John Robert “Bob” Greene, ’77, ’78, published his 21st book, “Little Helpers: Harry Vaughan, His Cronies, and Corruption in the Truman Administration.”
Greene encourages readers to rethink the scandals of Harry Truman’s presidency by providing the first political biography of the man who precipitated them — Gen. Harry H. Vaughan.
As the former president’s close friend and military aide, Vaughan brought a number of disreputable figures into the White House, in addition to committing plenty of misconduct on his own. Although aware of Vaughan’s misdeeds, Truman remained unwilling to rid his administration of him and his hangers-on. Vaughan’s scandals have largely been overlooked by historians, a tendency that “Little Helpers” corrects.
Drawing from primary and archival sources, many never before published, Little Helpers is further distinguished by its use of the correspondence between Vaughan and Truman. Greene also provides a dramatic narrative account of the inner workings of the Truman administration, making the book accessible to the general reader as well as the specialist.
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