The year was 1947. On the orders of Joseph Stalin, Turkey was pressured from the east while communists overran Greece. Only America could defend freedom in the West, and the effort was spearheaded by a president who hadn't even been elected to that office. But as MSNBC's Joe Scarborough explains here, Harry Truman acted decisively to build a lasting coalition that would influence America's foreign policy for generations to come. In this history, the Truman Doctrine is shown to be the pivotal moment that guaranteed Western Europe's freedom, the American Century's rise, and the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union.

"Truman comes to life in these pages—and his is a life that repays our attention now more than ever."—Jon Meacham