Margaret Truman, the only child of President Harry Truman (33rd President of the United States), was born in Independence, Missouri and spent her early years between Missouri and Washington, DC, where her father was a senator. Upon the death of Franklin Roosevelt, Truman assumed the presidency and the young Margaret moved to the White House. From there it was on to George Washington University and a Bachelors of Arts degree in History. After college, she pursued her interest and talent in singing and from the late 1940s into the early 1950s she performed around the world, as well as on radio and television shows. Her singing career received mixed reviews, but nonetheless was followed closely by the media in her day. Truman remained in the public eye when she went on to become one of the first women to be part of the then fledgling morning news and entertainment shows, paired with Mike Wallace on NBC's show Monitor in 1955. She began her writing career in 1956 with her first book, Souvenir, Margaret Truman's Own Story. The autobiography was followed by several works of nonfiction including books about her father, her mother, Bess Truman, and several books focusing on the history of the White House and its previous inhabitants, including former pets of White House families. In 1980, with the release of Murder in the White House, Truman began her foray into the world of fiction, which would continue for the rest of her life. Her Capital Crimes series remains popular with a whole new generation of readers who are intrigued by behind-the-scenes pictures of the political process. A prolific writer in both the fiction and nonfiction genres, Truman has written a total of thirty-five books and is today a truly popular American writer. Margaret Truman died in 2008 at the age of 83.