxed out of a restless retirement by another ‘ex ‘ CIA colleague. The case that tempts him is one involving a large American pharmaceutical firm that may be using a German company as a front to get around the U.S. scientific and technical embargo of Cuba. What’s at stake? An ex senator, who heads up a drug company, is after big game: the surprising and stunning medical research being conducted by the Cubans to develop a more effective anticancer drug. Max, who is among other things a pilot, is assured that this will be a purely private assignment no assassinations, no government to subvert, no informers to turnjust a few easy flights and a little time in the sun. Once in Havana, he makes contact with a ravishing Cuban American woman who is to be his ‘translator.’ Soon, he finds himself hunted as an assassin in a place where murder is sanctioned for a greater good, or greater greed, and those caught in the crossfire are as quickly consumed as a frozen daiquiri.

Murder at Ford’s Theatre

It was the site of one of the most infamous assassinations in American history. Now bestselling mystery master Margaret Truman premieres a new murder at Ford’s Theater one that s hot off today s headlines. The body of Nadia Zarinski, an attractive young woman who worked for senator Bruce Lerner and who volunteered at Ford s is discovered in the alley behind the theatre. Soon a pair of mismatched cops young, studious Rick Klieman and gregarious veteran Moses Mo Johnson start digging into the victim s life, and find themselves confronting an increasing cast of suspects. There s Virginia Senator Lerner himself, rumored to have had a sexual relationship with Nadia and half the women in D.C. under ninety…
. Clarise Emerson, producer/director of Ford s Theatre and ex wife of the Senator, whose nomination to head the National Endowment for the Arts NEA is now threatened by the scandal…
Jeremiah Lerner, her aimless, hot tempered son, said to have been sleeping with Nadia when his famous father wasn t…
Bernard Crowley, the theatre s controller, whose emotions overflow at the mention of the crime…
faded British stage star Sydney Bancroft, desperate for recognition and a comeback, and armed with damning information about Clarise Emerson…
and other complex characters from both sides of the footlights. With her unparalleled understanding of Washington and its players, and her savvy sense of how strange bedfellows cut deals even in the midst of mayhem, Margaret Truman always delivers the most sophisticated and satisfying suspense. Murder at Ford s Theatre is her most compelling, insightful novel yet, sure to earn her a standing ovation from her many fans and new followers alike. From the Hardcover edition.

Murder at Union Station

When Washington’s splendid Union Station opened its doors in 1908, the glorious structure epitomized capital stylishness. Today, restored and refurbished, the station is again a hub of activity where the world s most famous and infamous people meet and often collide. Now, in Margaret Truman s new Capital Crime novel, this landmark locale becomes the scene of a sensational shooting whose consequences ricochet from seedy bars to the halls of Congress. Historic Union Station means nothing to the elderly man speeding south on the last lap of what turns out to be a one way journey from Tel Aviv to D.C. on a train that will soon land him at Gate A 8 and, moments later, at St. Peter s Gate. This weary traveler, whose terminal destination is probably hell, is Louis Russo, former mob hit man and government informer. Two men are at the station to meet him. One is Richard Marienthal, a young writer whose forthcoming book is based on Russo s life. The other is the man who kills him. Russo has returned to help promote Marienthal s book, which, although no one has been allowed to read it, already has some people shaking in their Gucci boots. The powerful fear the contents will not only expose organized crime s nefarious business, but also a top secret assignment abroad that Russo once masterminded for a very high profile Capitol Hill client. As news of Russo s murder rockets from the MPD to the FBI and the CIA, from Congress to the West Wing, the final chapter of the story begins its rapid fire unfolding. In addition to the bewildered Marienthal and his worried girlfriend, there is an array of memorable characters: rock ribbed right wing Senator Karl Widmer; ruthless New York publisher Pamela Warren; boozy MPD Detective Bret Mullin; shoe shine virtuoso Joe Jenks; dedicated presidential political adviser Chet Fletcher; and President Adam Parmele himself not to mention freelance snoops, blow dried climbers, and a killer or two. There s no place like the nation s capital, and as her myriad fans know, Margaret Truman always gets it right. Murder at Union Station is a luxury express, nonstop delight. From the Hardcover edition.

Murder at The Washington Tribune

From senators to summer interns, from all the president’s men to all powerful women, Margaret Truman captures the fascinating, high wire drama of Washington, D.C., like no other writer. Now this master of mystery fiction takes us into the capital s chaotic fourth estate. At the big, aggressive newspaper The Washington Tribune, a young woman has been murdered. And the hunt for her killer is making sensational and lethal headlines.

The victim, fresh out of journalism school, hoped to make a splash at the Trib and then a maintenance man found her in a supply closet, brutally strangled to death. The Trib s journalists are at once horrified and anxious to solve the crime before the cops do, and put this scandal to rest. But the Metropolitan Police Department isn t going to let byline hungry reporters get in the way of its investigation, and soon enough the journalists ad the cops have established warring task forces. Then a second woman is killed, in Franklin Square. Like the first, she was young, attractive, and worked in the media.

For veteran Trib reporter Joe Wilcox, whose career is mired in frustration and disappointment, the case strikes close to home. His daughter is a beautiful rising TV news star. As his relationship with a female MPD detective grows more intimate, Joe sees a chance to renew himself as a reporter and as a man. Spearheading the Trib s investigation, he baits a trap with a secret from his own past.

Suddenly Joe is risking his career, his marriage, and even his daughter s life by playing a dangerous game with a possible serial killer, while a police detective is bending rules for the reporter she likes and trusts but may not know as well as she thinks she does. As Joe s daughter finds herself trapped at the heart of a frantic manhunt, the walls come down between family, friendship, ethics, and ambition and a killer hides in plain sight.

Chilling, riveting, and richly rewarding, Murder at The Washington Tribune is a brilliant tale of real people in a world where law, power, and honesty collide and where the punishment only sometimes fits the crime.

Murder at the Opera

Margaret Truman, who knows where all the bodies are buried inside the Beltway, has written her most thrilling novel of suspense yet. Murder at the Opera features the popular crime fighting couple Mac Smith and his wife, Annabel Reed Smith, as they navigate the glitz, glamour, and grime that is Washington, D.C.

It ain t over till the fat lady sings…
but the show hasn t even started yet when a diva is found dead. The soprano in question, a petite young Asian Canadian named Charise Lee, was scarcely a star at the Washington National Opera. But when the aspiring singer is stabbed in the heart backstage during rehearsals, she suddenly takes center stage.

Georgetown law professor Mac Smith thought he d just be carrying a rapier in Tosca as a favor for his beloved Annabel, but now they re both being pressured by the panicked theater board to unmask a killer. Providing accompaniment will be former homicide detective, current P.I., and eternal opera fan Raymond Pawkins.

Soon the Smiths find themselves dangerously improvising among an expanding cast of suspects with all sorts of scores to settle. What they uncover is an increasingly complex case reaching far beyond Washington to a dark world of informers and terror alerts in Iraq, and climaxing on a fateful night at the opera attended by none other than the President himself.

From the Hardcover edition.

Murder on K Street

Nobody knows the crooked turns, slippery slopes, and dark, dangerous stretches of the Beltway better than Margaret Truman, dean of the Washington, D.C., mystery scene. And no one is better equipped to lead a suspenseful tour into the treacherous territory of big time political lobbying, where the right information and enough influence can buy power the kind that corrupts…
and sometimes kills.

Arriving home from a fund raising dinner, senior Illinois senator Lyle Simmons discovers his wife’s brutally bludgeoned body. And like any savvy politician with presidential aspirations, his first move is to phone his attorney. In this case, it s his old friend and college roommate, former DA Philip Rotondi, who gamely agrees to step out of quiet retirement and into the thick of a D.C. style political, criminal, and public relations maelstrom from which no one will escape unscathed.

The crime scene is barely cold when the senator s estranged daughter arrives hurling shocking allegations of murder at her father, despite a roomful of well heeled witnesses who can provide Simmons with an alibi. Meanwhile, D.C. s rumor mills and spin machines shift into high gear as speculation swirls around a tabloid and TV ready prime suspect: Jonell Marbury, a dashing lawyer turned lobbyist at a powerful K Street firm and the last person to see the victim alive. But Rotondi harbors his own unsettling suspicions.

And after a second woman is killed, he discovers that a long buried secret from his past may hold the key to cracking the case.

Aided by sleuthing ex attorneys Mac and Annabel Smith, Rotondi reawakens the prosecutorial skills that served him so well in his gang busting days, following the stench of dirty money and dirtier tricks across the country and across the thresholds of back rooms and front offices alike where doing the right thing is for fools and taking on the system is a dead man s gambit.

Murder Inside the Beltway

In an esteemed writing career spanning nearly three decades, Margaret Truman penned twenty four thrilling Capital Crimes novels, which The Atlanta Journal Constitution called a dazzling series. Now, in her crowning achievement, Murder Inside the Beltway, Truman brilliantly shows that politics can be not only dirty but downright deadly. Rosalie Curzon, a Washington, D.C., call girl, is found bludgeoned to death in her Adams Morgan apartment. Investigating the grisly homicide are Walt Hatcher, a tough, sour, intolerant twenty three year veteran of the D.C. police department; Detective Mary Hall, who, unhappy with the way women are treated on the force, is conflicted about her career; and rookie cop Matthew Jackson, an introspective young man and the product of a mixed race marriage, whom Hatcher looks down on. The murder scene is in a disturbing state of disarray, suggesting that Rosalie had fought to the bitter end. Then Hall discovers a video camera nestled high on a bookshelf. Had the victim taped some of her clients during their sexual liaisons?As the investigation proceeds, so does business inside the Beltway. President Burton Pyle is running for reelection. His opponent, consummate politician Robert Colgate, is expected to easily defeat Pyle, whose administration has been rife with corruption and scandal. Colgate, though, is not without cracks in his slick exterior. Rumors swirl about his failing marriage and various dalliances. Moreover, there’s no love lost between the two candidates: The campaign has morphed into one of the most distasteful and nasty in memory. Then, on a bright Saturday afternoon on the Washington Mall, the daughter of Colgate s closest friend is kidnapped. The abduction rocks the nation s capital, but no one is prepared for the bombshell about to hit the city, an explosive development that erupts when Detectives Hall and Jackson uncover a shocking connection between the kidnapping and the Curzon case and a killer whom no one will see coming.

Monument to Murder

Times are tough in Savannah for former cop and current PI Robert Brixton, so when he agrees to take on a 20 year old murder case, he figures he’s got nothing to lose. It s not long before the trail leads him deep into the corrupt underbelly of Savannah s power elite, and right into the lap of a secret government organization that s been offing troublesome politicians for decades. The cold case heats up when he joins forces with former attorneys Mackensie and Annabel Lee Smith to investigate the organization and the murders they committed in the name of patriotism. With what he knows, Brixton can bring down Washington D.C. s leading social hostess, if not the administration itself. But can he outwit an organization that is hell bent on keeping its secrets secrets that go all the way back to the assassinations of Jack and Bobby Kennedy?Margaret Truman brings us into the corridors of Washington power as only she can, where the end too often justifies the means, where good people are destroyed by those for whom the only goal is survival whatever the cost.

Harry S. Truman

The definitive biography of one of the most enduring political figures of the 20th century. Margaret Truman writes with unequaled insight and understanding about her father’s extraordinary life and offers rare glimpses at the personalities and politics behind the world events of his time. A New York Times bestseller.

Women of Courage

Brief biographies emphasizing the courage of twelve women both famous and little known in United States history.

Where the Buck Stops

Shortly after he left office, President Harry S. Truman began to write down his typically blunt, honest commentaries about FDR and his other colleagues, the job of the presidency, the workings of the government and the Constitution and his picks for the nation’s best and worst presidents. Since he minced no words, Truman asked that these writings sometimes funny, sometimes very serious, always to the point be released to the public only after he and Mrs. Truman were gone. Now, this totally frank book by the thirty third president, lovingly edited by his daughter, Margaret, has been published at last. In it, Truman speaks clearly in his own inimitable voice, and with the down home, across the back fence feeling of a born storyteller from Missouri, he tells you exactly what’s on his mind about these and other subjects:

First Ladies

‘Fascinating…
. First Ladies is a wonderfully generous look at the women who, often against their wishes, took on what Truman calls ‘the world’s second toughest job.’ ‘ The Christian Science MonitorWhether they envision their role as protector, partner, advisor, or scold, First Ladies find themselves in a job that is impossible to define, and just as difficult to perform. Now Margaret Truman, daughter of President Harry Truman and an acclaimed novelist and biographer in her own right, explores the fascinating position of First Lady throughout history and up to the present day. With her unique perspective as the daughter of a First Lady, Ms. Truman reveals the truth behind some of the most misunderstood and forgotten First Ladies of our history, as well as the most famous and beloved. In recounting the charm and courage of Dolley Madison, the brazen ambition of Florence Harding, the calm, good sense of Grace Coolidge, the genius of Eleanor Roosevelt, the mysterious femininity of Jackie Kennedy, and the fierce protectiveness of Nancy Reagan, among others, Margaret Truman has assembled an honest yet affectionate portrait of our nation’s First Ladies one that freely acknowledges their virtues and their flaws.

The President’s House

As Margaret Truman knows from firsthand experience, living in the White House can be exhilarating and maddening, alarming and exhausting but it is certainly never dull. Part private residence, part goldfish bowl, and part national shrine, the White House is both the most important address in America and the most intensely scrutinized. In this splendid blend of the personal and historic, Margaret Truman offers an unforgettable tour of The President’s House across the span of two centuries. Opened though not finished in 1800 and originally dubbed a palace, the White House has been fascinating from day one. In Thomas Jefferson s day, it was a reeking construction site where congressmen complained of the hazards of open rubbish pits. Andrew Jackson s supporters, descending twenty thousand strong from the backwoods of Kentucky and Tennessee, nearly destroyed the place during his first inaugural. Teddy Roosevelt expanded it, Jackie Kennedy and Pat Nixon redecorated it. Through all the vicissitudes of its history, the White House has transformed the characters, and often the fates, of its powerful occupants. In The President s House, Margaret Truman takes us behind the scenes, into the deepest recesses and onto the airiest balconies, as she reveals what it feels like to live in the White House. Here are hilarious stories of Teddy Roosevelt s rambunctious children tossing spitballs at presidential portraits as well as a heartbreaking account of the tragedy that befell President Coolidge s young son, Calvin, Jr. Here, too, is the real story of the Lincoln Bedroom and the thrilling narrative of how first lady Dolley Madison rescued a priceless portrait of George Washington and a copy of the Declaration of Independence before British soldiers torched the White House in 1814. Today the 132 room White House operates as an exotic combination of first class hotel and fortress, with 1,600 dedicated workers, an annual budget over $1 billion, and a kitchen that can handle anything from an intimate dinner for four to a reception for 2,400. But ghosts of the past still walk its august corridors including a phantom whose visit President Harry S Truman described to his daughter in eerie detail. From the baseme*nt swarming with reporters to the Situation Room crammed with sophisticated technology to the Oval Office where the president receives the world s leaders, the White House is a beehive of relentless activity, deal making, intrigue, gossip, and of course history in the making. In this evocative and insightful book, Margaret Truman combines high stakes drama with the unique perspective of an insider. The ultimate guided tour of the nation s most famous dwelling, The President s House is truly a national treasure. From the Hardcover edition.

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