jimmy had an uncle named tom pendergrass to us a big political boss in kansas city in jackson county at the time. they were looking for candidates to run for a judge, which you probably know is like a county commissioner. truman fit the bill perfectly. he was a baptist, a mason and a farmer so in 1922 he was elected judge. 12 years later pendergrass is looking for a candidate to run for the united states senate and again harry gets the bill and he gets elected. ten years later at the 1944 convention, party bosses are looking for someone to replace henry wallace on the ticket. henry wallace was roosevelt's vice president at the time. talk about the book. henry wallace was a genius, probably one of the smartest man to ever hold national elective office in the united states. he was a plant geneticist by training, dabbled in astrology and metaphysics, was extremely liberal and a little weird. the party bosses and 44 thought, we need to replace them so they did. all the other candidates for too liberal or too conservative so truman got six. reporters joked it was another missouri can comp