Truman And Civil Rights

William E. Leuchtenburg’s article “The Conversion of Harry Truman” (November) leaves out one of the major reasons for Truman’s surprising support for civil rights—the Wallace campaign.

Henry Wallace took a far more aggressive stand on civil rights than Truman. Although Wallace did poorly in the election, early in the campaign it was widely believed that he could capture a significant portion of the Democratic vote. Like a good politician, Truman sought to steal Wallace’s thunder.