In her mother’s opinion, at least, Bess Wallace could have done much better than Harry Truman, a farmer’s son who never graduated from college and couldn’t seem to hold down a job. At least Madge Gates Wallace could look after her daughter and son-in-law during the early years of their marriage, since they couldn’t afford a home of their own. When Harry entered politics, Madge belittled him constantly, questioned his policy decisions and expressed doubt that he could ever succeed; she famously expected that Thomas Dewey, to whom she’d taken a shine, would trounce President Truman in 1948. Though Madge often declared that Bessie’s influence alone had put Harry in the White House, she didn’t mind moving with the couple to the executive mansion, where she continued to chide her son-in-law for his failings.