The American Presidents Series
A fresh and insightful look at a masterful politician, by
the bestselling author of Churchill and Gladstone.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a statesman whose
massive achievements tower over the twentieth century. In a ranking of American
presidents, he is rivaled only by George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. He was
elected to an unprecedented four terms in office, and his accomplishments in
leading the nation through depression and world war resonate to this day.
Roosevelt's presidency was one of the most
eventful in U.S. history. He took office in the midst of economic crisis: the
stock market had crashed, the banking system had collapsed, and millions of
Americans were unemployed. Galvanizing the nation with his 1933 inaugural address and with a flurry of legislation in the First Hundred Days, Roosevelt
demonstrated an optimism and resolve that garnered quick support for his
administration and for the programs that he called the New Deal. And he was the
first president truly to understand the power of the new mass media, rallying
the nation through "fireside chats" on the radio and speeches that were the
mainstay of movie house newsreels.
In acute, stylish prose, Roy Jenkins -- who was
a prominent British politician as well as a bestselling historian -- tackles all
of the complexities and intricacies of Roosevelt's character. Though not an
intellectual himself, Roosevelt was nonetheless able to inspire the intellectual
classes. He was from the higher reaches of the American upper class, and yet his
great talent was to inspire confidence among working people during a time of
economic and international turmoil. And when he had to shift his priorities
after Pearl Harbor from (in his words) "Dr. New Deal" to "Dr. Win-the-War," he
did so without any loss in the people's confidence.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the dominant
president of the twentieth century and helped the United States become the most
influential world power. Roy Jenkins's keen assessment enables us to understand
how he accomplished this and why he still stands tall in our estimation today.
Reviews "Captures FDR in all his contradictions . . . Elegantly describing FDR's course through a score of personal and political ordeals, Jenkins astutely shows us the man in all his many incarnations: the confident son of privilege who morphed into a wry, young politico on the rise [as well as] the startled victim, for whom all things had previously come so easily, hitting the brick wall of polio and fighting back [to lead] his broken country out of its two great 20th-century crises, the Great Depression and World War II." --Publishers Weekly
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