FDR's Funeral Train: A Betrayed Widow, a Soviet Spy, and a Presidency in the Balance

Although the time period covered in this book is only two days, the book contains detailed information about FDR's death and transport to Washington DC for the funeral and then on to Hyde Park for his burial. The book tells about the thousands of people who stood up to 24 hours in the cold and the rain just to get a glimpse of the train. It also tells of the private tensions and personal tragedies aboard the train from the grieving Eleanor Roosevelt to the wholly unprepared and ignorant Harry Truman. FDR had never included Truman in any cabinet meetings, and in fact, he had only been to the White House for a photo op twice.

One strength is Klara's storytelling ability. This book reads like a novel but is non-fiction based on show more declassified information and conversations.

While the espionage/spy subplot was interesting, not sure how much it was really related to the topic at hand. It sure makes McCarthy's accusations within Truman's government a bit more believable.

I really enjoyed this off-beat topic. 273 pages show less

4866. FDR's Funeral Train A Betrayed Widow, a Soviet Spy, and a Presidency in the Balance, by Robert Klara (read 1 Oct 2011) While this book has a huge amount of trivia obviously gathered through intensive research I found it unfailingly captivating to read. It begins with FDR's trip to Warm Springs, Ga., on Mar 29 and then details events from the time he was stricken on the afternoon of Apr 12, 1945, thru his death and his body being put on the train, taken to Washington for a short funeral at the White House, and then slowly to Hyde Park for burial. Then the return trip is detailedly related back to Washington and to the speech Truman delivered to Congress and the nation on April 16. There is much fascinating information in the book show more and while some of it is indeed trivial I think it gets the mood right and shows the importance of the things going on in that pivotal period. show less

Using the three days of FDR's funeral, Klara packs in a ton of information about the man, the people around him, and the beginnings of the Truman administration. Mostly I liked the way he described the train cars - they became like other characters and I really like trains. Interesting to note that Ed Pauley, a petroleum tycoon, had a strong influence on Truman.