What best defines a Democrat in the American political arena - idealistic reformer or pragmatic politician? Harry Truman adopted both roles and in so doing defined the nature of his presidency.

Truman and the Democratic Party is the first book to deal exclusively with the president's relationship with the Democratic party and his status as party leader. Sean J. Savage addresses Truman's twin roles of party regular and liberal reformer, examining the tension that arose from this duality and the consequences of that tension for Truman's political career.

Drawing on personal interviews with former Truman administration members and party officials and on archival materials - most notably papers of the Democratic National Committee at the Harry S. Truman Library - Savage has produced a fresh perspective that is both shrewd and insightful. Truman and the Democratic Party offers historians and political scientists a new way of looking at the Truman administration and its impact on key public policies.