Little Helpers: Harry Vaughan, His Cronies, and Corruption in the Truman Administration

In Little Helpers, historian John Robert Greene encourages us 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 gone overlooked by historians--a tendency that Little Helpers corrects.

Greene begins with the story of how Truman and Vaughan met during World War I, then examines Vaughan’s support for Truman for the Senate and later as President. The majority of the book, however, considers the various cronies that surrounded Vaughan and illustrates the significance of his relationship with Truman--and the president’s inability to rein him in.

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.

John Robert Greene is Professor Emeritus of History and Humanities at Cazenovia College, where he taught for forty-two years. He specializes in American political history, particularly the American Presidency. Greene is the author or editor of twenty books, including The Presidency of George W. Bush (University Press of Kansas, 2021) and I Like Ike: The Presidential Election of 1952 (University Press of Kansas, 2017).