Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Average customer rating:

Good "Primer" On FDR
BEST BIOGRAPHY IN RECENT YEARS; COMMAND OF ISSUES PUTS AUTHOR IN PROXIMITY OF DAVID MCCULLOCH
I'm concerned about the accuracy of the book.
FDR: He lifted himself from his wheelchair to lift this nation from its knees
FDR ='s GREATNESS.

FDR
Jean Edward Smith
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1400061210
Release Date: 2007-05-15

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:

Good "Primer" On FDR.......2007-06-25

This book is written well for the newcomer to FDR's story.

If you've been curious about the greatest American president of the twentieth century, but don't know a lot about him, definitely start with this book. Jean Edward Smith assumes that the reader not only does not know a lot about Roosevelt, but also does not know a lot of history from this era, and takes many explanations of events in a slow, careful hand.

For newcomers, this is a strong, helpful approach. For those more versed in Roosevelt's story, not too much new information is added here. So, for historians and "Rooseveltophiles," the book may be an inadvertant source of frustration.

I enjoyed it a lot, and think you will, too, though. I can never learn enough about this amazing, flawed man.

BEST BIOGRAPHY IN RECENT YEARS; COMMAND OF ISSUES PUTS AUTHOR IN PROXIMITY OF DAVID MCCULLOCH.......2007-06-21

I have read Jean Edward Smith's only other presidential biography, one on Ulysses Grant, and it was so good I had to buy his second attempt at a presidential biography, on FDR. This is better than I expected, far and away the best biography of FDR, and one of the best ever written about a president. THIS BOOK DESERVES TO BE ON EVERY BOOKSHELF. His twin achievement, Grant-FDR, now surpasses any other contribution to the presidency, save David McCulloch's Truman-Adams.

1. The book is a fine balance of war and peace, economic achievements and war ones, of personal and professional, and that is its ultimate achievement. It is a TOUR DE FORCE.

2. I must confess that until I saw the author's picture on the jacket, I had thought he was a woman, and always found it strange that a woman wrote the best biography of the warrior Grant. Now that I know he was a military man, I was nervous he would focus only on FDR as war hero. Yet that is just not the case. Smith's understanding of economics and finance rivals the best in that genre, perhaps it even exceeds them.

3. Smith hunts down some quotes that may not be new but which are unfamiliar and still perfect to the moment in the storyline. That is the best way to evidence that he does not force his research down the reader's throat. Every vignette seems to be there because it has a place.

4. Smith's Grant was so evocative in terms of covering his funeral so I actually read the last pages first. There this book disappoints, perhaps Smith should consider adding to the paperback version the same coverage of FDR's funeral as he did with Grant's.

5. Smith is also becoming a bit like McCulloch in that he does not make sweeping conclusions. He lets the story reveal the plot with few summary sentences. Smith in that sense has evolved since Grant, where he repeatedly paused to emphasize the importance of an event.

6. Finally, FDR is the greatest president since Abraham Lincoln and perhaps just as great as Washington. Finally he now has a biography that does him justice. Of course, the best biographies are always written about the underated presidents, which is why Truman and Adams biographies did so well, and that makes this biography doubly impressive. It succeeds despite the fact that it is written about a very well known president.

I'm concerned about the accuracy of the book........2007-06-20

The author writes that FDR lied about his contribution to Haiti's constituion in speeches he gave when he ran for VP. The author compares FDR's lies (or exaggerations) to Gore saying he invented the internet. Since Gore never said he invented the internet, a lie that has been debunked time and time again, it made me wonder whether the author was as dishonest about other "facts" in the book.

Unfortunately the author does not tell us what is meant here. It seems clear from the context that FDR did not write Haiti's constitution but did the author mean FDR did not SAY he wrote the constitution and hence everyone lied about what FDR said just like they lie about what Gore said?

I don't much trust people who either rewrite history or are so ill informed they don't know Gore never said he invented the internet.

FDR: He lifted himself from his wheelchair to lift this nation from its knees.......2007-06-19

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) is the greatest President of the United States in the twentieth century. He occupies a high ranking among our chief executives. This reviewer would put him in the same exalted realm as George Washington; Abraham Lincoln and his kinsman Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt faced two monumental dragons: the Great Depression and World War II. Like St. George he led this nation with compassionate brilliance in defeating the Depression. And like Richard the Lionhearted this foxy consummate politician led the US from isolationism to world power in World War II.

His story is told with clarity, wit, personal insights and great political science coverage of his administration. The historian who spells this tale is the eminent Jean Edward Smith. Smith's FDR is very readable, easy to comprehend and savor. The many pages of this biography are populated with such world figures as Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. Roosevelt more than held his own with these leaders.

Roosevelt grew up in great wealth in upstate New York. He attended Groton, Yale and Columbia Law School. Roosevelt could have spent his life in luxury as a country squire at Hyde Park. Instead he became a great public servant. He served as a State Senator in Albany; assistant secretary of the Navy in the Wilson Administration and Governor of New York from 1928-1932).

He was elected President of the US for a record four times! During the first 100 days of his presidency in 1933 his legislative record of achievement set a record which has never been matched. During his long tenure as chief executive FDR and the New Deal saw the birth of :

a. Social Security

b. Aid to the handicapped and infirm

c. The GI Bill of Rights opening the doors of academic life to the middle class and the poor.

d. Rural Electrification-such as the TVA which revolutionoized the South and brought electricity to rural homes.

e. Home Owners Loan Association

f. Federal Reserve backing of the dollar

g. Flood control

h. Putting people to work: notably the Civilian Conservation Corp.

i. National Youth Adminstratiion

j. Help for agriculture in the AAA

k. Strides made in Civil Rights for African-Americans

l. Moving the American military from the 16th Armed Forces in the world to the chief military power in the world in World War II.

Along the way he did make some mistakes such as trying to pack the Supreme Court with fans of his adminstration & putting Japanese citizens in internment camps during World War iI.

FDR had four powerful women in his life. His formidable mother Sarah Delano Roosevelt; his wife Eleanor who refused to sleep with him following his affair with his mistress Lucy Mercer Rutherford (the last face FDR

looked at prior to his death in Warm Springs, GA. on April 12, 1945) and

his faithful secretary Missy LeHand. He had four sons and a daughter Anna.

They often caused him trouble dealing with several divorces and alcoholic bouts.

Polio assaulted FDR in the summer of 1921. He would never walk without help but his courage is astounding! He developed the March of Dimes and the Warm Springs resort for those suffering from the disease. He is an inspiration to everyone who has suffered in life.

FDR was an inspired speaker; a media wise politician whose Fireside Chats made the typical American feel as if their President was visiting in their home and a crafty politician. Under Roosevelt the African-American community left the Republican party of Lincoln to become Democrats. He fourged links with citizens in big urban centers; ethnic minorities and the poor to restore hope in a time of great and overewhelming poverty, misery and despair.

As one who has read several books on FDR this Smith biography is my favorite. Smith shows FDR with all his warts, faults and lasting brilliance ini governing this nation. We will not see another FDR. We should remember him and the greatest generation he served for so peerlessly for so long and well!

FDR ='s GREATNESS........2007-06-15

This biography of one of America's greatest Presidents, is by far, the finest one I have read about the late President. With readable sweep and grandeur, Jean Edward Smith documents the life this American patrician who became one of the great advocates and movers on behalf of America's EVERYMAN.

With the now well known statement, that, "..the only thing we have to fear is fear itself...", FDR inaugurated a restructuring of the American political, social, financial, and economic landscape. This "re-democratizing" and "political activism" on behalf of the average American, was grander, more important, and more profound than those Progressive policies of FDR's distant cousin President Theodore Roosevelt. Those things our 21st Century society take for granted, i.e., Social Security, unemployment insurance, collective bargaining, minimum wage, et als., were the creatures of FDR's NEW DEAL.

A risk taker, with his fingers on the pulse of the American public, FDR molded federal policy that was designed to benefit the general population. Whether consciously, or un-consciously, FDR actualized the Constitution's Preamble, extending and redefining the terms. FDR and the New Deal took the single sentence of the Preamble, "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.", and breathed new life into it and the American ideal. With his vision and reinterpretation of the powers of the Presidency and the demands of the Preamble, he and his Congress transformed our nation into a modern state. The impact of his efforts still resound in our everyday lives. While there are those politicians who willingly and willfully are attempting to dismantle the social safety net al and economic advances of the New Deal, the greatness and common logic of the New Deal valiantly resist the selfish motivations of these political hacks, nihilists and Neo-Cons. Spewing their vile assertions that the past and current human existence is without objective meaning, purpose, comprehensible truth, or essential value, these petty and "mission-driven" Neo-Con nihilists are attempting to belittle, ridicule, and destroy the benefits derived by our society as a direct result of the New Deal and Roosevelt's vision. One need only review the egalitarian results of the New Deal, and compare them to the barren waste-land offered by these so-called "reformers" to understand their motives and the false promises offered by them.

FDR also led this nation through the most horrific world conflagration in human history. With a steady hand, the instincts of a fox, and the confidence of a winner, he harnessed the vast potential of our nation, led the free world to victory, and converted a 2nd rate power into the most powerful nation in the world.

These accomplishments took leadership and vision. Sadly, those qualities are not seen in our so-called political leadership today. We as a nation have settled for mediocrity as the standard of excellence. We have done so not by choice, but rather because true leaders have taken to shunning the political arena. And why?...perhaps because the new political arena has no sense of "right and wrong", limits, and the inability to distinguish what is of national importance and what is of little or no importance. Privacy and discretion have taken a back seat to the lurid and "marketable". The genius of FDR was that he was able to DEFINE the national issues, and EDUCATE the public regarding those issues through honest political debate and communication with the American public. Today?..Issues are defined by "focus groups" and politicians, (in the worst sense of the word), tailor their "opinions" to best position them for so-called success and "electability". They fail to lead, but rather follow the basest instincts of the public. Rather than educate, the politicians pander to the narrow-sightedness of these political fringes, and create a patch-work quilt of consensus through negativity rather than through VISION.

So where does that leave us today? By learning from the past we hopefully can more effectively define our future. Reading this magnificent biography and understanding what courage and leadership are will hopefully propel us to set our sites on genuine leadership and not the "sugar-fix" of media generated "stars" and "political leaders". If nothing else, reading this work will confirm for the reader what Presidential Greatness truly is.

Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship

Average customer rating:

An Excellent look at the friendship that shaped the modern world
Captivating Insights
Great read!
Friendship Forged in Crisis
A friendship that changed the fate of the world

Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship
Jon Meacham
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0812972821
Release Date: 2004-10-12

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:

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!!

Friendship Forged in Crisis.......2007-02-24

This is a remarkable dual biography that focuses primarily on the interactions and correspondence between these two great leaders against the backdrop of the tulmutuous events that they were both shaping and reacting to. Well researched and beautifully wrtitten , Meacham's book is historical writing at it's finest with both attention to little known details and an accessible and flowing style that entertains as well as informs.
Clearly the author has tremendous admiration for both men and is able to illuminate their characters by revealing them in relation to one another that adds great value to the numerous works available about each of them individually.
This is a book that any student of the WWII era cannot afford to miss.

A friendship that changed the fate of the world.......2007-02-14

This book was a very different choice for me, a avid reader but mainly a lover of fiction. In recent years, however, I've had an increased interest in memoirs as well as other books which focus on people in a historical context. Somewhat surprisingly, I became aware of this book through Body+Soul magazine; the article, which focused on increasing optimism, suggested that Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill were two of the most optimistic men ever to hold public office.

As the title suggests, FRANKLIN AND WINSTON is truly a story of friendship, not history. Of course, with the bulk of the book set against the backdrop of World War II, zeitgeist plays a clear role in the relationship between the two men, yet it is their intimate interpersonal connection which has the starring role of this book. Author Meacham provides portraits of both men individually (incorporating accounts from those closest to the two whenever possible, such as Churchill's daughter Mary Soames), but he focuses primarily on the interactions between them, at first via letters and other correspondence (an early chance meeting in 1918 was completely forgotten by Churchill), and later, via a series of planned meetings to strategize about the war.

Much of the first third of the book centers around Churchill's attempts to draw America--by way of Roosevelt--into what was very quickly becoming a second world war. Churchill comes across as both desperate and courageous, with his Britain refusing to bow down to Hitler while at the same time almost frantically seeking Roosevelt's assistance. Of course, after Pearl Harbor was attacked in December of 1941, this became a moot point, with Britain and America finally joining forces in an effort to defeat the Germans and the Japanese. Although the book does not focus on the war directly, it paints a truly grave picture of the state of the world at that time, thus completely justifying Churchill's desperation--but not without also conveying his eternal hopefulness.

Major events of the war are relegated mostly to the background here. For example, a frequent subject of the summits between Roosevelt and Churchill was the cross-channel invasion into France, but D-Day, when it occurs, is allotted only about three pages of text. However, this works well to serve the author's purpose--that is, to keep the spotlight on the two men themselves rather than the events which were surrounding them. The story continues right up until Roosevelt's death in April 1945 (unfortunately having never visited Churchill in his home country, a trip which had been planned for the following month) and comes to its final conclusion with Churchill's own death 20 years later (on the exact same date that his father had died 70 years before).

I am trilled to have found my way to this book, a truly amazing portrayal of two men at their best in the worst of times, perhaps the worst that this world has ever known. Highly recommended!

No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II

Average customer rating:

A glimpse of my grandparents
An Outstanding Read
Great story
Doris Kearns Goodwin delivers
Ordinary Account of an ordinarily rich politician

No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0671642405

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:

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.

An Outstanding Read.......2007-05-12

I first received a pre-publication copy of this book in 1995. I so enjoyed the narrative style of Kearns Goodwin and the compelling insights into the FDR White House I bought and shared copies of the hard-back with several friends. I was delighted when the book later won a Pulitzer Prize.
Doris Kearns Goodwin is a masterful storyteller and this soft-cover edition is an inexpensive opportunity to read one of the great history tales of the recent past.

Great story.......2007-05-07

My wife and I really enjoyed this CD. We heard Doris Kearns Goodwin speak at the Paramount theater in Oakland. Wonderful writer and speaker. One minor nit-picking complaint - the speaker mentioned FDR was able to keep several balls afloat. I suspect he meant to say he was able to keep several balls aloft.

Doris Kearns Goodwin delivers.......2007-02-27

I've you've read Doris Kearns Goodwin and enjoy her work, you don't need me to tell you what a good read this is. Her attention to detail is exhaustive and yet her delivery keeps you turning the pages. She has a way of going beyond the statistics and giving you a sense of who both Eleanor and Franklin really are. At 633 pages in length, it's not a short read you can take along to the beach. But if you have the time and the interest in the subject matter, it's worth reading.

Ordinary Account of an ordinarily rich politician.......2007-01-14

It's ok - It really wasn't what I expected, which would have been a narrative about FDR and the New Deal - I assumed that the title referred to the Depression. In typical Doris Kearns Goodwin fashion, it focuses on the elitist details - a life of a politician who vacationed in Campobello, his fat cat friends in the White House and Congress and his celebrity family friends - nothing about the struggles of ordinary soldiers or the little people whose lives were altered by FDR's wartime policies. To be honest, I spent more time reflecting on the life and values of the author than on the subject of the biography - what a pity.

FDR: The War President, 1940-1943: A History

Average customer rating:

An inscrutable mystery......
Hmmm
Our Century's Greatest President
FDR's Sins
Thoughtful and provocative

FDR: The War President, 1940-1943: A History
Kenneth S. Davis
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0679415424
Release Date: 2000-11-28

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.

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Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Russell Freedman
Manufacturer: Clarion Books
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 089919379X

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.

Day of Deceit: The Truth About FDR and Pearl Harbor

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What is the truth?
9/11--The New Pearl Harbor
Disturbing
A Review of Someof the Reviews.
What our government doesn't want us to know

Day of Deceit: The Truth About FDR and Pearl Harbor
Robert Stinnett
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ASIN: 0684853396

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:

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!

What our government doesn't want us to know.......2006-07-29

This book is eye opening in many respects.

Rumors have swirled for many years about what our government may have known about Pearl Harbor. Robert Stinnett lays out the case that we have been deceived in an overwhelming display of evidence that any critical thinking person can not ignore.

This book may serve as a gateway to understand how our government really works, and that there are forces in our government that will go to great lengths to deceive the citizens of this country.

If we fast forward to today, the official version of what happened on 9/11 seems eerily familiar to Pearl Harbor, where the official story was incompetence, incompetence, incompetence. Can what we learned about Pearl Harbor shed some light as to what might have happened on 9/11?

The Crisis of the Old Order: 1919-1933, The Age of Roosevelt, Volume I (The Age of Roosevelt)

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Enlightening and Readable History
Bancroft Award Winner for History. Classic on FDR's New Deal

The Crisis of the Old Order: 1919-1933, The Age of Roosevelt, Volume I (The Age of Roosevelt)
Jr.", Arthur M. "Schlesinger
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Age of Jackson (Back Bay Books (Series))

ASIN: 0618340858

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.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion Of Freedom

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FDR in War and Peace
A Great Book About A Great Man !!!
The plot to overthrow FDR
Buy an electronic dictionary...
The best biography of FDR so far.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion Of Freedom
Conrad Black
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Binding: Paperback

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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:

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.

Buy an electronic dictionary..........2007-02-14

...to have at your side if you need it to completely understand the following sentence: "Murphy, more than anyone else, confected this malodorous Algerian political bouillabaisse." The man has an extensive vocabulary!

The scope of this work is very impressive. The low markes given by some readers include:
1. Too long - Which excludes the top rank historical works on Lincoln and Washington.
2. Contains conjecture - Illustrates the critic's minimalists understanding of history as a hard science, which it isn't, of course.
3. Unlikely biographer - How dare a non-certified professional biographer write a viable work!
4. "Inelligent" (?) Mix of pop- and academic history - so what? The reader can ferret out the pop.

It is a substantial work, easy to read (enjoying the occasional use of a dictionary), and enlightening. Compared to Goodwin's <No Ordinary Time>, this piece is, in one reader's opinion, far superior, and shows every indication of having all been written by the author.

The best biography of FDR so far........2007-02-07

It's as close to living in FDR's head as you can get.

The Coming of the New Deal: 1933-1935, The Age of Roosevelt, Volume II (The Age of Roosevelt)

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Franklin Roosevelt: A Great Man

The Coming of the New Deal: 1933-1935, The Age of Roosevelt, Volume II (The Age of Roosevelt)
Jr.", Arthur M. "Schlesinger
Manufacturer: Mariner Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0618340866

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.

Affectionately, F. D. R: A son's story of a courageous man

Average customer rating:

Affectionately, F. D. R: A son's story of a courageous man
James Roosevelt
Manufacturer: Greenwood Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: 0837183294

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