I have been a devoted student of presidential history since I was in first grade. I love reading biographies and all sorts of books on the presidents, their families and the White House. I have always been a particular fan of Presidents Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Richard Nixon and all their wives.

The summer of 2004, following the death of my grandfather, a friend discovered a book in the library, “My Grandfather & Me” written by Clifton Truman Daniels, the eldest of Harry & Bess Truman’s four grandsons. After reading the book, I decided to contact its author and discovered he is with the marketing department at Truman College in Chicago. We struck up a lively correspondence, not really discussing his famous grandfather. This past summer I began reading the murder mysteries penned by Clifton’s mother, Margaret Truman Daniels.

Ms. Truman, 81, is now a widow, and she continues to reside in NYC where she is ready to publish yet another novel! I have read five of her murder mysteries and I must say they are incredible reads! Fast paced, historically accurate and very grabbing. I finished my last one, Murder In the Pentagon, in three days.

Last night a great documentary was on regarding the recipients of the Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt Awards. Their granddaughter, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, is one of the chairpersons for this event and she bears a striking resemblance to her famous grandmother. I also discovered that she lives in Chicago and has become good friends with Clifton Truman Daniel.

I am so delighted when presidential offspring continue the legacies of their parents or grandparents. Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, who I got to meet the summer of 1999, shortly after the death of her brother, has done a magnificent job in representing her late father’s Profiles In Courage Awards. The Lyndon Johnson daughters have now assumed the leadership role of their father’s legacy after the incapacitating stroke Lady Bird suffered several years back. The Roosevelts, Trumans, and Nixon children and grandchildren are all providing our generation with so much information and history. They could have easily backed away from the continued limelight – but, instead, they continue to serve their country on behalf of their family.

Other books written by Margaret Truman Daniel:
The First Ladies
White House Families
Murder in the White House
Murder on Capital Hill
Murder in the Supreme Court
Murder in the Smithsonian
Murder on Embassy Row
Murder at the FBI
Murder in Georgetown
Murder in the CIA
Murder at the Kennedy Center
Murder at the National Cathedral
Murder int eh Pentagon
Murder in the National Gallery
Murder at the Watergate
Murder in the Library of Congress
Murder at Ford’s Theatre
Murder at Union Station