The Environmental Legacy of Harry S. Truman

Years prior to the environmental concerns of the 1960s and long before today's quest for sustainability, Harry S. Truman's time in office decisively changed the way government interacts with the natural world. Determined to extend the prosperity of Roosevelt's New Deal, Truman enacted plans to harness nature for human betterment, national power, and economic security. His approval of billions of dollars in spending on dams not only altered the flow of rivers, but shifted the balance between wilderness and human society. In developing and testing atomic weapons, Truman's administration reshaped the domestic and global natural environment as well as the international power structure. This book includes articles by leading environmental, political, and legal scholars, examining the Truman presidency's role in the transformation of the American environment and the government's authority over it.