Book Description

A brilliant and provocative biography of Franklin Roosevelt--written by a leading newspaper publisher and staunch conservative.

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. Elected to four terms as president, he transformed an inward-looking country into the greatest superpower the world had ever known. Only Abraham Lincoln did more to save America from destruction. But FDR is such a large figure that historians tend to take him as part of the landscape, focusing on smaller aspects of his achievements or carping about where he ought to have done things differently. Few have tried to assess the totality of FDR's life and career.

Conrad Black rises to the challenge. In this magisterial biography, Black makes the case that FDR was the most important person of the twentieth century, transforming his nation and the world through his unparalleled skill as a domestic politician, war leader, strategist, and global visionary--all of which he accomplished despite a physical infirmity that could easily have ended his public life at age thirty-nine. Black also takes on the great critics of FDR, especially those who accuse him of betraying the West at Yalta. Black opens a new chapter in our understanding of this great man, whose example is even more inspiring as a new generation embarks on its own rendezvous with destiny. ... Read more

Reviews (23)

FDR: Champion of Freedom: Polio Victim gets USA going!
Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his New Dealers put America back to work; gave millions hope in desperate dustbowl days and won our greatest War against Hitler and Japan. As our greatest 20th century President he is well served by this superb biography by publisher Conrad Black. Black a Canadian and conservative has portrayed in this length 10000 page tome a brilliant portrayal of the private FDR; his complex relationship with his mother Sarah and his socially liberal wife Eleanor as well as all the politcal maneuvering needed by the great man to transform isolationist America into the mighty fortress of freedom enabling the forces of freedom to defeat Fascism and the Japanese.
Black's book is readable, countains a well of anecdotes yet also includes all the details of the great 12 years (1933-45_ our longest service chief exectuvie served our land.
This book will be essential to FDR studies for years to come. My advice is to read the book slowly absorbing all the incredible

events of the crucial days of the Great Depression and World War II.
As an admitted liberal and lifelong Democrat I am proud to belong to a party whose chief was FDR! "Happy Days are here again" when the reader and Black meet in this essential biography.

Praised Book on the Champion of Freedom - FDR
In "The Time 100 - the Most Important People of the Century," Franklin Delano Roosevelt is ranked the runner-up most important person of the century - second only to Albert Einstein. Roosevelt is a giant of world history.

On the back cover of this fine book by Conrad Black are these comments about this book by CONSERVATIVE intellectuals I generally admire:

George F. Will: "Conrad Black skillfully assembles powerful arguments to support strong and sometimes surprising judgements. This spirited defense of Roosevelt as a savior of America's enterprise system, and geopolitical realist, is a delight to read."

John Lukacs: "Conrad Black's FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT is extraordinary. It is something different from the dim and flickering lamp of academic retrospect. A new - and generous - light is poured on its subject: an illumination directed by a conviction of Roosevelt's place in the history of an entire century."

William F. Buckley Jr.: "An enormous accomplishment, a learned volume on FDR by a vital critical mind, which will absorb critics and the reading public."

Henry Kissinger: "No Biography of Roosevelt is more thoughtful and readable. None is as comprehensive."

I really enjoyed Conrad Black's writing style, which adds life to the words with his own colorful descriptors. This is the best single-volume biography of FDR. He presents an accurate and living picture of Roosevelt in his presidency and not a dry summary of the events. For example, I chuckled when Black says that FDR correctly judged Hitler to be the real concern while Mussolini was, in comparison, a buffoon.

My own criticism of the book is that it skips over the human suffering of the period. The Great Depression was devestating. I suggest the book "The Grapes of Wrath" or any of the many documentaries on the Great Depression.

Read this book and you will get to know and appreciate President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. You may not agree with some things, but you will at least understand FDR in the context of the times.

The world was in depression. America was in the Great Depression and heading to what would have been, without Roosevelt's intervention, a complete collapse of America's economic system. Capitalism and democracy fell out of favor around the world. Hitler and other dictators came to power around the world, and radicals gained followers in America. This climaxed in the clash of World War II.

The world we live today in is not a world of Hitler's Third Reich and fascism. It is not a world of Stalinism. It is not a world of colonial empires. It is not a world of radical laissez-faire capitalism. It is a world of Roosevelt's pragmatic ideas for a more stable economy and international security.

Roosevelt was a great president for everyone, and his ideas today seem very pragmatic and sensible. It is refreshing that several notable conservatives have had the guts to praise this book for what it is - a very good book about a great president.

Well Written. Makes a Strong Case for Roosevelt's Greatness
I give this book the highest recommendation for anyone with an interest in Roosevelt, American History, or World History. I have been reading about history and decided to read about Roosevelt, since he was a great president. I compared reviews and decided on this big book and am glad that I did. Black is talanted with his writing and very amusing at times, which was refreshing considering that this is a very long and thorough book. Roosevelt emerged to me as both a charming person and a shrewd president for good causes, like bringing America out of isolation to save the world from Hitler. His skills and legacies make modern politicians look like preschoolers.

Black writes that Roosevelt is not as admirable of a person as his admirers think because he was egoistic, could be difficult, and was very shrewd and dominating with his power. Roosevelt was a Machiavellian figure in some ways. Yet Black says that Roosevelt was far more admirable for what he did for America and the world than even his admirers may realize. Here Black unfolds the details (and there are many details) that show Roosevelt's greatness.

This review below that I found on the Internet stuck with me as best reflecting my own thoughts, and it carries more expertise than my humble review can offer:

"FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT Champion of Freedom. By Conrad Black. Reviewed by Alan Brinkley, New York Times. Friday, November 28, 2003.

"It will come as something of a surprise to those familiar with Conrad Black as the powerful and energetic head of a large newspaper publishing empire that he has also managed to write an ambitious biography of Franklin Roosevelt, nearly 1,300 pages long.

"It may also come as a surprise to those who know of the generally conservative politics of Lord Black (who resigned last week as chief executive of his company, Hollinger International, but not as its chairman, during a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation) that he reveres Roosevelt as the greatest American of the 20th century, perhaps of any century, and the most important international leader of modern times.

"However unexpected, this enormous book is also one of the best one-volume biographies of Roosevelt yet. It is not particularly original, has no important new revelations or interpretations and is based mostly on secondary sources (and rather old ones at that). But it tells the remarkable story of Roosevelt's life with an engaging eloquence and with largely personal and mostly interesting opinions about the people and events he is describing. Black's enormous admiration for Roosevelt is based on many things. He reveres what he calls Roosevelt's great courage and enormous skill in moving the United States away from neutrality and first toward active support of Britain and China in the early years of World War II and then toward full intervention. He admires Roosevelt's skill in managing the war effort and his deftness in handling the diplomacy that accompanied it.

"He sees Roosevelt, even more than Churchill, as the architect of a postwar world that for half a century worked significantly better than the prewar world of catastrophic conflicts and economic disasters. Roosevelt, he argues, helped legitimize democracy in the eyes of the world and created alliances and relationships that maintained a general peace through the rest of the 20th century. Churchill, once the war was essentially won, became a futile defender of the dying British empire.

"Roosevelt, in the last months before his death, was promoting a very different vision of world order based on international organizations and national self-determination (even if with great power supervision). Of the major political leaders of the age of World War II, Black writes, "Roosevelt was the only one with a strategic vision that was substantially vindicated in the 50 years following the Second World War."

"Black is also a stalwart defender of the New Deal. His defense is not simply the selective approval that many conservatives give to the way it saved capitalism and ensured the primacy of free markets. Black admires it all: Social Security, the Wagner Act, farm subsidies, securities regulation, wage and price legislation, even Roosevelt's almost incendiary oratory in 1936 welcoming hatred of the forces of power and greed.

"He expresses gingerly criticism of Roosevelt's reluctance to move aggressively to combat segregation, of his support of Japanese-American internment and his relatively modest response to the Holocaust, and of his occasional poor judgment in the people he trusted. (He is particularly contemptuous of Henry A. Wallace, but no more so than of conservative figures like Breckinridge Long, the genteel anti-Semite who obstructed the granting of American visas to European Jews in the late 1930s.)

"Despite these and other reservations, Black never departs from his overall judgment of Roosevelt, perhaps best illustrated in his use of a quotation from Churchill as a chapter title: "He Is the Greatest Man I Have Ever Known."

"While Black may not be the best chronicler of any single aspect of Roosevelt's life, and while he may offer little that scholars don't already know, he has created a powerful and often moving picture of the life as a whole. Truly great men inspire many exceptional biographies, and this is not the first or last for Roosevelt. But it is a worthy and important addition to the vast literature on the most important modern American leader."

Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom
Newspaper tycoon Black praises former President Roosevelt for having the clearest strategic vision of the major world leaders during World War II and for using "political legerdemain" in using war to end the Great Depression and save democratic capitalism. FDR emerges in these pages, primarily devoted to his four terms in the White House, as the consummate skilled politician and among the U.S.'s greatest presidents. He also gives Roosevelt credit for having laid the groundwork for the Cold War and enabling his successors to "liberate Eastern Europe."

A balanced and favorable account
I don't know of a better one-volume biography of FDR. Geoffrey Ward's two volumes, Before the Trumpet, and A First-Class Temperament are better written and more carefully researched, but they only take his life to 1928. This book relies on secondary sources mostly, and its footnoting is unhelpful--the footnotes just tell what secondary source the author got the information from. I have not read the multi-volume works of Frank Friedel and Kenneth Davis, but they are referred to a lot in the footnotes to this book and no doubt are more carefully researched. Yet I thought reading this worthwhile, and its overall assessment of FDR's accomplishments rings very true. George Will and Bill Buckley, Jr., and Henry Kissinger supplied blurbs for the jacket, which more hidebound Republicans, clinging to GOP attitudes during Roosevelt's Administrations would not, I presume, do. Black's assessment of FDR's performance at Teheran and Yalta ably refutes some of the old Republican canards re same, and make for good reading. All in all, I thought the time spent reading this nice big book was well spent. There are a few errors, and I mention two: on page 233 Black refers to Senator Harry Flood Byrd as a Virginia favorite son candidate at the 1932 Democratic National Conventio--but at the time Byrd was not yet a Senator; and on page 792 Black says Admiral Darlan's funeral in Algiers on Dec 26, 1942, was attended by the "Cardinal-Primate" of Africa, but there was no Cardinal in Africa in 1942, much less a Cardinal-Primate. The book does have a good 25-page bibliography. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

High tide
Some people claim that Arthur Schlesinger wrote the definative history of the New Deal and FDR back in the 1950s. These same people probably are unfamiliar with this wonderful book by Kenneth Davis.

This is not just a history of the period of 1933-37, but an extended mediatation on how we are a nation are going to respond to the changes brought about by industrialization.

Do not be put off by this last statement because Davis is an excellent writer, historian and philosopher. The best part of this book deals with how social security came to be shaped in the form that it finally was. How all manner of elements came together for the legislation to be written. It is just remarkable.

Davis is evenhanded in this book and in the series as a whole. He identifies FDR's triumphs but at the same time is willing to be critical when he feels the actions warrent it.

Davis and his series have been recognized repeatedly although I believe that they probably were not given the praise that this series deserved. They are simply the best thing to be written on FDR by a historian.

Past is future
This really is a remarkable book and outstanding contribution to FDR scholarship. All of the books in this series are probably the best books on the life and times of Franklin Roosevelt, but I think this is one is the best.

In this, the second volume in the series Davis explores just how much of the early stages of FDR's presidency owed to his career as governor, how his concerns as governor of the state of New York were later transfered from Albany to Washington. Concerns with conservation and the power monopolies in these years were later to serve as the springboard for a number of New Deal initiatives.

Anyone wishing to learn more about the greatest president of the 20th century should look no further than this series of books by Mr. Davis. Sadly, Mr. Davis did not live to bring the series to its logical conclusion in 1945. Had he done so, this would be the definative study of FDR. As things are, it is likely to be the best biography for many years to come, despite some problems with vol. 4 and its premature conclusion.

The Man Behind the New Deal
I bought this book on a flyer in 1987, read it once and put it on the shelf. During a televised Clinton address from the Oval Office, I noticed on the credenza behind him "FDR: The New Deal Years" in its distinctive silver and red jacket. Well, if its good enough for the White House...so I read it again, and now understand why it stood on the President's desk. It's an outstanding work of narrative history. Volume one was awarded the Francis Parkman Prize, but this is clearly the next best in Davis's monumental five volumes on FDR and his times. It is a lively depiction of the New Deal and its famous characters, including Louis Howe, Harry Hopkins, the Brain Trust, Eleanor and Sara Delano all orbiting around the Sun King FDR. It is also an excellent analysis of how outright revolution was avoided and our capitalist system preserved in the darkest hours. But most of all it is an enjoyably facinating portrait of the man who everyone wanted to be near but almost no one, not even Eleanor, really knew. ... Read more

Book Description

Featuring highlights of 15 Major Speeches given by FDR.Includes his riveting take-charge Inaugural Address, the Declaration of War, memorable fireside chats, the war-time Christmas-Eve message, the solemn D-Day Prayer and more. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great Book!
This is a great book. FDR may be a favorite of yours or not, regardless his speeches desereve to be read. FDR was an inspirational speaker who moved the masses with his words. He has left us with many timeless and priceless quotes that can be found in the speeches featured in this book. I would highly recommend this book to any one looking for a boost in confidence. FDR's words make you feel like anything is possible. Remember "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself". ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (7)

The Good Brief Book on Roosevelt
This is a very good brief introduction to Roosevelt, and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting a brief understanding of Roosevelt. Being written by a man from Britain, it also shows how the world views him - as one of the most important leaders in world history. You will not acquire a thorough understanding of FDR by reading this book. For that I would suggest "Champion of Freedom" by Conrad Black or the two-volume biography by James MacGregor Burns "The Lion and the Fox" and "Soldier of Freedom."

In response to Mister Syzek, my understanding is that Stalin broke his promises and controlled Poland despite the agreements made. Stalin was determined to control Poland no matter what, so Poland was never really on the table.

Franklin Roosevelt was a geopolitical realist, and the reality is that the Soviet armies controlled Eastern Europe and Poland. Stalin de facto controlled Poland. The American people had no enthusiasm for yet another world war againt Russia. They wanted their soldiers home. Maybe you should ask the American people why they were not willing to suffer 5 million killed for Poland.

You see, in America you must deal with these pesky things called voters and democracy.

So Roosevelt extracted what he could from Stalin: firm promises of elections and a free Poland. Roosevelt got everything he wanted from Yalta and was very sneaky to be able to get Stalin to promise even that.

To complicate the matter, the Soviet Union took the brunt of the war (17 million dead), and Stalin was rigidly determined to secure a buffer between Mother Russia and Western Europe. Stalin would not have budged on his goal.

So what Roosevelt obtained from Stalin was the best he could obtain - firm promises from Stalin to hold elections. It was Stalin who broke his promises. That made the Soviet Union look like the bad guy.

Truman then waged the Cold War (without the millions of dead from a hot war) leading to an eventual liberation of Eastern Europe. It's no surprise that Reagan was a huge fan of Roosevelt, voted for him four times, and attended his third inauguration (a moving event for Reagan). Reagan then brought an end to the Cold War without firing a shot.

You may be able to criticize Truman for not liberating Eastern Europe while American had a monopoly on the atomic bomb... or Eisenhower. Then again, maybe the path Truman took was wise. Maybe Roosevelt would have done things differently. We will never know because he died.

What we do know is that he extracted promises from Stalin, which he later broke.

I just want to stress that Stalin was determined to have Poland, no matter what. Please look at Stalin's goals and determination. The Russian armies took Poland on the way to Germany, and there was nothing Roosevelt could do about that. Here FDR was a realist.

At the same time, Roosevelt was an idealist in the Wilsonian tradition when realistic. He believed in the free determination of free people, but he was also realistic. For example, he essentially pushed for an end to world colonialism in his design for the post-war world. Churchill opposed this but he could do nothing about it. The British empire was too weak.

By the way, Poland was not even a country at the start of World War One and was viewed by some in a similar way to the Baltic States of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Should American have gone to war over the Baltic States?

This fine little book is a fine introduction to Roosevelt. It is the best brief book on Roosevelt.

If you want a more detailed study of Roosevelt's foreign policy then read Robert Dallek's Bancroft Prize-winning "Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Foreign Policy." My opinion pales in comparison.

FDR
Two points: Where was FDR when Poland, then Britain were on their knees and being devastated? The second point, Poland and her fate were minimized in what was an altogether too short a book to deal with such a significant figure, and the impact that he had upon our world. The United States and Britain betrayed Poland to Russian Communist control. The victim of Nazi Germany became again the victim of Soviet Communist domination, through the appeasement of Stalin by Churchill & FDR at Yalta and the "sphere of influence" power politics of the time. The U.S. and Britain sacrificed an expendable Poland to gain time and space for their own retaliation against Germany. They failed to recognize Russia's sinister motives in overplaying the "Lend-Lease" card, without consideration of the consequences.
FDR was a great domestic President, with little knowledge of, or appreciation for, foreign policy in other countries like Poland, whose contribution to Nazi defeat was enormous. Try reading the point of view of Poland, in "A Question of Honor". I would rate that book "six stars"!

An Elegant Little Life
Roy Jenkins, the prolific biographer of British Prime Ministers Gladstone and Churchill (as well as American President Harry Truman), died early last year, before this slim biography of Franklin Delano Roosevelt was completed. But even in its flawed state (it was completed by Richard E. Neustadt), this is an impressive book by an author of great knowledge and erudition that illuminates in intriguingly quirky ways the epochal life of its subject.

Jenkins was an Englishman active in Labour politics for half a century, and his is a very British take on Roosevelt's life, which both works and doesn't work to Jenkins' advantage. It is always problematic when an author is not of the same nationality as the person he's writing about (William Manchester's still-to-be-completed biography of Churchill, for example, was much criticized by the British). Where Jenkins gains in giving us a new perspective on a oft-told tale, he sometimes loses in dragging in references to the subjects of his previous books (an occupational hazard of the prolific biographer) or comparing some American political situation to its British equivalent when the comparison is tenuous at best.

Some of his more British asides are lost on the average American reader (as when he opines that the style and appearance of Groton, the prep school that Roosevelt attended, supposedly an imitation of Eton, "were much more like Cheltenham's or Marlborough's"). Also, because the author died before he had the chance to read proof, the text is not as precise as it might have been had the author lived longer (there is at least one sentence that defeats my attempt to make sense of it grammatically - it starts on the 19th line of page 73 and begins with the words "In consequence...").

These reservations aside, I am impressed with Jenkins' ability to take a long and complicated life and condense it into the brief span of this American Presidents series, while still making it comprehensible. The shelves of libraries groan under the weight of the F.D.R. biographies out there, but if you're looking for a concise life that tells the story of the 32nd President from a unique point of view, you might want to try this book before tackling one of the heftier volumes.

An excellent final book for a quality biographer.
The author, in this his final book, is British with an illustrious career as a biographer of such figures as Gladstone, Churchill, and Truman. He also served in his country's ministry. At first glance, it may seem controversial to assign to a foreigner the task of writing about one of America's greatest presidents. However, Lord Jenkins gives a perspective of Roosevelt without the tint of American politics.

It is amazing and disturbing to me the amount of enmity that some in this country express towards Roosevelt, bordering on delusional. What Roosevelt did for this country cannot be adequately expressed in a short biography, or in any book. Much of his pre-war accomplishments translated into an emotion of hope and optimism that moved to a sense of security during the war years.

The author addresses and logically dismisses the paranoid charges that either Roosevelt and/or Churchill allowed Pearl Harbor to occur. As one who lived in Britain during the war, he demonstrates Roosevelt's importance to freeing the world of fascism, and unsettling Churchill's colonialist interests. Fanatical right wingers condemn Roosevelt for the Yalta agreement's failure to rid Poland of the Soviets. The author (actually the co-author who wrote the last few pages after the main author's death) notes that neither Roosevelt or Churchill are at fault since Stalin was already in full control of Poland with no intention of peacefully moving.

My only criticism is the abruptness in which Eleanor Roosevelt is left out of the story. Of course, Mrs. Roosevelt is deserving of her own book that is not the point of this presidential series.

It is a shame that more people will not read this book. I recently wrote a review of the NY Times plagiarist Jayson Blair's book and that received a few dozen responses. This is perhaps my fourth or fifth review of an American President series book and the total responses number only a handful. I reason that much more can be gotten out of reading quality biographies of worthy individuals than concerning ourselves with an immature nobody.

Nice Compact Biography
* Roy Jenkins' FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT (FDR) provides a short biography of
Franklin Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States. Jenkins traces
through FDR's upbringing as the only child of the domineering Sara Roosevelt;
his ambiguous relationship with his wife Eleanor, who was actually a niece
several times removed; and his rise in politics.

Jenkins paints FDR as the perfect politician, charismatic and charming,
something of an opportunist and a fence-straddler. Roosevelt was never a
very healthy man, possibly an effect of a sheltered upbringing, and he was
crippled by polio in 1921. However, he had a certain energy that made him
seem much more vital than he really was, the public impression of him summed
up in popular cartoons of him with a raised jaw, a self-assured smile, and a
cigarette in a holder clenched in his teeth.

That energy got him the governorship of New York State twice, confounding
those who thought he was a lightweight or could be manipulated, and then four
terms as President of the United States. There is little doubt that he was
one of the great American presidents, but true to his nature as a perfect
politician there was often less than met the eye in his actions. He was
certainly devious, but he was so good at it that it sometimes seemed like an
outright virtue. He generally wanted to do the right things, but sometimes
his methods for getting from here to there didn't bear too much close
inspection.

He was also certainly hated, particularly by the upper crust, who regarded
him as a traitor to his class. His efforts to help the common people gave
him the popularity to defy this hatred. He was also quick to denounce the
rise of authoritarian regimes abroad, but until war actually came denouncing
was almost all he did. He promised to keep the US out of war, but in 1940
began Lend-Lease, the name itself being a cover for what amounted to a pure
military assistance program to Britain, and then ordered the US Navy to
escort cargo vessels to mid-Atlantic to protect them from Hitler's U-boats,
characterizing this exercise with characteristic clever doubletalk as
"neutrality patrols".

There are those who believe that FDR actually knew about Pearl Harbor ahead
of time and let it happen to ensure that America would get into the fighting,
but Jenkins makes the case (not too hard to do) that this is nonsense. Pearl
Harbor was still convenient in that respect, and it was even more convenient
when Hitler, angry over Lend-Lease and the "neutrality patrols", declared war
on the US a few days later. In any case, FDR spent the war giving his people
free reign to conduct a mighty war effort and presiding over an uneasy Allied
alliance. Jenkins argues that only FDR had the stature to take such a
leadership position.

When FDR died in April 1945, the nation mourned, though he still remains to
an extent a controversial figure. Certainly his considerable expansion of
government involvement in American society has proven over the long run a
mixed blessing. In fact, the argument over the proper role of government in
society is one of the most important issues in American politics today.

Jenkin's FDR is a very tidy little biography, only about 175 pages long, and
mostly focused on FDR's political life. Those after dirt about his marriage
and his affairs will not get much out of this book. The fact that Jenkins
was a Britisher (he died of a heart attack just before completing this book)
and a member of parliament gives a bit of an interesting flavor to the work,
for example with Jenkins describing politicals dealing from the point of view
of someone who was clearly familiar with such things personally.

I will often say, if not exactly complain, that most biographies and
historical works give me more information than I need, but in the case of
Jenkin's FDR I would have liked to have seen maybe about 25 to 50 more pages
of anecdotal material, FDR's life having plenty of good stories to mine for
such things. However, that said, I have to recommend this little book as a
fine introduction to the fascinating, inspiring, complicated, and somewhat
shifty FDR. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The fifth volume of Kenneth S. Davis's magisterial, much-praisedbiography follows FDR from his re-election to an unprecedented third term inNovember 1940 through New Year's Eve, 1942, when he screened a brand-new film,Casablanca, at the WhiteHouse. During the intervening 25 months, President Roosevelt prepared areluctant nation for the war that he knew was coming, then struggled to maintainthe government's commitment to his New Deal social programs, as well as theconflict overseas. Like its predecessors, this installment combines shrewd,intimate psychological insights into Roosevelt's character with a sweepinghistorical narrative of world events and a superbly detailed account ofWashington political maneuvers--all three laid out in grave, elegant prose.Perhaps Davis's most notable achievement lies in tracing the links between FDR'spersonality and his leadership style: the unexpected benefits of his maddeningindecisiveness, his ability to use even his crippling physical handicap topolitical advantage, the way in which the adult president cemented personal andprofessional ties with the evasive charm that he developed in adolescence todefend himself against a smothering mother. Admirers of serious yet accessiblebiography can regret only that the author's death in 1999 means that there willbe no concluding volume to this magnificent series, which has shed so much lighton one of the more complex men ever to inhabit the White House. --WendySmith ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Our Century's Greatest President
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
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
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.

A good -- if cranky -- biography of FDR
Kenneth Davis (b. 1912) dedicated the last thirty years to his multi-volume biography of FDR. The current volume takes the story up to 1943 and there will be no concluding account, due to the author's death in 1999.

Davis, a skeptical admirer of the elusive FDR, has axes to grind. It is a pet thesis of his throughout the biography that humankind's technical wizardry has run far ahead of his social skills and that the result has been disaster. Humanity creates weaponry (e.g. nuclear weapons), the destructive potential of which exceed its political maturation. This is an historical cliche. Fortunately, such jejune "analysis" does not interfere with the narration: it is just the author's hobby horse.

Davis also believes that the great bane of the 20th century was the growth in private corporate power. He is, in this sense, a real New Dealer. His railings against Big Business would not be out of place at a Ralph Nader rally. He is skeptical of the great industrialists, such as Henry Kaiser, whose organizational skills are often credited with helping to win the war of production. For Davis, the capitalists simply feathered their nests and then extended their stranglehold on the economy into the postwar world. This, too, is pretty much a cliche and one that Davis does little to document.

The author does a good job at catching the president's shifty character and political opportunism. Observers sometimes wondered if there was a real FDR, or if he was all just sleight of hand. Davis also revels in the personal gossip that accompanied FDR's presidency, the most entertaining we ever had except for, perhaps, that of Bill Clinton.

The author grinds a few other axes, as well, in his analysis of Roosevelt's war presidency. He is convinced that the USA could, and should, have intervened earlier in the war. That it did not resulted, he claims, in the extended tragedy of 1939-45. This is unfair. Roosevelt was well-aware of the dangers posed by the Axis. However, he was also well-aware of the fiasco of Woodrow Wilson's postwar leadership and the corrosive skepticism of the public toward European politics. FDR tried, in the famous "Quarantine Speech," to move America toward some sort of collective security -- and the result was a political firestorm. As president of a democracy, FDR held no brief to shoehorn the United States into a war not wanted by its own people. (The subsequent lesson of LBJ should convince us of that.)

But, the Holocaust is the issue on which Davis really gets ahead of his evidence. He is adamant that FDR should have done something about it -- but has no idea what. In fact, the murder of the Jews was a tragedy that the United States was helpless to prevent or even mitigate. Consider, for instance, that nearly half the murdered Jews were killed by roving German killer squads in the vastness of the wartime USSR. What, precisely, could FDR do about that? There are many other such examples. The heart, understandably, cries out against the horror of the crime -- but a cri de coeur is not analysis. Until 1943, the allies were losing the European war. They were not in a position to do much of anything.

Davis has some rare harsh words for George Marshall, whom he accuses at one point of duplicity. Marshall's towering reputation, however, survives intact. Davis is, likewise, hard on Henry Stimson, whose integrity he doubts -- but doesn't tell us why.

The book is extensively detailed and reads well. Some editing would have useful as it simply meanders too much. This, however, may be a function of the writer's death, which may have robbed him of the full editing process.

There is more verve in this extended biography than in the late Frank Freidel's rather wooden account of FDR. There is, as well, less hagiography than in Schlesinger's mutli-volume account of the New Deal. FDR is, perhaps, our most fascinating president and certainly far and away the greatest of the twentieth-century. He is,in fact, the ONLY great one of the past hundred years. And, this is a good account.

Finally, Eleanor recedes somewhat into the shadows here, and that is all to the good. Compassionate, she was. But, FDR was in charge, not Eleanor. She is an icon of the feminist movement and this leads current histories to over-rate her influence. She was an attractive nag -- but not Roosevelt's conscience. He, and he alone, was the soul of the New Deal. The same was true of the war years. Harry Hopkins was the real alter ego. Davis gets this exactly right.

Davis is a biased Historian
I had picked up this book at a local bookstore out of the respect I felt for FDR, but I found this book extremely disappointing, sketchy in facts, and to top it all Davis is an attrocious writer.

But what shattered me the most was page 466 of this book. On this page, the elegant sophisticated westernized and secular Mr Jinnah the founder of Pakistan is portrayed as a fanatical Muslim Leader. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Mr Jinnah was called the best ambassador of Hindu Muslim Unity by none other Mr Gandhi. Indeed, he had struggled the most to keep religion out of politics. Mr Gandhi's Hindu Revivalism was what forced Mr Jinnah to opt for a seperate homeland. Obstinacy of Mr Nehru, and out and out fanaticism of Veersavarkar didnot help either. Nevertheless point stands, Mr Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, was a secular Minded man, and a leader free of communal bias. To read more about this topic, I suggest Stanley Wolpert's Jinnah of Pakistan and Hector Bolitho's Jinnah.

Now here is quote from Mr Jinnah's inaugural speech to Pakistan's constituent assembley. Judge for yourself how stupid Davis's absurd claim is :

You are FREE- You are free to go to your temples. You are free to go to your mosques or anyother place of worship in this state of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion caste or creed- That has nothing to do with the business of the state. ... Read more

Book Description

No Ordinary Time is a monumental work, a brilliantly conceived chronicle ofone of the most vibrant and revolutionary periods in the history of the UnitedStates.With an extraordinary collection of details, Goodwin masterfully weavestogether a striking number of story lines--Eleanor and Franklin's marriage andremarkable partnership, Eleanor's life as First Lady, and FDR's White House andits impact on America as well as on a world at war.Goodwin effectively meldsthese details and stories into an unforgettable and intimate portrait of Eleanor andFranklin Roosevelt and of the time during which a new, modern America wasborn. ... Read more

Reviews (80)

An Unprecedented Account of the Roosevelts and Their Time
No Ordinary Time presents a compelling social history of both Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and the development of American society during the war years. Both are exposed for their flaws and both are extolled for their virtues. Doris Kearns Goodwin interweaves an impressive array of primary resource material in chronicalling international and domestic developments. For example, the emotional ups and downs of the Allied war effort are counterposed with excerpts from the diary of Nazi propaganda leader Joseph Goebbels. The progressive views and policies of the Roosevelt administration are aptly pitted with letters to the White House demonstrating the stubborn racism and apathy of many in WWII American society. In the end, Goodwin paints an illustrative picture of both the Roosevelts and their time -- with wonderful accounts of events and attitudes that will surprise a number of readers.

Because of Goodwin's approach, the book is equally valuable for what is says about the Roosevelts as what it says about American society during WWII. The Roosevelt marraige is displayed in all its beauty and ugliness. Goodwin aptly demonstrates the irony of the live of the Roosevelts: while they strove ceaselessly to improve the lives of every Amercian, they often manipulated and harmed the very people closest to them, especially each other.

At the same time, through splendid research and organization, Goodwin follows America's attitudes on such varied subjects as race, gender equality, labor relations, politics, and the war production effort. No item of domestic concern seems overlooked. In her portrayal of domestic developments, Goodwin chronicles the true beginning of modern American society. And once again, as with her descriptions of the Roosevelts, Goodwin does not hesitate to present American society in all its glory and shame. The wonders of American ingenuity and dedication are countered with the ugliness of the Japanese-American internments and racial biases.

Goodwin's account is simply a unique piece of history. While most authors would be unable to portray either the Roosevelts or American society in such brilliant detail, Goodwin pulls both off together in a seemless and impressive account. It is no wonder that this book won the Pulitzer Prize.

A Fascinating Portrait of FDR & Eleanor and Their Times!
Once again Doris Kearns Goodwin pulls the elusive hare from the historical hat! I have been a fan of hers since reading "Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream" well over twenty years ago, and after all this time and reading a number of her books, I never cease to wonder at her incredible creative abilities, at her sheer profundity with language, nuance, and always choosing the right word to cast her narrative into exactly the right mode and string the reader along the trail of her entertaining and informative story line. This time out she tackles the single most fascinating period of modern American history, those critical years between the onset of the Depression and the end of World War Two.

Here she has chosen to thread her way through both the public and private lives and times of the Roosevelts in the throes of their four successive administrations between 1932 and 1945, in the throes of what was undoubtedly the most momentous and critical period in modern American history. Her powerful prose style lends itself magnificently to the task at hand in terms of describing the principals and the social surround masterfully, and the reader is swept into the waves and eddies of the period, sitting in the catbird's seat as Goodwin describes both the intricacies of FDR's administration and their uneasy, unconventional, and unusual marriage. This is an extremely well researched, insightful and thoughtful study of two enormously complex people at the peaks of the intellectual, social, and political powers, in the midst of a socio-political maelstrom of historical proportions.

As described by Goodwin, both Eleanor and FDR become figures of almost Biblical proportions; modern titans committed both to the nation as well as to each other. Yet these two were in many ways living separate lies, and one marvels and the degree of maturity, selflessness, and composure each had to face the issues of both their public and private obligations in the manner they apparently did. Her emerging portrait of FDR is that of a brilliant, charismatic, endlessly witty and wise patrician who steeled himself to the notion of "noblesse oblige", while Eleanor is painted in what is in many ways a much more sympathetic light, as a long-suffering, patient, loving and ultimately independent woman no longer content to stand quietly in the shadows.

This is a very comprehensive, compassionate, and compelling historical biography of the Roosevelts in the context of their times, and is an admirable addition to the growing body of scholarly yet popular works so many recently active American historians like Goodwin, Ambrose, David Kennedy, James Patterson, and Taylor Branch have contributed to our understanding of the United States in the 20th century. I really enjoyed reading this magnificent book by Ms. Goodwin, and recommend it for your history bookshelf. Enjoy!

A good look at a fascinating partnership.
Doris Kearns Goodwin's book "No Ordinary Time" about FDR & Eleanor is a fine piece of writing that certainly belongs in anyone's American History library. Of course it is World History, but it is written from a very American perspective and thereby manages to relegate even Churchill to the wings.

There is a degree of nearly strident feminism in the writing, not quite what one would call shrill, but the author's sympathies seem to lean decidedly toward Mrs. Roosevelt, often based on issues of sexual inequality. To be fair, Ms. Kearns Goodwin is about as harsh in her handling of racial prejudice
and anti-semitism, both cases where FDR used Eleanor as a lightening rod.

What emerges is nonetheless what most sources reveal: he was the instinctive politician who happened to be in the right place at the right time to make magic happen while she was a tireless social activist more in tune with the masses than with any one person. He could bend his principles when needed (either for the greater good of the whole or on occasion for his own selfish indulgences) whereas she was quite rigid and nearly incapable of intimacy.

One can (or should) hardly judge them. It is enough to appreciate their complexity and their contrasts and to see how they played off one another so well. The real beauty of this book is that it allows us to do just that quite completely.

the best biography
Doris Kearns Goodwin really took her time and wrote one of the best books I have ever read. She talked about Franklin and Eleanore and their influence on each other, as well as the support for each other they needed to get through WWII. I was born in 1960, and recognized many of the names in politics from my childhood, but the step by step process of the war and the thinking behind each step was just so educational for me. I chose this book for my Literature group last year, and everyone loved it. Most of the women lived through this time, and one was a nurse in the army at that time, and said this was a very accurate account, but also that she learned much more than was ever in the news. Just a great experience and definitely sparked great discussion fo hours!

Roosevelt propaganda
FDR was the second worst president in U.S. history after Bill Clinton. He bankrupted the U.S. economy, he made us a socialist nation, and brainwashed us with filthy Soviet propaganda during World War II. Doris Kearns Goodwin is a Roosevelt worshipper. Steer clear of works like this and instead read John Flynn's "The Roosevelt Myth". ... Read more

Reviews (2)

The Greatest President of the 20th Century
Frankiln Roosevelt is most often thought of as the President that led the United States most of the way through World War II. In this book, Alsop takes a different approach to capturing FDR's life. While Alsop sees his book as a memoir of his interactions with FDR, it rarely comes off that way. The fact that it feels so much like a biography makes Alsop's commentary annoying at times.

Many of the pictures in the book are treasures that are only in the possession of the Roosevelt family. That in itself, makes this book worth the price. Many of this photos show how physically fragile the president was near the end of his life. Many of the stories in this book are ommitted from history books, but are certainly worth knowing. One example is the story of Roosevelt trying to add most justices to the Supreme Court in order to get them to vote to his liking.

My one problem with the book is its concise nature. Based on the small number of pages, much of FDR's life is not documented. Alsop arrogantly negelcts some facts, such as the onset of FDR's polio, because he believes they are common knowledge. However, the format and photographs compensate for this omission.

Well produced photo/reference book
A beautifully produced (and large size) history/reference of FDR. It gives a solid general overview of his life and career, but the best feature has to be the large photos throughout (be sure to consider getting the more sturdy hardbound edition)... ... Read more

Book Description

Few American presidents have exercised their constitutional authority as commander in chief with more determination than Franklin D. Roosevelt. He intervened in military operations more often and to better effect than his contemporaries Churchill and Stalin, and maneuvered events so that the Grand Alliance was directed from Washington. In this expansive history, Eric Larrabee examines the extent and importance of FDR's wartime leadership through his key military leaders-Marshall, King, Arnold, MacArthur, Vandergrift, Nimitz, Eisenhower, Stilwell, and LeMay.

Devoting a chapter to each man, the author studies Roosevelt's impact on their personalities, their battles (sometimes with each other), and the consequences of their decisions. He also addresses such critical subjects as Roosevelt's responsibility for the war and how well it achieved his goals. First published in 1987, this comprehensive portrait of the titans of the American military effort in World War II is available in a new paperback edition for the first time in sixteen years. 735 pages. 6 line drawings. Paperback. 6 x 9 inches. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Well Researched and Highly Regarded
This masterpiece book provides an excellent introduction to the top American military commanders, including the commander in chief, and the great work they did during World War Two. As a military enthusiast I found this to be one of the most well researched and informative books on America's involvement in World War Two.

It won awards for historical scholarship, both for military history and regular history, such as the Francis Parkman Prize given by the American Historican Society for the most outstanding work of history in a given year. This book is required reading for officers, ,military historians and casual readers interested in the war.

You will not find a better one-volume book on the American commanders.

Roosevelt and the American commanders emerged as the most important leaders for the Allies, which is not to suggest that other players were not important and excellent; they were. At first Churchill was the most important player for the Allies - a fine job he did - and the British military leaders were the veterans, while the Americans were still inexperienced and ill-prepared. However, Roosevelt and the American commanders soon earned the command of the Allied war strategy and execution.

What is so remarkable about Roosevelt is that he was magnificent at picking the right people for the right positions. Read the book and you will know what I mean.

A great example is admiral Ernest King, a tough, demanding and resourceful leader. Roosevelt elevated him to commander of the United States Navy shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack, and King proved to be the ideal man at the right time. King was, afterall, the first aviator to obtain command of the navy, and carrier warfare would emerge as the key to naval warfare during the conflict. King was a great hero and should receive more recognition for his work.

Another great leader, well known in the military community but less known to the general public, is George Marshall. He was essentially the commander of the United States military leading up to the war, and he maintained his position as chief of staff during the war (and later Truman's Secretary of State). His work was superb and, no doubt, ranks him among the greatest American leaders ever - maybe of the war. Read about it in the book.

Many expected that Marshall would be given command of the D-Day invasion (and all it's glory), but when Roosevelt leaned towards Eisenhower (the ideal choice) and asked Marshall for his advice, leaving the door open for Marshall to lobby FDR, Marshall dutifully told Roosevelt that he should do only what he thought was best for the country. Roosevelt then moved immediately to appoint Eisenhower.

The information on Eisenhower is even better. Read about it in the book.

One last thought. Roosevelt was simply superb as commander in chief. He played a very important role in setting the correct war strategy and balanced the political forces. For example, he ordered the invasion of North Africa over initial objections from his commanders who wanted to concentrate only on an invasion of occupied France. Attacking North Africa turned out to be a brilliant move.

For the first time the American people feel like they were actively involved in the war. Roosevelt was correct to assert that it would be a bad decision to wait years to fight the Germans. The invasion also gave the military invaluable experience managing a military invasion and essential combat experience - they previously had none.

Overall, Roosevelt made all the right moves and surprisingly few mistakes; far fewer than any other world power.

Despite being an active leader, Roosevelt's other strength was that he delegated to his excellent commanders and let them do their work freely. Here is a quote from Admiral King:

"Churchill, fancying himself as a great strategist, and being so powerful personally, ruled his Chiefs of Staff with an iron hand, forcing them at all times to compliance with the policy as he and the War Cabinet laid it down... Roosevelt, on the other hand, trusted his Chiefs of Staff and thus gave them much more personal authority and immeasurably more freedom of action and of speech than was enjoyed by their British opposite numbers."

We all know about the enormous blunders that Hitler made as the dictator general, overruling his generals. He caused Germany to lose the war. Roosevelt, on the other hand, was sublime.

My last thought is directed towards the reviewer who clearly is trying to slander Roosevelt by denouncing this excellent, scholarly and highly regarded book. To say that this exceptional book is bad history to attack Roosevelt is simply outrageous.

For the record, nobody with any serious military education believes the charge that Roosevelt knew about the Pearl Harbor attack. He did not. A book came out a few years ago completely lying about several key pieces of evidence, after most of the people originally involved and could speak out were dead. The book blatently misrepresented the MAGIC projects, such as stating that certain messages were encoded by the Japanese in the diplomatic code when they were in fact CLEARLY coded in the naval code, which had not been broken yet.

The Pearl Harbor commission concluded years ago that nobody knew about he Pearl Harbor attack, and EVERY reputable World War Two historian and book agrees. I know. I've almost read them all!

Commander in Chief
This is one of the most useful and well written books that I have read on World War II. Larrabee discusses in depth some of the leading American commanders, including: Nimitz, Eisenhower, Lemay, MacArthur, King, Marshall, and Stilwell. His discussion of Vandegrift included a lengthy discussion of Chesty Puller and his exploits on Guadalcanal. Obviously, any discussion of Chesty Puller can be extremely humorous, but Larrabee's anecdotes left me in stitches. I have also read a review on this site alleging that Franklin Roosevelt was aware of the pending attack on Pearl Harbor. The reviewer alleges that based upon the correspondence between the German foreign minister and the Japanese government should have made Roosevelt aware of the attack. My only response is that if German participation was a foregone conclusion, then why did Germany wait until December 11th to declare war? This is an extemely useful overview of the American leaders and the strategy that they employed in World War II. It should be required reading by any American history class studying the 20th century.

Useful for Personality Gossip, But Not Serious Students
Although I found some of the personality intrigue interesting, the writing was so off-putting at times that it made skimming a virtue. Unfortunately, I cannot take Larrabee seriously as a scholar because of some notable and clearly refutable statements that his admirers are either unaware of, or simply unwilling to acknowledge. A visit to page 83 of the hardcover edition provides ample evidence of sloppiness, untruthfulness, and even vanity -- which of course gets Larrabee into trouble as you will see. When addressing the topic of FDR's foreknowledge of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Larrabee claims "that there is no substantiating evidence whatever." A quick perusal of the reams of interviews with high-level British military and diplomatic sources, agreements between Japan and Germany, intercepted coded messages, and most recently the work of Stinnett (which came after Larrabee's book was published, but which only puts the final dunce cap on Larrabee) make Larrabee's claim absurd. A key objection raised by Larrabee is that Roosevelt, who really would have preferred war with Germany according to Larrabee, would not have provoked Japan into war because there would be no guarantee that Germany would declare war against the U.S. Unfortunately for this argument, Roosevelt was aware of an intercepted diplomatic message between the Japanese ambassador and Von Ribbentrop in which the German foreign minister stated that Germany would join Japan immediately if Japan went to war with the U.S. Furthermore, FDR's cabinet member, Harold Ickes had stated, "For a long time I've believed our best entrance into the war would be [via] Japan...which will inevitably lead to war against Germany." Too many of FDR's defenders raise this same argument -- as if like garlic to a vampire it somehow wards off all questioning of FDR's character or knowledge by means of its devestating effect, which of course is devestating only to those who try to wield it.
Even worse than Larrabee's ignorance is his lack of education -- which, combined with his academic's vanity, deals a serious question mark to his accuracy and perhaps his personal honesty. He resorts to the invalid "argument from authority" or "appealing to the gallery" (choose the fallacy you wish as he seems to rely upon them rather heavily). Again on page 83, after claiming an absolute absense of evidence (and I direct readers to a raft of books on the subject all with plenty of evidence, including Toland, Morgenstern, Beach, and John Denson in addition to Stinnett), he claims that those who claim FDR had foreknowledge of Pearl Harbor are reduced to "arguing that its nonexistence proves the existence of a conspiracy to suppress it. Credo quia absurdum." Not only is this stretching the truth (the part in English), but Larrabee's misquoted and re-constructed Latin phrase is a telling reminder of both his vanity and desperation to impress us with what he wishes were his vast compendium of learning. First of all, the early Christian theologian, Tertullian actually wrote, "Certum est quia impossible est." What I believe happened here is that Larrabee, wishing to pepper his text with something learned beyond the usual phrases such as "modus vivendi," pulled out of his imperfect memory a misquote or else relied upon an inferior source of quotations that was published in English. He then found the phrase, "I believe because it is absurd." This is a commonly encountered mis-translation of Tertullian. But providing the English quote was apparently not sufficient for Larrabee. Wishing to stun us with his vast learning, he attempted to rely upon his (probable) high-school Latin -- which turned out to be a very weak reed indeed -- and made a sorry attempt to do some clumsy Latin composition of his own so that he could use italics lettering in his text. Uh-oh. Mistake. Latin composition requires knowledge, not an amateur or diletante such as Mr. Larrabee. The result? A perceptive reader notices such things and realizes he is dealing with an intellectual lightweight, not a scholar. I wonder if the education institutions with which he was affiliated were ever aware of this streak. If he taught at a university, he must have been insufferable. He certainly isn't among the cognoscenti. Needless to say, things like this cast a pall over the remainder of his book. Ciao!

Good Read on the Leadership Behind the War
If you want a good read on the overall strategy and leadership qualities that these men brought to our country in its finest hour, then take off your shoes and settle into your favorite armchair. The referencing that went into the book is impressive. The facts are stunning. The leadership was impressive.

First Rate Sketches of WWII Military Leaders
Larrabee presents a convincing study of FDR as a shrewd strategist. However, I was quite taken by his concise, penetrating pieces on Marshall, Eisenhower, Nimitz, and King all whom came alive to this reader. His treatments of Arnold, Vandergrift, MacArthur, Stillwell, and LeMay are also well done. Never having read much on either Marshall and Eisenhower, I came away from this book with a profound respect for both men.If for some reason you labor under the illusion that Eisenhower is merely a "political general", read this book. Look at this way. George C. Marshall, a man whose strength of character is equalled only by maybe Robert E. Lee, handpicked Eisenhower. That in itself speaks volumes about Ike. King emerges as perhaps the best strategist of this star-studded group. It is indeed a shame that the hard-nosed, brilliant King is virtually forgotten. The author peppers his writing with lively anecdotes that keep the reader alert and provide telling insights to these men who made the decisions that brought us victory in WWII. Read this book if for no other reason than to enjoy Larrabee's wonderfully crafted treatments of these titans of WWII. ... Read more

Book Description

The last face FDR saw before he died was that of Lucy Mercer Rutherford, his mistress of thirty-one years. Although Eleanor, his children, and the press knew about Lucy, the American public would not hear of her until 1966.
FDR and Lucy is the first book to delve into this hidden side of FDR's life. Drawing on documents from the Roosevelt Presidential Library as well as visits to Lucy's homes, biographer Resa Willis explores how this life-long love affair changed the course of his marriage and the presidency.Roosevelt fell in love with Lucy in 1914 and for the next three decades she provided him comfort from the pressures of his job and the critical eyes of his mother and wife.
Illuminating a critical era in American history, Willis explores why the press dared not report the affair. Willis also suggests that Eleanor's discovery of Lucy in 1918 marked the end of the Roosevelt's personal marriage and the beginning of their political marriage and Eleanor's groundbreaking activism.
A true love story with historical impact, FDR and Lucy paints a compelling portrait of one of the most famous "other women" in American history, giving us a window into FDR's impassioned life and presidency. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Nothing new here
I was expecting a thorough examination of the love affair between FDR and Lucy Mercer. The affair has been common knowledge for forty years and it's always touched upon in Roosevelt biographies and documentaries. But this book is a rather crushing disappointment, padded with much unnecessary and repetitive information. Most of the book consists of boring material relating directly to Lucy's life as Mrs. Rutherford in the 20's and 30's. Personally, I was expecting more details on FDR's affair with her throughout WWI, Eleanor's discovery of her love letters in Franklin's suitcase, and then the hysterical control-monster, Sarah Delano Roosevelt, demanding Franklin dump Lucy or risk losing his inheritance. Now that is the stuff of legend!

Instead we get a dreary narrative with no new information. The book picks up a bit when Lucy re-enters Roosevelt's life in the 30's and spends considerable time with his in the closing years of his life. Most of their meetings took place in Warm Springs, Georgia, and also in the White House. FDR's daughter, Anna, was the one who invited Lucy to the Executive Mansion while Eleanor was away on one of many tours during the war. It's mindful to recall a remark from Alive Roosevelt Longworth in this context: "Franklin deserves a good time. He was married to Eleanor!"

If you know little about the mechanics of the Lucy-Franklin alliance, this is a well-written and entertaining book. But if you know more about the pair, it wouldn't be particularly revealing. The characterization of Eleanor is especially weak. While I'm not advocating adultery, let's face facts: Eleanor was frigid, disinterested in sex and in the 30's took up close "friendships" with people like Lorena Hickock (who makes Yogi Berra look gorgeous in comparison). I really can't blame a man as charming and handsome as Franklin Roosevelt pursuing sex outside of marriage. His choice may not have been the "moral" one (whatever that means), but it was the only logical thing to do under the circumstances.

To sum up, if you're an FDR newbie, this would be nice. If you're not, forget it. ... Read more

Book Description

Franklin D. Roosevelt is the only twentieth-century presidentconsistently ranked by historians with the Founding Fathers and Abraham Lincoln.His leadership in the dark hours of the Depression and the Second World War hasendowed him in the eyes of many with an aura of greatness, and his presidencyhas been the explicit or implicit model for all of his successors, from Trumanto Clinton. In this concise biography, Patrick J. Maney provides an original andinsightful reexamination of Roosevelt's life and legacy, carefully sifting factfrom myth and showing how the Roosevelt legendfor good and for illhas shapedthe modern presidency. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Apologist History
In The Roosevelt Presence, Maney does his best to justify and explain away issues relative to the New Deal, the Roosevelt administration, and various methods the Roosevelt administration created or implemented to solve various crises, chief among them economic difficulties in the '30s and war issues in the '40s. Maney clearly exposes his liberal, left-leaning stance by being critical of Roosevelt in certain areas but being supportive in other areas. As a historian, Maney should have presented the facts and let the reader decide. If Maney wanted to voice his opinion or other relevant personal position information, he should have included that in an introduction or in the endnotes. The fact that the University of California press published this book also speaks to the left-leaning position.

Disappointing, at times bizarre!
Other reviewers have accurately noted that Maney both praises and criticizes Roosevelt. I based my purchase on this expectation of a balanced portrait. What they didn't note is that both the criticism and the praise are done from an extreme left perspective.

Unlike most books written about FDR from the left, Maney does address some of the low points in Roosevelt's presidency. However, when doing so he at times goes into bizarre explanations/justifications which left me scratching my head. For example:

1) Roosevelt's plunging the recovering economy back into depression in 1937 by deliberately shrinking the money supply and reducing government spending. Explanation: He only meant to slow down the growth of the economy, he couldn't have expected this to slow down the economy.
2) Roosevelt's decision to imprison Japanese Americans in WWII against the advice of J. Edgar Hoover (no softie on security!). Explanation: It wasn't his fault, he was given bad advice by the people he appointed.
3) Roosevelt's postwar plan to create a soviet style economic model in the US where the government could dictate which job any person had ("labor draft"), and guaranteed food, shelter, clothing, and recreation to all in return. Explanation: The fact that he didn't advocate the abolition of corporations and the total redistribution of all wealth shows that Roosevelt was becoming a moderate.

I wouldn't have believed these examples (and others), had I not read the book! The other thing that surprised me were some of the horrifying things Roosevelt did which clearly didn't bother the author at all. For example, neither Roosevelt's attempt to "purge" the Democratic party of those he deemed not ideologically pure, nor his breaking the back of the supreme court in the infamous "court packing" case troubled the author.

With all this said, the worst part of the book by far was the concluding chapter "Reputation and Legacies". This last rambling chapter bemoans the fact that President Carter could not have predicted from FDR's experience that restricting the national oil supply would create a recession. He drones on for several pages on this theme of how FDR let the world down by not having the foresight to give advice to future Democratic presidents. The final paragraph concludes with "There is much to admire about Roosevelt... yet as the experience of his successors helped confirm, his greatness was much too deeply rooted in the circumstances of his own times... Among presidents, alas, [FDR] was not a man for all seasons." While I'm not opposed to criticizing Roosevelt, this is as unfair as it is disappointing. How can we blame FDR for addressing the key issues during his presidency? At the same time, important topics like the legacy of Social Security, FDR's decision to give Stalin N. Korea, the complicity of members from the Roosevelt administration in bringing Mao to power in China (to name a few) are left undiscussed.

an excellent and perceptive book
Despite its lack of heft, Patrick Maney has produced a wonderfully balanced and nuanced portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Indeed, Maney's book may be the finest jumping off point for those looking to get acquainted with FDR in full bloom, and not just with the nostalgic, sometimes mawkish, remembrances of politicians.

When it comes to FDR, far too many readers, including a number of other reviewers here, only want to hear about positive aspects: the New Deal, winning World War II, etc. As a professional historian, Maney is not in the business of producing such hagiographies. As such, what we have here is the cool judgment and dispassionate analysis of a writer who is constructing a narrative of the historical record; not someone who is cheerleading for a particular political persuasion. Those who want a softer and friendlier treatment of Roosevelt should look elsewhere.

In addition to Roosevelt's many triumphs, Maney provides great detail about some of FDR's more negative aspects, such the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, or his near pathological secrecy that kept him from grooming a successor. Maney also lays bare Roosevelt's personal peccadilloes, such as his long-term affair with Lucy Mercer.

In the end, Maney has done a fine job of presenting Roosevelt, and he should be commended.

Ya'll need to step off
All ya'll been about misreviewing this book, but it was tight, yo! My man Maney gets scientific in his approach of talking about a cat nobody can touch, and he has the cojones to take a stand, and tell that s--t real. And none of you ever been to the Depression, so don't be even trying to talk about how he was wrong about it. Give Maney props, he gives an even-handed book telling of the many things, good and bad, or Franklin Roosevelt, our former president.

A confused and error-laden examination
If you are seeking a hatchet job on the greatest President of the 20th century, this is your cup of tea. Maney attempts to paint FDR with a black brush, but makes so many factual mistakes in his narrative, that his attempt is weak and ultimately pathetic. His gross lack of understanding about the causes of the Depression and the impending European crisis are almost laughable.

FDR made mistakes in judgment (attempting to pack the Supreme Court), but he was the quintessential and perfect leader for this country in the midst of its greatest crisis of the past 100 years. Imagine Tom Dewey or Wilkie leading this nation against the Axis powers. Contemplate that one... if you dare!

There are many outstanding examinations of Franklin Roosevelt and this is certainly not one of them. It's a polemic and poorly written attempt to diminish FDR's influence and greatness. It fails on all levels. The only people who would embrace this treatment would be the die-hard Roosevelt haters. ... Read more

Book Description

Advance Praise

"Fascinating and well researched.... Dr. Swift is the first to concentrate on this unusual subject with such a wealth of sympathetic detail."
–Sarah Bradford, author of America’s Queen: The Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Elizabeth: A Biography of Britain’s Queen, and The Reluctant King: The Life and Reign of George VI, 1895—1952

"A splendid addition to our understanding of an extraordinary Anglo-American partnership. Both intimate and expansive, Will Swift’s vigorously researched book is timely, illuminating, and dramatic."
–Blanche Wiesen Cook, author of Eleanor Roosevelt, Vol. 1: 1884-1933 and Eleanor Roosevelt, Vol. 2: The Defining Years, 1933-1938

"The Anglo-American alliance has long been a bedrock of the global order, and Will Swift’s The Roosevelts and the Royals details an important chapter in that fascinating story with warmth and verve."
–Jon Meacham, author of Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship

"Those who remember only that the Roosevelts served hot dogs to the royals will be fascinated by this well-researched account of an historic and ennobling relationship–a great story!"
–James MacGregor Burns, author of The Three Roosevelts: Patrician Leaders Who Transformed America and Roosevelt: Soldier of Freedom

"A gripping account of four very different lives that were woven together to change the world in wartime."
–Hugo Vickers, author of Cecil Beaton and Alice: Princess Andrew of Greece

"Written in fluid and lucid prose, this book is not only eminently readable but also h