Available now: The Watchdog: How the Truman Committee Battled Corruption and Helped Win World War Two

The story of how a little-known junior senator fought wartime corruption and, in the process, set himself up to become vice president and, ultimately, President Harry Truman.

Upcoming events

Honors

The Watchdog is the 2024 winner of the Harry S. Truman Book Award, presented every two years by the Truman Library Institute.

The Institute’s review committee praised Drummond for his “vital and enjoyable contribution” to the historical literature by illuminating an overlooked chapter of Harry Truman’s political life.

“Drummond’s book grabs the reader from the very beginning—with the dramatic story of the sinking of the SS Schenectady—and then carries us through the ways in which then-Senator Truman worked diligently and in a bipartisan manner to ensure that similar disasters could be averted,” said Jason C. Parker, committee chair and professor of history at Texas A&M University.

Read the full announcement here.

A “robust examination of Harry Truman’s efforts to fight corruption, fraud, and waste as the American economy shifted into high gear before and during WWII. … It’s a spirited and thorough reconsideration of Truman’s legacy.” — Publisher’s Weekly

“A story that is as fascinating as it is little-known … a book that’s not only hard to put down, but it has a lot to say about how government can, and should, work.”—Toledo Blade

A “well-written, engaging analysis of an often-overlooked and instructive aspect of Truman’s career that was essential to the war effort.” — Booklist

"Drummond shines a light on a dark, forgotten corner of wartime history."—Kirkus

“Steve Drummond has written an engaging, clear-eyed story of an important but overlooked chapter in the life of Harry Truman. The Watchdog will make you long for an era when government could be made to work.”—Evan Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of First: Sandra Day O’Connor
 
"It takes a thoughtful and agile reporter to see the story that others have overlooked. It takes an astute student of history to understand how the past speaks to the present. Steve Drummond is both. His unlikely tale of the Truman Committee, a shocking example of governmental success, will have readers looking anew at its chairman and namesake: the wonky senator from Missouri, with a distaste for partisanship and publicity, who became our thirty-third president."—Robin Givhan, senior critic at large of The Washington Post and author of The Battle of Versailles: The Night American Fashion Stumbled into the Spotlight and Made History

"An original and insightful chronicle of an overlooked yet critical stage in the career of Harry Truman. Not only did his path to the White House begin during World War II, his dogged devotion to detail and bipartisan passion saved many battlefield lives along with billions of dollars. Vividly, The Watchdog takes Truman from junior Missouri senator to his stunning ascension as leader of a world still fighting for freedom."—Tom Clavin, New York Times bestselling author of Lightning Down: A World War II Story of Survival

Reviews

Media

Documentary: C-SPAN Congress Investigates

In the 1940s, a Senate committee led by Senator and future President Harry Truman examined the national defense program and whether there was corruption in defense contracting.

Watch the full documentary, hosted by Peter Slen, here.

Listen to the author’s interview with Steve Inskeep on NPR’s Morning Edition here.

The Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy and the U.S. Capitol Historical Society bring you an interview with author Steve Drummond, with U.S. Senate Historian Kate Scott. 

Author interview with Melissa Block at Politics & Prose bookstore in Washington, D.C.

Bio

Steve Drummond is an author, educator, and, for more than 20 years, a journalist at NPR in Washington. As a senior editor there, his work has been recognized with many of journalism’s highest honors. Before coming to NPR, he was a newspaper reporter in Florida and in Michigan, and has written for many publications. A three-time graduate of the University of Michigan, Drummond lives in Bethesda, Md., and teaches journalism at the University of Maryland.

Contact

Email me using the form below or find me on Threads @drumchop or X @SDrummondNPR. If you’re inquiring about a speaking engagement, please email me with “speaking engagement” in the subject line. If you have a question or some thoughts about the Truman Committee or the book, I’ll look forward to hearing from you.