“I have some bitter disappointments as President,” reflected Harry Truman after leaving office, “but the one that has troubled me the most , in a personal way, has been the failure to defeat organized opposition to a national compulsory health-insurance program.”

Harry S. Truman versus the Medical Lobby is a study of one aspect of Harry Truman’s domestic leadership and the political conflict it produced. In the book, author Monte Poen examines Truman’s quest for national health insurance in the light of the ongoing debate on the subject in this century. It reveals why Truman was the first president to advocate government-financed health care and why he repeatedly took the idea to Congress, despite insurmountable political obstacles.

Harry S. Truman made plain speaking his trademark, and it was a common belief that "Give 'em hell" Harry spared few with his words. However, this fascinating collection of 140 amusing, angry, sarcastic, and controversial letters President Truman wrote but never mailed proves that conception wrong. Addressed to admirers and enemies alike, including Adlai Stevenson, Justice William Douglas, Dwight Eisenhower, Joe McCarthy, and Truman's wife, Bess, these intriguing letters cover such diverse subjects as the atomic bomb, running the country, and human greed.