Book Description
One of today’s premier biographers has written a modern, comprehensive, indeed ultimate book on the epic life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In this superlative volume, Jean Edward Smith combines contemporary scholarship and a broad range of primary source material to provide an engrossing narrative of one of America’s greatest presidents.
This is a portrait painted in broad strokes and fine details. We see how Roosevelt’s restless energy, fierce intellect, personal magnetism, and ability to project effortless grace permitted him to master countless challenges throughout his life. Smith recounts FDR’s battles with polio and physical disability, and how these experiences helped forge the resolve that FDR used to surmount the economic turmoil of the Great Depression and the wartime threat of totalitarianism. Here also is FDR’s private life depicted with unprecedented candor and nuance, with close attention paid to the four women who molded his personality and helped to inform his worldview: His mother, Sara Delano Roosevelt, formidable yet ever supportive and tender; his wife, Eleanor, whose counsel and affection were instrumental to FDR’s public and individual achievements; Lucy Mercer, the great romantic love of FDR’s life; and Missy LeHand, FDR’s longtime secretary, companion, and confidante, whose adoration of her boss was practically limitless.
Smith also tackles head-on and in-depth the numerous failures and miscues of Roosevelt’s public career, including his disastrous attempt to reconstruct the Judiciary; the shameful internment of Japanese-Americans; and Roosevelt’s occasionally self-defeating Executive overreach. Additionally, Smith offers a sensitive and balanced assessment of Roosevelt’s response to the Holocaust, noting its breakthroughs and shortcomings.
Summing up Roosevelt’s legacy, Jean Smith declares that FDR, more than any other individual, changed the relationship between the American people and their government. It was Roosevelt who revolutionized the art of campaigning and used the burgeoning mass media to garner public support and allay fears. But more important, Smith gives us the clearest picture yet of how this quintessential Knickerbocker aristocrat, a man who never had to depend on a paycheck, became the common man’s president. The result is a powerful account that adds fresh perspectives and draws profound conclusions about a man whose story is widely known but far less well understood. Written for the general reader and scholars alike, FDR is a stunning biography in every way worthy of its subject.
Customer Reviews:
The Best FDR Biography out there.......2007-09-17
This is without a doubt the greatest biography of Franklin Delano Roosevelt that has ever been composed. The book has a tremendous attention to detail, and Smith is able to record even the driest bits of history with the liveliness of a village storyteller.
Now, this book is not without faults. At some times the story shifts from incident to incident with every paragraph, and he doesn't give some events the attention that they deserve. On the other hand, he may have perhaps given too much attention to insignificant events, and could have used that space elaborating on other points. However, I still feel that this is the best possible biography, and it is not so long as to make it impossible to read (although it is still rather long).
An introduction to FDR.......2007-09-10
This is a well-written and engaging introduction to the life of Franklin Roosevelt, for the reader who knows little or nothing about him. That is the strength of this one-volume biography. The weakness is what Smith had to leave out to keep it to one volume (as he admitted himself recently during a question-answer session on Book TV).
For instance, before reading this book, I had not known about the role FDR's mother played in his youth and adulthood, or his relationship with Teddy Roosevelt, or how and when he contracted polio, or about his early government service. Smith introduced me to all of those subjects. I did know something about the last years of FDR's life, because I had read Doris Kearns Goodwin's No Ordinary Time. So, when I read through the last part of Smith's biography, I was shocked by how much he omitted as he skimmed over the surface of the World War II years. I suspect that someone with more knowledge of FDR would have the same reaction to the earlier chapters.
For someone new to the subject, this book provides introductory context for further reading on Franklin Roosevelt. Smith footnotes copiously (to an irritating extent, in fact), and provides a good bibliography. If you've read a good bit about FDR, though, this volume will only tell you what you already know.
Enjoyable and educational.......2007-09-06
I had read NO ORDINARY TIMES prior to reading FDR. Put together, the two books give you a good feel for the life of FDR and ER..two very interesting people in a very important time for the life of the US. I was able to bring all of this together with a visit to Hyde Park, Val-Kill and the FDR Presidential Library in June. Read this book and you will get a sense of the times and the decisions made that still effect every citizen today.
Useful FDR biography.......2007-09-06
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was such a remarkable man who served as President during such a remarkable time, that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between biography and hagiography. Jean Edward Smith's "FDR" comes perilously close to being hagiography. But it is also a superior one-volume biography of one of the greatest men in American history.
There is nothing new in this biography. Everything here has been written about previously by other authors. What Smith, much to his credit, does is to bring it all together in an eminently readable volume. This would be a near ideal place for anyone wanting to improve their understanding of 20th Century American history to begin, for Roosevelt's Presidency covered the most important years and events of the century.
Political partisans will find much to criticize since Smith avoids some - but certainly not all - of the aspects of Roosevelt's political life that are arguable. On the whole though, Smith is to be commended for producing a comprehensive biography.
It's a solid effort easily on a par with Conrad Black's effort of a few years back. Like Lincoln, Roosevelt is the subject of thousands of books. While Smith's biography won't stop anyone from writing yet another, this is an excellent overall biography of the man.
Jerry
The best single-volume on FDR's life now available.......2007-09-03
Smith's volume on U.S. Grant was one of the finest biographies I have ever read, a truly masterful work, which led me enthusiastically to his new book on FDR. While the FDR biography contains few new revelations for true Roosevelt devotees, it is a superb work and a "must read" for anyone with an interest in the man or his times. Finely researched, beautifully written and nicely balanced, it is the best single-volume modern biography of Roosevelt now available.
Book Description
The most complete portrait ever drawn of the complex emotional connection between two of history’s towering leaders
Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill were the greatest leaders of “the Greatest Generation.” In Franklin and Winston, Jon Meacham explores the fascinating relationship between the two men who piloted the free world to victory in World War II. It was a crucial friendship, and a unique one—a president and a prime minister spending enormous amounts of time together (113 days during the war) and exchanging nearly two thousand messages. Amid cocktails, cigarettes, and cigars, they met, often secretly, in places as far-flung as Washington, Hyde Park, Casablanca, and Teheran, talking to each other of war, politics, the burden of command, their health, their wives, and their children.
Born in the nineteenth century and molders of the twentieth and twenty-first, Roosevelt and Churchill had much in common. Sons of the elite, students of history, politicians of the first rank, they savored power. In their own time both men were underestimated, dismissed as arrogant, and faced skeptics and haters in their own nations—yet both magnificently rose to the central challenges of the twentieth century. Theirs was a kind of love story, with an emotional Churchill courting an elusive Roosevelt. The British prime minister, who rallied his nation in its darkest hour, standing alone against Adolf Hitler, was always somewhat insecure about his place in FDR’s affections—which was the way Roosevelt wanted it. A man of secrets, FDR liked to keep people off balance, including his wife, Eleanor, his White House aides—and Winston Churchill.
Confronting tyranny and terror, Roosevelt and Churchill built a victorious alliance amid cataclysmic events and occasionally conflicting interests. Franklin and Winston is also the story of their marriages and their families, two clans caught up in the most sweeping global conflict in history.
Meacham’s new sources—including unpublished letters of FDR’s great secret love, Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd, the papers of Pamela Churchill Harriman, and interviews with the few surviving people who were in FDR and Churchill’s joint company—shed fresh light on the characters of both men as he engagingly chronicles the hours in which they decided the course of the struggle.
Hitler brought them together; later in the war, they drifted apart, but even in the autumn of their alliance, the pull of affection was always there. Charting the personal drama behind the discussions of strategy and statecraft, Meacham has written the definitive account of the most remarkable friendship of the modern age.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
Great Book!.......2007-09-16
Jon has done a splendid job of bringing to life these two titans of world history. The relationship of these two men are recreated with a detail to personal traits and their crumbling world around them. This book has been pivotal in enhancing a better understanding of both men, and particularly how Franklin D. Roosevelt, albeit his duplicity and guile, was crucial in the fight against the evil Axis powers.
Some have criticized FDR for those white lies, yet those lies and actions secured success for a slumbering nation that would have remained set in their isolationist ways, and would have certainly fallen victim to Hitler's death machine if America followed their own self interest and avoided conflict. Roosevelt was clairvoyant enough to understand the threat and coddle America's misguided sentiments and turn it into action, action that made America the clear world leader it became. A magnificent book of a magnificent man, along with his strong-willed partner Winston. Mecham's treatment of both men is sound and extremely admirable. Highly recommended.
BFF?.......2007-09-07
Well, while Winston and Franklin might not have been best friends forever, it certainly is refreshing and enlightening to see this aspect of WW2 given such detail. The book is rife with quotes from direct corespondences as well as excerpts from various diaries of those surrounding these two titans. Jon Meacham does an excellent job with this book and really makes learning about these two enjoyable. While not a complaint, it is worth noting that this is NOT a history of WW2 and you should probably know the basics before diving in because Meacham jumps forward and glosses over major points, but this best serves his main focus: Churchill and Roosevelt.
An Excellent look at the friendship that shaped the modern world .......2007-06-21
Jon Meacham presents an interesting portrait of two leaders in World War II and the way they united the allies. This book is not meant to serve as a book on World War II and diplomacy but on the relationship between FDR and Churchill. In doing so the author presents a unique perspective that has not been looked at in many of the countless World War II books. The personal relationship of these two men (much like the personal relationship of their enemies Mussolini and Hitler) drove and shaped the course of the war. Each complimented each others strengths and in the end allowed for a unique position to be taken. There had been few examples of this kind of diplomacy before World War II and Meacham shows a diplomacy that would be very important thereafter. This book is filled with excerpts from personal letters and is very well cited. For those who want a different look that your standard World War II books this is an excellent place to start. It is a very light book to read and a lot of fun.
Captivating Insights.......2007-05-11
Franklin and Winston is an excellent book about the friendship between FDR, and Winston Churchill. Many people know the big-picture history between these two men, mostly centering around WWII, but few actually know and understand the smaller details between the two giants of the 20th century. Meacham does a remarkable job detailing the intimate moments between these men, often giving the reader a fly on the wall feel. Franklin and Winston is a fast-paced read, and is highly recommended.
Great read!.......2007-04-29
Superbly written! Whether you like biographies or not, you will love this book!!
Average customer rating:
- Well written, high level look at FDR's later Years
- No Ordinary Viewpoint
- Extrordinary Leaders for "No Ordinary Time"
- Not my type of book
- A glimpse of my grandparents
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No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
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Amazon.com
A compelling chronicle of a nation and its leaders during the period when modern America was created. With an uncanny feel for detail and a novelist's grasp of drama and depth, Doris Kearns Goodwin brilliantly narrates the interrelationship between the inner workings of the Roosevelt White House and the destiny of the United States. Goodwin paints a comprehensive, intimate portrait that fills in a historical gap in the story of our nation under the Roosevelts.
Book Description
No Ordinary Time is a monumental work, a brilliantly conceived chronicle of one of the most vibrant and revolutionary periods in the history of the United States. With an extraordinary collection of details, Goodwin masterfully weaves together a striking number of story lines--Eleanor and Franklin's marriage and remarkable partnership, Eleanor's life as First Lady, and FDR's White House and its impact on America as well as on a world at war. Goodwin effectively melds these details and stories into an unforgettable and intimate portrait of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt and of the time during which a new, modern America was born.
Customer Reviews:
Well written, high level look at FDR's later Years.......2007-09-23
Having read many of the reviews written here, I think that it is important to first state that I am very conservative both economically and politically. Having said that, I want to make sure that it is understood that I am not judging the FDR Presidency, just this book.
This is my first real historical look at this time frame in American history and I felt that this book was a very good start from which to look into other avenues of interest during the war years. It is important to keep in mind that the earlier FDR years do not come into the focus of this work. This would not be a good book to judge FDR and the New Deal. It sticks with the years 1940 until FDR's death in 1945.
The book is well written and easy to read. It definitely lacks an in depth look at the "whys" of the FDR decision process. I would have liked to have learned more about the actual war decisions, but in reading the subthe title of the book, it is clear that the focus is about the homefront, not necessarily the war efforts abroad. The internal fighting and family relationships are discussed at length. Eleanor is given a front and center position in this work. I really would have liked to see more of FDR and how the decisions for various strategies were found.
There is a liberal bias to the book, but maybe that's my conservative stance showing. Nothing is mentioned in the book other than two sentences about Vice President Wallace. FDR is made to be a Superman, when it could have been read as FDR was merely a dictator that was elected. Without the effect of the decision process, the impression is that all decisions were FDR's alone. And while that may have been the case, the book never clearly states the way many of these ideas came to pass. This book leaves me the impression that much of FDR's time was spent polling the public and then fitting that knowledge into a decision.
So yes the book does have weaknesses in my opinion. But the strength of the book is the look at FDR the person. He was a solitary figure that needed a strong group of friends to humor him and help him through a truly horrific time in American history. His family life was a mess - he and Eleanor going in different directions with the purpose of staying apart. But the main thing I took from this work was that FDR gave the country hope. He never said quit, no matter the odds or obstacles. Was he a great President? This book is a very small piece of that puzzle.
No Ordinary Viewpoint.......2007-09-03
This was a very enjoyable and well written historical account of America during World War II, through the prism of the relationship between Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Goodwin's great strength, it seems to me, is to find a really refreshing angle to look at a well documented subject, often by examining the subject's most important personal relationships. She did the same thing in her Lincoln book, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by examining the way Lincoln put together a strong cabinet, while still remaining a strong executive.
In this book she focuses on the Roosevelts during World War II, as FDR rallied a totally unprepared nation to become, first the arsenal of democracy, and then to enter the war against both Germany and Japan.
From my point of view I would have preferred more Franklin and less Eleanor. Ms. Goodwin notes several critics dismissing Eleanor as a meddling nag, and at times the criticism has merit. Franklin's demeanor, whether he is holding court at press conferences or White House cocktail hours, is much more enjoyable to be around. And you do, thanks to the lively writing, have a "you are there" feeling throughout this book.
Extrordinary Leaders for "No Ordinary Time".......2007-08-09
I loved this book. In it, Kearns-Goodwin recreates the time frame 1939-1945 like no other book I have read. The Roosevelts, long in power and struggling to overcome personal/physical difficulties, rise to the occasion like few leaders before them. Both children of privilege, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt took on their personal demons (his polio and her, at first, paralyzing shyness) to save the nation. Already dealing with the Great Depression, they were the public face of the war effort. How easy it would have been for FDR to overreach his power (in both the Depression and WWII). Although he was restricted by an isolationist Congress before the attack on Pearl Harbor,he persuaded Congress to ok Lend-Lease, and developed a plan with Churchill (and later Stalin) that eventually led to total victory. While he made some mistakes (internment of Japanese Americans, for example), his optimistic and winning public style balanced nicely with a keen understanding of the power he wielded. Eleanor, for her part, became the paralyzed president's spokesman around the world and at home. She also pushed domestic policy in a way that kept things like civil rights, help for the poor and needy, and better working conditions for labor on the front burner despite the efforts to win the war. Kearns-Goodwin covers it all, including the personal struggles of the First Couple. After it all, they emerge as extraordinary leaders for "no ordinary time". Few have equaled them before or since.
Not my type of book .......2007-06-29
Packed with information on every aspect of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt during the WWII timeframe, this book is a history lovers dream. Unfortunately, I am no history lover. I became glossy-eyed when fine details were being mentioned about everyday activities. I felt that the book strayed from the main story and gave too much supporting detail. Yet, as is with all of the history books that I marginally enjoy, I learned quite a bit of information that I would never have gained otherwise. I was amazed to learn about how separate the Roosevelt's actually were as a couple and FDR's continued relationship with Lucy Rutherford. I also gained insight into how much Eleanor helped to spur the rights for blacks and women with her forward thinking. Eleanor and Franklin's separation as a couple was shadowed by their strength in bringing a nation out of depression and forming our current business environment. I was also surprised to see the extent in which Franklin relaxed. There wasn't a chapter where Franklin didn't either drive around Hyde Park, cruise on the Potomac, or spend time in his "Little White House" in Warm Springs. This was a man who knew what taking it easy was all about.
A glimpse of my grandparents.......2007-06-09
I am a college student. Before reading this book I barely knew who FDR was, let alone why his terms in office were so important. I traveled to Hawaii shortly after reading this book to visit Pearl Harbor because I was so moved by the book. I feel like I understand my grandparents generation a little better now and truly want to thank them for all they have done.
Overall, a terrific read. The author did a wonderful job of sharing the unique relationship between FDR and Churhill. I was also impressed with the author's knowledge of the homefront, instead of just all of the famous battles. Everyone should read this book.
Book Description
Most people
will be shocked to learn
that in 1933 a cabal of wealthy industrialists—in league with groups like the K.K.K. and the American Liberty League—planned to overthrow the U.S. government in a fascist coup. Their plan was to turn discontented veterans into American “brown shirts,” depose
F.D.R., and stop the New Deal. They clandestinely asked Medal of Honor recipient and Marine Major General Smedley Darlington Butler to become the first American Caesar. He, though, was a true patriot and revealed the plot to journalists and to Congress. In a time when a sitting President has invoked national security to circumvent constitutional checks and balances, this episode puts the spotlight on attacks upon our democracy and the individual courage needed to repel them.
Customer Reviews:
A cautionary tale, and a great American hero.......2007-09-06
After many years of searching for this too-long out-of-print gem, it is finally back. (I bought three copies just to make sure it gets disseminated to those in my own immediate circle.)
The story of Smedley Butler's colorful career as a Marine probably wouldn't have been interesting to me, but it provides a necessary backdrop to the larger story here, and Jules Archer sketches it out with just enough attention to detail so one doesn't get the feeling that major events are being glossed over.
I should say, at times the book feels like it has a "stories for young adults" quality, but don't let that distract (or detract) from the fact that men of influence, wealth and power sought to overthrow Franklin Roosevelt, the PRESIDENT of the United States, in 1932.
You've never heard of such a thing? Well, citizen, THAT'S how powerful the conspirators were! And when the light of inquiry was shone on their traitorous plot, they scurried for cover like cockroaches heading back under a refrigerator, loudly claiming it was all nonsense. A.J. Leibling's dictum about freedom of the press (for those who own them) has rarely been so resoundingly underscored.
So kudos to the publishers of this volume, for resurrecting it for another generation. In the words of researcher Dave Emory, "if you don't study history, the world's a mystery."
Learn Some History.......2007-05-14
Well-researched, authoritative account of Wall Street's attempt to force a coup in 1933 to prevent New Deal policies from taking place. Every American should know this history, and understand the true politics of Wall Street and the "miracle" of the market.
Did It Happen Nov.22, 1963 ?.......2007-05-07
Chilling reading as Jules Archer tells the story of the attempted Wall Street against FDR. Maj. Smedley Butler, a Republican exposed the Morgan - DuPont financed coup aginst the President and the American people before Congress ( the McCormick - Dickstein Committee )and the plot crumpled. But Wall Street has always favored Pro - Business,War Making Regimes, with more than a pinch a racism. Wall Street wanted to remove FDR ( too radical ) or make him a " figurehead " as a front man for a fascist government. The Military - Industrial Complex succeeded on November 22, 1963, with the murder of John Kennedy. Howard Hunt's recent " confession " should awaken all Americans to the danger just around the corner. The LBJ regime wasn't racist, just the opposite, but starting with Nixon, are old ways are creeping back. "War is a Racket " - Smedley Butler. He should know,he says that he, as a U.S. military officer, was a gangster for Capitalism and Wall Street. Lets defeat facism again, this time at home !
One of the greatest conspiracies of all time.......2007-03-08
Who knows what the world would have been like if this conspiracy had succeeded. We might have never declared war against the Axis (Japan/Germany/Italy) powers in World War II. As Joseph Schumpeter writes in the book Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy: The political world consists of a series of short-run events that can change the course of history...The idea that good always triumphs over evil is one of those happy falsehoods. All patriots need to be vigilant!
One of the most important books you will ever read!.......2007-03-04
Excellent attractive and inexpensively priced paperback edition of the Jules Archer classic. It is terrific to have this wonderful book back in print again! The book tells the shocking true story of how United States Marine Corps Major General Smedley Darlington Butler was the savior of our Republic from a fascist plot by Wall Street plutocratic militarists in the early 1930s. Author Jules Archer is featured in The History Channel documentary, The Plot To Overthrow FDR, a concise summary of this exceptional book.
For more on Butler and the attempted 1930's fascist coup d'etat against FDR, see my Amazon.com Listmania! book and video list, Smedley Darlington Butler.
Amazon.com
The fifth volume of Kenneth S. Davis's magisterial, much-praised biography follows FDR from his re-election to an unprecedented third term in November 1940 through New Year's Eve, 1942, when he screened a brand-new film, Casablanca, at the White House. During the intervening 25 months, President Roosevelt prepared a reluctant nation for the war that he knew was coming, then struggled to maintain the government's commitment to his New Deal social programs, as well as the conflict overseas. Like its predecessors, this installment combines shrewd, intimate psychological insights into Roosevelt's character with a sweeping historical narrative of world events and a superbly detailed account of Washington political maneuvers--all three laid out in grave, elegant prose. Perhaps Davis's most notable achievement lies in tracing the links between FDR's personality and his leadership style: the unexpected benefits of his maddening indecisiveness, his ability to use even his crippling physical handicap to political advantage, the way in which the adult president cemented personal and professional ties with the evasive charm that he developed in adolescence to defend himself against a smothering mother. Admirers of serious yet accessible biography can regret only that the author's death in 1999 means that there will be no concluding volume to this magnificent series, which has shed so much light on one of the more complex men ever to inhabit the White House. --Wendy Smith
Book Description
FDR: The War President opens as Roosevelt has been re-elected to a third term and the United States is drifting toward a war that has already engulfed Europe. Roosevelt, as commander in chief, statesman, and politician, must navigate a delicate balance between helping those in Europe--while remaining mindful of the forces of isolation both in the Congress and the country--and protecting the gains of the New Deal, upon which he has spent so much of his prestige and power.
Kenneth S. Davis draws vivid depictions of the lives, characters, and temperaments of the military and political personalities so paramount to the history of the time: Churchill, Stalin, de Gaulle, and Hitler; Generals Marshall, Eisenhower, and MacArthur; Admiral Darlan, Chiang Kai-shek, Charles Lindbergh, William Allen White, Joseph Kennedy, Averell Harriman, Harry Tru-man, Robert Murphy, Sidney Hillman, William Knud-sen, Cordell Hull, Henry Morgenthau, Henry Stimson, A. Philip Randolph, Wendell Willkie, and Henry Wallace.
The portrait of Henry Hopkins, who interacted with many of these personalities on behalf of Roosevelt, is woven into this history as the complex, interconnected relationship it was. Hopkins burnished the relationship between Churchill and Roosevelt and eased the way for their interactions with Stalin.
Another set of characters central to Roosevelt's life and finely drawn by the author includes Eleanor Roo-sevelt, Sara Roosevelt, Missy LeHand, Grace Tully, Princess Martha of Norway, and Daisy Suckley.
Integral to this history as well are the Argentina Conference, the Atlantic Charter and the beginnings of the United Nations, the Moscow Conference, lend-lease, the story of the building of the atomic bomb, Hitler's Final Solution and how Roosevelt and the State Department reacted to it, Pearl Harbor and war with Japan, the planning of Torch, and the murder of Admiral Darlan. All these stories intersect with the economic and social problems facing Roosevelt at home as the United States mobilizes for war.
The lessons and concerns of 1940-1943 as dissected in this book are still relevant to the problems and concerns of our own time. A recurrent theme is technology: Do people control technology, or does technology control people?
Kenneth Davis had the rare gift of writing history that reads with the immediacy of a novel; and though the outcome of this history is well known, the events and people depicted here keep the reader focused on an enthralling suspense story.
Customer Reviews:
An inscrutable mystery.............2006-10-14
To the layman, FDR's name is associated with Pearl Harbour dilemma and the consequential entry of USA into WWII.
We have read the memoirs of Winston Churchill and seen impassioned appeals (some were even desperate) by the Allied player (France's Reynaud and England's WC) to the American President to interfere. Yet the appeals never effectively addressed the American public opinion.
The French never understood how FDR could be a `leader' in his country and at the same time stood powerless to make decisions.
The French, in the bloody and crowded events that encroached them in first half of 1940, could not fully appreciate the American System.
But the British did.
The public opinion in the USA, during 1939 and 1940, was one that when the allied had an edge in any battle against the Germans `so what, you see anyway they can win without us (USA)' when Germany was winning, the thinking was `Okay, since it's all over we better stay out, there is nothing we can do anymore'.
American public opinion was divided and pacifists regarded the French appeals to `come to their rescue', emotionally hysterical. The French must have known how far was FDR bound by the congressional limits that formulated USA foreign policies.
FDR could not have possibly made his decision apart from the American system, based on personal whims, notably when re-elections were due. FDR was bound to make American voters to see how far he was not missing any opportunity-however small- to prevent an all-out war.
We should remember that before the war FDR had asked the Congress to approve his request for arms embargo to any country in a condition of `aggression' and the Congress refused unless the embargo applied to all countries concerned.
Many American felt the Nazi had been forced to fight a war they never wanted.
British propaganda machines were able to convince a big chuck of the public opinion in the USA that the Nazi had actually betrayed the Versailles Treaty (Post WWI). Wall Street and money mongers were also supporting this thesis. When Germany signed non-belligerent pact with USSR, many pacifists in America claimed that the war between the Europeans was imperialist in nature and urged FDR not to enter forcibly into it. FDR was even accused by the very few American Communists that he was indeed planning to do this.
Although the French wanted them to come sooner than later, Churchill was convinced that in the end America would go to war, and he knew how far FDR depended on the public opinions at home.
In his memoirs WC recounted that Lord Lothian (British Ambassador to USA) saw FDR and discussed `among other things, the danger facing America if a) some part of the British fleet fell to the Germans hand in the event of Nazi victory and 2) what are the chances of USA `being at war with Hitler' 3) FDR reiterated that `much depended not only on American Public Opinion but also on whether before that time dictators had taken some action which compelled the USA to go to war in self-defence' 4) only Congress could make commitments to war.
Was FDR aware of the Japanese attack (`sudden attack' as the world was led to believe at all times) before it happened?
Or had someone held from him the intelligence, which was then available that an air strike was forthcoming?
Pearl harbour was the real casus belli that justified to the American public opinion the urgency of their country to enter the war, after all this was the highly coveted compelling opportunity for USA to fight in self-defence.
When will historians be able to access the documents to sort out this inscrutable mystery?
It may remain a mystery though because the worst thing for any leader is to hurt the intelligent minds of his people.
Hmmm.......2006-02-18
I purchased this book in the hopes of finding insight into FDR's disability. This huge volume discusses everything and includes about one page total (if that) about it, providing a look into how FDR did and did not discuss his disability. Interesting how the history books and buffs don't talk about it much, but disappointing also so I only gave it 3. If you're a history buff and reading it to find out about the politics of the day and such, you would like it more.
Our Century's Greatest President.......2003-02-19
This last of five great volumes continues to look at Roosevelt and his times from the progressive Left. Davis was a liberal New Dealer (with the AAA) and he surveys FDR's third term with a view to what might-have-been through the eyes of one of many who welcomed a more fundamental shift from "selfish materialism" to "selfless ideology" in America. What better perspective to measure this century's greatest Democrat?
Ignore Michael Lind's NY Times review -- except to get a taste of the reactionary manifesto FDR was up against; he simply trashes Davis's liberalism with a neo-con, op-ed spin piece on commies and big business, and concludes the book to be historical fiction. And why the accusation of "calumny" when Davis posits psychology as one of several possible explanations for FDR's inaction to the final solution? Only last year did we learn of John McCloy's discussion with an irate President about bombing Auschwitz ("Why, the idea! I won't have anything to do with it. We'll be accused of participating in this horrible business."), which was insight kept secret for forty years. With such precious little information about the motives of an aging, instinctive President who was always reluctant to espouse the ideological over the pragmatic, why is it unethical to suppose that he "may" have felt the politics of rescue to be personally overwhelming?
Don't let one review deter you from a great history and a great story. From the Grand Alliance to Pearl Harbor to Casablanca and the Darlan Deal, the book presents a magnificent frieze. I give it four stars only because, alas, it ends prematurely.
FDR's Sins.......2001-11-03
Although Davis' book runs 757 pages, it only covers about 4 years real time. If you take the plunge, you will learn much about FDR, the War, and Davis (the author). I have read many books about the military conduct of WWII, from all sides. This was my first book about Great Leaders, Diplomacy, and World War strategy from the "Top." Most of this was new to me and most of the main points in the book don't show Roosevelt in a favorable light. Here are some of the big sins Davis reveals:
1. FDR was clearly deceptive in his 1940 Campaign. He promised American mothers that he would keep us out of the War but he was already anxious to get us into the European War.
2. FDR sold out most of his liberal principles in fighting the War. For instance, he placed industrialists in top positions, he put republicans in the cabinet, looked the other way when large firms ignored labor laws during the war, refused to embrace Henry Wallace's "Century of the Common Man." etc. Worst of all, large firms made money on their contracts! There is a long list
of FDRs actions that show that the FDR's approach to the War effectively ended the New Deal program.
3. There was much more tension between Americans and English than I realized. As far as military strategy, the Americans wanted to attack the Germans directly, ASAP, whereas the English
preferred to attack the Germans indirecty, sometime later....
The English were afraid of the Germans, who had just recently kicked them out of France, Greece, North Africa, etc. At one point in 1942, General Marshall was ready to jettison the English approach, the Torch invasion, and shift US resources to the Pacific. Roosevelt agreed to English strategies....
4. FDR thought he could charm Stalin, "uncle joe." What a colossal miscalculation of Stalin's character.
5. FDR did not worry much about civil liberties, authorizing the "evacuation" of the West Coast Japanese, letting the FBI run rampant with wire-tapping, etc.
6. FDR was an unprincipled man, devious, back-stabbing, disloyal to people who had backed him for decades, such as Hillman, and Farley. Davis claims FDR could turn his emotions on and off to serve practical requirements. He could not be trusted.
7. And the final, greatest sin; FDR knew much about the Holocaust by 1942 and he refused to shout it from the rooftops.
FDR was not anti-semitic, but he did not want his legion of enemies to label it "A War to Save Jews" because FDR knew that many American (voters) were anti-semitic.........
Somehow, Davis is willing to look past all these sins to
claim that FDR still deserves to be classified as a great president. Apparently FDRs unwavering focus on winning the War can offset even the largest sins.I'm not so sure.
As for Davis, his absolute hatred for capitalism and big business is reiterated on every other page. He also puts forth
a vague theory about technology and human welfare that readers can safely ignore. Davis prefers some kind of socialist state.
All in all, it made me curious to read more about FDR.
Thoughtful and provocative.......2001-09-25
It's a shame that Professor Davis did not live to complete his massive biography of FDR. But what he left is a most thoughtful and provocative account of how Roosevelt steered a reluctant country into a war it had to wage. Davis is skeptical of FDR's management of the war effort -- the president's compulsive manipulation of his staff, his over-reliance on self-interested industrialists for war production, and, above all, the woeful lack of response to the Holocaust. But Professor Davis is not a revisionist -- he makes it clear that the Americans had to fight World War II to stop Nazi-fascism and preserve Western civilization, and that no one else on the American scene could have taken the country in that direction. In "The War President," Professor Davis builds on the strengths of his previous volumes with his enlightening commentary on the impact of modernity and technology on presidential leadership. And he adds to his sketches of the figures who played a role in FDR's life -- Churchill, Harry Hopkins, Wendell Willkie and many others. I hated to see the book end, but the final scene is very poignant, with the President spending a New Year's Eve watching the film Casablanca as he is sending Americans to fight in North Africa.
Book Description
Traces the life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt from his birth in 1882 through his youth, early political career, and presidency to his death in Warm Springs, Georgia, in 1945.
Amazon.com
It was not long after the first Japanese bombs fell on the American naval ships at Pearl Harbor that conspiracy theories began to circulate, charging that Franklin Roosevelt and his chief military advisors knew of the impending attack well in advance. Robert Stinnett, who served in the U.S. Navy with distinction during World War II, examines recently declassified American documents and concludes that, far more than merely knowing of the Japanese plan to bomb Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt deliberately steered Japan into war with America.
Stinnett's argument draws on both circumstantial evidence--the fact, for example, that in September 1940 Roosevelt signed into law a measure providing for a two-ocean navy that would number 100 aircraft carriers--and, more importantly, on American governmental documents that offer apparently incontrovertible proof that Roosevelt knowingly sacrificed American lives in order to enter the war on the side of England. Although obviously troubled by his discovery of a systematic plan of deception on the part of the American government, Stinnett does not take deep issue with its outcome. Roosevelt, he writes, faced powerful opposition from isolationist forces, and, against them, the Pearl Harbor attack was "something that had to be endured in order to stop a greater evil--the Nazi invaders in Europe who had begun the Holocaust and were poised to invade England." Sure to excite discussion, Stinnett's book offers what may be the final word on the terrible matter of Pearl Harbor. --Gregory McNamee
Book Description
Pearl Harbor was not an accident, a mere failure of American intelligence, or a brilliant Japanese military coup. It was the result of a carefully orchestrated design, initiated at the highest levels of our government. According to a key memorandum eight steps were taken to make sure we would enter the war by this means. Pearl Harbor was the only way, leading officials felt, to galvanize the reluctant American public into action.
This great question of Pearl Harbor--what did we know and when did we know it?--has been argued for years. At first, a panel created by FDR concluded that we had no advance warning and should blame only the local commanders for lack of preparedness. More recently, historians such as John Toland and Edward Beach have concluded that some intelligence was intercepted. Finally, just months ago, the Senate voted to exonerate Hawaii commanders Admiral Kimmel and Lieutenant General Short, after the Pentagon officially declared that blame should be "broadly shared." But no investigator has ever been able to prove that fore-knowledge of the attack existed at the highest levels.
Until now. After decades of Freedom of Information Act requests, Robert B. Stinnett has gathered the long-hidden evidence that shatters every shibboleth of Pearl Harbor. It shows that not only was the attack expected, it was deliberately provoked through an eight-step program devised by the Navy. Whereas previous investigators have claimed that our government did not crack Japan's military codes before December 7, 1941, Stinnett offers cable after cable of decryptions. He proves that a Japanese spy on the island transmitted information--including a map of bombing targets--beginning on August 21, and that government intelligence knew all about it. He reveals that Admiral Kimmel was prevented from conducting a routine training exercise at the eleventh hour that would have uncovered the location of the oncoming Japanese fleet. And contrary to previous claims, he shows that the Japanese fleet did not maintain radio silence as it approached Hawaii. Its many coded cables were intercepted and decoded by American cryptographers in Stations on Hawaii and in Seattle.
The evidence is overwhelming. At the highest levels--on FDR's desk--America had ample warning of the pending attack. At those same levels, it was understood that the isolationist American public would not support a declaration of war unless we were attacked first. The result was a plan to anger Japan, to keep the loyal officers responsible for Pearl Harbor in the dark, and thus to drag America into the greatest war of her existence.
Yet even having found what he calls the "terrible truth," Stinnett is still inclined to forgive. "I sympathize with the agonizing dilemma faced by President Roosevelt," he writes. "He was forced to find circuitous means to persuade an isolationist America to join in a fight for freedom....It is easier to take a critical view of this policy a half century removed than to understand fully what went on in Roosevelt's mind in the year prior to Pearl Harbor."
Day of Deceit is the definitive final chapter on America's greatest secret and our worst military disaster.
Download Description
Twenty years ago Robert Stinnett set out to answer the question that the Congressional investigations of 1945 and 1995 could not: Did President Roosevelt know that the attack on Pearl Harbor was coming? Using evidence that has never been released before now, Stinnett describes Japanese activities documented by the American government that prove that FDR knew in advance about the attack, and deliberately did nothing to stop it. For decades it has been believed that the Japanese fleet maintained strict radio silence as it approached Hawaii. But Stinnett reveals that it did not -- in fact, no coordinated fleet could have done so -- and more explosively, he proves that allied listening stations intercepted and decoded dozens of the fleet's military messages, as they had been doing long before December 1941. Stinnett produces several devastating cables, tracing their path from the cryptographers who deciphered them directly to the White House. Here at last is the archival evidence that has been denied for half a century.
Customer Reviews:
Nonsense.......2007-06-27
Does anyone use plain ole common sense anymore? Are we really to believe that the president of the United States would deliberately let thousands of Americans be killed, let half of our Pacific Fleet be crippled, and leave the west coast of America open to attack, all for the sake of winning support for a war that we would eventually be dragged into anyway? And this from a president that loved the Navy? What a bunch of hogwash. There is no doubt many things things about Pearl Harbor have been left out of history, but c'mon folks, use your brains..
What is the truth?.......2007-05-21
This is a well documented history of events leading up to Pearl Harbor which gives a lot of credibility to FDR manipulating events to pull the US into WWII. I will try to find out how Mr. Stinnett is viewed by other noted WWII historians. This book presents a different light on FDR than I have heard before and I wonder if this view and Mr. Stinnett are credible rather than having an agenda to prove. It is well written and an easy read for the most part. It certainly caught my attention as it should anyone that has an interest in FDR's legacy and how his administration operated prior to WWII.
9/11--The New Pearl Harbor.......2007-02-17
See on Google Video--LOOSE CHANGE
This video does for 9-11 what this book does for Pearl Harbor.
Disturbing.......2006-09-16
Gives overwhelming proof that FDR provoked the Japanese attack primarily through denying access to natural resources in Indonesia via the Dutch government in exile, and also by giving support to Chinese resistance fighters. The motive behind the provocation was to ensure that the American people would support a war against Nazi Germany, Italy and Japan that they did not wish to be involved in prior to December 7, 1941. Instead of trying to convince the American people that war would be inevitable against Fascism; condescendingly assured of their stupidity, FDR sacrificed 2500 sailors in order to mobilize the nation for war.
The intelligence services were aware of false Japanese diplomats mapping out Pearl Harbor in preparation for the bombing. They were being monitored but allowed to operate. The secret Japanese communications codes were also cracked early on, so that military and government intelligence were aware of Japanese preparations. The `purple' diplomatic code was also cracked, so that Washington was deciphering communications between Berlin and Tokyo.
Once a military attack became inevitable, Washington hid the fact from military commanders in the Pacific to ensure the attack would be more devastating, and Pearl's base commander would take the blame for being unprepared. I find it truly troubling that only warships that were outdated were left at anchor in Pearl that morning on December 7. The Navy knew that the modern aircraft carriers would be extremely useful during modern naval war, so the USS Enterprise and USS Lexington were out to sea on maneuvers and safe from the bombing. Only ships 27 years old, relics from World War I, were left at anchor and vulnerable.
A Review of Someof the Reviews........2006-08-09
There is a strong political bit to the negative reviews. It reminds me a little of creationists reviewing an evolutionary biology work.
Historians use the concept of convergence when evaluating the truth/falsity of claims. For example, we know the holocaust happened and that the nazis ordered the killing of jews because there is an overwhelming amount of evidence. There is disagreement about certain aspects, some bits have been proved wrong (eg. the soap made out of people), but we can be as close to certain that it happened as is possible. But that hasn't stopped smart people from trying to proved it didn't. You can do some research on how their thinking is flawed in debunking books.
Another enlightening topic is how biblical literalists have attempted to create 'creation science'. Smart people actually believe things that aren't true, and there are very human reasons for it. It's quite enlightening looking at people who are 100% certain about things they cant possibly be sure about.
So who are you to believe? Believe no one. If you are interested in the topic, read the book. It is immaculately footnoted, primary source riddled, and intellectually rigorous (i.e. honest, not hard to read), although its hardly a page turner.
So why do people who cannot possibly know with 100% certainity, with no education in historiographical evaluation, with only a superficial grasp of the subject (ret navy code crackers included), etc state with absolute conviction the author is a liar, idiot, etc and that there is no way the prez knew about this? It's almost like the author is insulting their mothers. Afterall, the author spent years going over primary sources and has never been shown to be untrustworthy. Can any of these naysayers say the same? No, they just like to be prejuidiced and judgemental and pretend they know everything. People like that bug me...rant over.
So be like me, read the book, look at the arguements and evidence, and make up your own mind. And no I am not 100% sure the prez knew. But pretty sure. Afterall, buddy used a nuke when he didn't have to...
Ps, if you want some more fun looking at prejuidiced reviews, check out anything written about hillary clinton. Man that woman sends some people in to rage-goofy-land. Oh and al gore, and noam chomsky's good too (not as funny though).
pps you people who use your real names have more guts then i do!
Book Description
The Crisis of the Old Order, 1919-1933, volume one of Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and biographer Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.'s Age of Roosevelt series, is the first of three books that interpret the political, economic, social, and intellectual history of the early twentieth century in terms of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the spokesman and symbol of the period. Portraying the United States from the Great War to the Great Depression, The Crisis of the Old Order covers the Jazz Age and the rise and fall of the cult of business. For a season, prosperity seemed permanent, but the illusion came to an end when Wall Street crashed in October 1929. Public trust in the wisdom of business leadership crashed too. With a dramatist's eye for vivid detail and a scholar's respect for accuracy, Schlesinger brings to life the era that gave rise to FDR and his New Deal and changed the public face of the United States forever.
Customer Reviews:
Enlightening and Readable History.......2007-05-07
I have read a lot of U.S. history covering the New Deal and World War II, so I am quite familiar with Franklin D. Roosevelt and his presidency. This very well written history of the period between World War I and Roosevelt coming to power in 1933 filled in an important gap for me, and I found some very interesting parallels between Hoover and G.W. Bush, which has helped me further understand why our current president acts as he does. The events leading up to, and immediately following, the Great Depression impact today's politics and issues in ways I did not understand prior to reading this book. I find the author, Arthur M. Schlesinger, to be very readable and a very fine writer. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it has helped me to further understand and appreciate the first half of the 20th Century in America.
Bancroft Award Winner for History. Classic on FDR's New Deal.......2004-04-22
The four-volume "Age of Roosevelt" is the greatest history of the Great Depression era, written by a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author. It captures the spirit of the era. This is the benchmark.
Schlesinger details the events of the Great Depression in living detail, the bold actions that FDR and Congress took to confront the crisis, the economic hardships, radicals like Long/Coughlin/Townsend who found receptive listeners, and much more. It explains especially well Roosevelt's pragmatic philosophy that took shape in the New Deal.
Book one, "Crisis of the Old Order," won the Bancroft Prize for history in 1958 and is considered a timeless classic. It covers the events leading up to FDR's landslide election at the depth of the Great Depression. Hoover is portrayed as appearing stiff, aloof and calous, which was a popular impression at that time.
Hoover callously said that unemployed people desperately selling apples in the street were actually doing so because selling apples paid more than their regular jobs. His image was made worse by the Hoovervilles where unemployed people lived in small, hastily-built shacks. We now know that Hoover was a good man and was simply overwhelmed by events. None-the-less, Roosevelt's optimistic, bold leadership was an uplifting change.
Volume II is the best volume in this series. If you are going to buy volume I, then I highly recommend that you also buy volume II.
Volume II details FDR's amazing first 100 days in office. There had never been anything in history like it. FDR was able to create an optimism and sense of hope in a time of despair. All the details are in volume II.
Nobody knew what to do about the Great Depression. FDR said that something needed to be done ,so why not experiment and at least try something - anything. Action and action now. Some things he tried were great. Others things were mistakes and even contradictory. But at least he tried something.
The economy responded. Hope was restored. The contraction slowly stopped and GDP slowly started moving upward. FDR passed his landmark Social Security legislation. FDR would then win reelection in 1936 with the biggest electoral landslide in modern history, a triumphant endorsement. He won 98.5 percent of all electoral votes, which stands as the most in American history except for James Monroe, who won 99.6 percent in 1820, and George Washington, who won 100% of the electoral votes (although the general was not allowed to vote yet for Washington or Monroe). Ronald Reagan would later win 97.6% of the electoral vote in 1984, which is second only to FDR for the biggest electoral win in modern times. FDR's 1936 election still stands as the biggest in modern history.
Also, FDR's 1936 win was the largest popular vote landslide in history at that time with a massive 60.7% of the popular vote. It stands today second only to Lyndon Johnson's astounding 61.1% of the popular vote in 1964. Nixon (60.6% in 1972) was also able to achieve a high popular vote win, with Reagan a distant fourth at 59% in 1984. FDR and his 60.7% win shows he was a powerhouse. He would also win three more elections to the presidency.
Volume II has a great Roosevelt speech that I think reflects his philosophy more than any other, except his first, second and third inaugural addresses. FDR talked about his vision of wanting to make sure that all American workers had a basic standard of living, opportunity, and recreation. His vision built the middle class. Just look at the decades that followed. The middle class exploded in size.
The best one-volume book on Roosevelt is Conrad Black's biography "Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Champion of Freedom." However, if you are highly interested in Roosevelt, you must read this essential biography by Schlesinger.
Average customer rating:
- Tough read but worth the effort!
- Too opinionated!
- FDR in War and Peace
- A Great Book About A Great Man !!!
- The plot to overthrow FDR
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Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion Of Freedom
Conrad Black
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ASIN: 1586482823
Release Date: 2005-03-15 |
Book Description
Now in paperback, the epic biography that critics across the board agree "deserves to become the standard one-volume life of FDR" (*The Economist)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt stands astride American history like a colossus. Having pulled the nation out of the Great Depression and led it to victory in the Second World War, in his four terms as president Roosevelt transformed an inward-looking country into the greatest superpower the world had ever known. Few biographies have been able to capture the full scope, the charisma, and the complexities of the man in full-until Conrad Black's Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In this extraordinary and eminently readable assessment, Black-a staunch conservative-takes to task the Roosevelt naysayers, lays bare the Yalta myth, and makes a surprising and compelling case that that FDR was the most influential and important person of the twentieth century.
Hailed by critics from all sides of the political spectrum as "masterful," "epic," and the "best biography of Roosevelt yet," Franklin Delano Roosevelt is bar-none the definitive biography of the 32nd president. It is an essential resource for anyone who wishes to understand not only Roosevelt-but the very history of the twentieth century, both in America and throughout the world.
Customer Reviews:
Tough read but worth the effort!.......2007-10-01
This one was a tough read - 1134 pages and a couple of laps around the world later I finished - but it was definitely worth the time. While not as readable as David McCullough, Conrad Black not only tells the amazing story of FDR, but also puts you right in the middle of this pivotal time in American History. Sometimes vindictive, often underestimated, FDR's ability to lead and leverage public opinion is unmatched by any modern day president. The complicated relationship between Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill was navigated with great expertise. The personalities surrounding him - Eleanor, Teddy Roosevelt's side of the family, Stimson, Smith, MacArthur, Patton, Eisenhower, etc. are cause to hit the Barnes and Noble shop again soon for a few more biographies. If you like American history and biographies, this book comes with my recommendation.
Too opinionated!.......2007-08-28
The material is presented in an incredibly slanted way. The author will frequently refer to the fact that a particular person's beliefs were "misguided" or "objectively wrong", or "a brilliant solution", skipping over any of the details or alternative perspectives that might cast any sort of light on the topic. The book therefore becomes just so much ax-grinding by Conrad Black, to the point where the reader must look with such suspicion on nearly every sentence, that it's not really worth reading the book in the first place. to get a clear understanding of the material, the reader will inevitably have to seek out other publications. And if Black's work is the reader's initial introduction to FDR's biography, there is the very real risk that Black's ax-grinding may permanently tilt one's perspective.
Looking back at some of these positive reviews, I'm stunned that people recommend this book. Although a lot of research clearly went into it, the author's heavy bias marks the text as mere pulp, unscholarly and essentially dishonest.
If you expect this book to be better than other one-volume biographies of FDR because it is so long, think again. A big disappointment.
FDR in War and Peace.......2007-05-30
Conrad Black, a Canadian press baron who is actually a real British baron has written the single best one volume biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt. This book excels for three distinct reasons.
First, the Baron Black of Crossharbour in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets---to use his legal name and title---is an exceptionally good writer. The text is a smooth and easy read.
Second, and this is where Lord Black is at his best, he fully develops Roosevelt's character and personality in this book. Although this skill might seem like a fairly obvious one for a biographer, it is one that skips to many who take on this type of writing. What made Roosevelt great--and that he was--was his character and vision. He could be sneak and manipulative, like any other good politician, but he knew what type of leadership the nation needed, what made the nation great and provided those things in abundance. He had that "vision thing." He had studied the life and career of his famous "Uncle Ted" and offered the public the same type of leadership that the first Roosevelt had.
While Theodore Roosevelt was a man of character in public and private, his distant cousin's was more public. FDR was unfaithful to a trying and difficult wife, an emotionally distant father to his children, and although exceptionally charming, emotionally distant from most people.
Finally, the book is an up-to-date assessment of historical work on Roosevelt's twelve years in the White House. The bulk of the book focuses on the presidency with Black getting to 1932 in a little over 200 pages. He sees FDR working to maintain the capitalist system during the Great Depression. He always liked to keep his political options and encouraged a good deal of conflict within the bureaucracy. The New Deal does not see as extensive coverage as World War II. Black gives FDR high marks for his work as Commander-in-Chief. He set the policy, maintained the vision and generally avoided details. This type of leadership drove his generals and admirals crazy, but he knew what was possible and took the attitude that good was good enough. This might not have been the most efficient way to win the war, but it worked. He certainly avoided micromanaging the military the way some of his predecessors have in the years since. Although Canada and the United States are similar in many ways, the fact that a foreigner can offer an exceptionally nuanced assessment of FDR's administration is yet more testimony to Black's skill as a biographer.
If you are prepared to tackle a 1200 page monster, this is an exceptionally good book.
A Great Book About A Great Man !!!.......2007-05-23
The best biography of FDR I have ever read and I have read at least eight others. Prior to reading this great book I had always considered Frank Freidels book: "FDR A Rendevous with Destiny" the best and most scholarly biography of his life. This book is superbly researched and a great read to boot.
A big book over 1100 pages but it is well worth the readers time.
A great big BRAVO to you Mr. Conrad Black.
The plot to overthrow FDR.......2007-03-02
If you are intersted in the life of FDR, you might be interseted to learn about the plot that almost cost him his Presidency. You can read about it in The Plot to Seize the White House by Jules Archer.
Book Description
The Coming of the New Deal, 1933-1935, volume two of Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and biographer Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.'s Age of Roosevelt series, describes Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first tumultuous years in the White House. Coming into office at the bottom of the Great Depression, FDR told the American people that they have nothing to fear but fear itself. The conventional wisdom having failed, he tried unorthodox remedies to avert economic collapse. His first hundred days restored national morale, and his New Dealers filled Washington with new approaches to recovery and reform. Combining idealistic ends with realistic means, Roosevelt proposed to humanize, redeem, and rescue capitalism. The Coming of the New Deal, written with Schlesinger's customary verve, is a gripping account of critical years in the history of the republic.
Customer Reviews:
Franklin Roosevelt: A Great Man.......2006-08-29
Arthur M. Schlesinger wrote a Pulitzer Prize winning series on "The Age of Roosevelt" almost a half-century ago. This volume is the middle volume of that trilogy, covering the period 1933-1935.
In assessing Roosevelt's role only a generation removed from the activity itself, Schlesinger chose to utilize Plutarch's approach of evaluating the man and his character to see how history developed.
Schlesinger takes into account much more than just Franklin Roosevelt; he looks at the supporting cast of the FDR administration as well. By evaluting primarily Roosevelt, his cabinet, and his advisors, Schlesinger has given us a fabulous biographical view into the decision making of the first few years of the New Deal era.
Schlesinger has opted to take a primarily topic based approach rather than a chronological approach to addressing the major issues faced by the administration during these years. The primary areas he looks at are agriculture, industry, economics, social relief, labor, conservatism, and the start of the "imperial" Presidency. By evaluating each of these topics using a person-based approach, the reader is able to garner an understanding of why the Roosevelt administration was so successful in its efforts to combat the fear prevalent in America at this time. When FDR told America in his first inagural address that "...the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." he truly meant that he wanted to make his administration an effort to conquer the concerns ravaging Americans.
By evaluating individuals rather than just events, Schlesinger has presented the reader with a biographical sense of why each initiative was undertaken, and that FDR was not afraid of "failure" - if an effort did not pan out, he simply discarded it and tried something different to solve the problem.
This book certainly is not about the long-term effects of the New Deal, nor does it give us tremendous background on all of the individual efforts of the Roosevelt administration to beat the Depression, but it isn't really meant to. The book accomplishes everything the author has set forth to achieve, and is a spectacular read.
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