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.