The Lives Beside Us: What Truman Learned from Plutarch (And What We Can Learn from Both)

A chapbook of practical wisdom for modern leaders

How a Missouri Haberdasher Used 2,000-Year-Old Biographies to Become President

Harry Truman never went to college.

He worked his family's farm. Failed at the haberdashery business. Showed up to the Senate at fifty with holes in his shoes.

But he'd read Plutarch's Lives four times through.

When reporters asked how a farmer from Missouri became president, Truman pointed to his bookshelf. The ancient biographies taught him how leaders think, how character reveals itself under pressure, how to make decisions when the stakes are impossibly high.

This book shows you how to do the same thing.

The Lessons

1. Read Lives, Not Just Books
Biography as preparation for leadership—why studying character beats studying theory

2. Duty Doesn't Wait for Readiness
How to act before you feel adequate (and why you have to)

3. Small Virtues in Daily Life
Why keeping your word to a waitress matters as much as keeping your word to a world leader

4. Study Predecessors' Mistakes
Learning from failures is more valuable than learning from successes

5. Plain Speech Over Eloquence
Why Truman's rough honesty beat Dewey's polished emptiness

6. Loyalty to Principle Over Party
How to know your non-negotiables before you're tested

7. When You're Wrong, Admit It Fast
The power of saying "I was wrong" before anyone catches you

8. Courage Is Preparation Plus Action
Why the atomic bomb decision required both—and how that applies to your decisions

9. Retirement Tests Character
Cincinnatus walked away from absolute power after 16 days. Can you let go when your time comes?

10. Read to Lead
Truman was a high school graduate who became president because he read like a scholar

Who This Is For:

You don't need to be a president or a CEO. You need to face decisions that matter.

This book is for:

• Anyone leading other people (even if it's just leading yourself)
• People building something from nothing
• Anyone who's ever felt unprepared for what they're facing
• Readers tired of business books that recycle the same frameworks
• Anyone who suspects ancient wisdom might be more useful than modern hacks

Who this is NOT for:

• People looking for quick tips and life hacks
• Readers who want someone else to make their decisions
• Anyone not willing to do the reading (the lessons require thinking)

What You're Really Buying

A book, yes. But more than that:

A different way of learning.

Most people read for information or entertainment. Truman read to prepare himself for a life he didn't yet have but thought he might need. When that life came—county judge, senator, president—he had a mental library of examples to draw from.

You can do the same thing. You probably should.

Plutarch studied 48 ancient leaders. Truman studied Plutarch. This book lets you study both, distilled into lessons you can apply without a classics degree.

A 33-page chapbook. 10 lessons. No fluff.

The kind of book you read in an evening, then keep on your desk to reread sections when you need them.

Concentrated wisdom. Nothing wasted.