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Walter Lynwood Fleming Lectures in Southern History
The White House Looks South: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson
Perhaps not southerners in the usual sense, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, and Lyndon B. Johnson each demonstrated a political style and philosophy that helped them influence the South and unite the country in ways that few other presidents have. Combining vivid biography and political insight, William E. Leuchtenburg offers an engaging account of relations between these three presidents and the South while also tracing how the region came to embrace a national perspective without losing its distinctive sense of place.
According to Leuchtenburg, each man "had one foot below the Mason-Dixon Line, one foot above." Roosevelt, a New Yorker, spent much of the last twenty-five years of his life in Warm Springs, Georgia, where he built a "Little White House." Truman, a Missourian, grew up in a pro-Confederate town but one that also looked West because of its history as the entrepôt for the Oregon Trail. Johnson, who hailed from the former Confederate state of Texas, was a westerner as much as a southerner.
Their intimate associations with the South gave these three presidents an empathy toward and acceptance in the region. In urging southerners to jettison outworn folkways, Roosevelt could speak as a neighbor and adopted son, Truman as a borderstater who had been taught to revere the Lost Cause, and Johnson as a native who had been scorned by Yankees. Leuchtenburg explores in fascinating detail how their unique attachment to "place" helped them to adopt shifting identities, which proved useful in healing rifts between North and South, in altering behavior in regard to race, and in fostering southern economic growth.
The White House Looks South is the monumental work of a master historian. At a time when race, class, and gender dominate historical writing, Leuchtenburg argues that place is no less significant. In a period when America is said to be homogenized, he shows that sectional distinctions persist. And in an era when political history is devalued, he demonstrates that government can profoundly affect people's lives and that presidents can be change-makers.
According to Leuchtenburg, each man "had one foot below the Mason-Dixon Line, one foot above." Roosevelt, a New Yorker, spent much of the last twenty-five years of his life in Warm Springs, Georgia, where he built a "Little White House." Truman, a Missourian, grew up in a pro-Confederate town but one that also looked West because of its history as the entrepôt for the Oregon Trail. Johnson, who hailed from the former Confederate state of Texas, was a westerner as much as a southerner.
Their intimate associations with the South gave these three presidents an empathy toward and acceptance in the region. In urging southerners to jettison outworn folkways, Roosevelt could speak as a neighbor and adopted son, Truman as a borderstater who had been taught to revere the Lost Cause, and Johnson as a native who had been scorned by Yankees. Leuchtenburg explores in fascinating detail how their unique attachment to "place" helped them to adopt shifting identities, which proved useful in healing rifts between North and South, in altering behavior in regard to race, and in fostering southern economic growth.
The White House Looks South is the monumental work of a master historian. At a time when race, class, and gender dominate historical writing, Leuchtenburg argues that place is no less significant. In a period when America is said to be homogenized, he shows that sectional distinctions persist. And in an era when political history is devalued, he demonstrates that government can profoundly affect people's lives and that presidents can be change-makers.
688 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2005
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About the author
William E. Leuchtenburg
44 books30 followersWilliam Edward Leuchtenburg was an American historian who was the William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a leading scholar of the life and career of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 11, 2017
I was lucky enough to be at Hyde Park when the Author William E. Leuchtenburg was visiting and was able to get his autograph on this book - the main reason I picked this book was because I have an undying love for LBJ and Truman.
FDR is of course from Hyde Park NY but because of his illness he spent much time in Georgia. FDR generally went to Warm Springs without Eleanor because she was not a fan of Georgia's endemic racism, but it did remind her of her family in Georgia. When FDR ran for Presidency in 1932 he was known as the candidate for the South, spending 6 months out of 12 in Georgia during his term as governor for New York. Once he became President he generally deferred to the Southern leadership on racial matters. FDR was known to discriminate against blacks and to extend the Jim Crow laws.
The First Lady, Eleanor, had an unusually relationship herself with the South - the South generally disliking her. Eleanor had advancing views on equality, more so than her husband. The South resented her belief in equality between the races.
The New Deal which is a cornerstone of FDR's legacy helped more of the Southern states than the Western or Northern states. The New Deal, at the National level, was designed to help the worst off. Almost every New Deal measure that was enacted was sponsored by a Southerner and would never have passed without the help of the South. The New Deal saved more than half of the black schools in the South, and nearly half of all the housing built went to black families in the South.
FDR believed that Lynch Law was murder and vocalized it, which was very rare to have the POTUS talk about it. He even delivered a speech to Congress on the subject which many believe help led to his second term. Roosevelt also believed in Voting Rights and spoke out on them as well, stating that "the sooner we get to the basis of political equality, the better it will be for the country as a whole."
FDR would help instruct Northern States on the needs of the Southern States and would explain why Federal Aide should go to the South instead of the North. His adopted state of Georgia opened his eyes to the problems of the South. Many citizens in the South regarded FDR as the first President to truly treat them feel as if they were a part of the United States.
FDR's death opened the door for Harry Truman, who the South felt quite comfortable with. Truman was from the South. All of Truman's family had slaves, many were given as wedding presents. Truman grew up on stories of brave confederates. Truman was a civil war buff mainly because of those stories, which is something he had in common with LBJ. He was quite upfront with his views, he did not mingle with blacks and had quite the racist slang terms in his vocabulary. The South felt that as a grandson of a Slave Holder Truman would be sympathetic with their racial codes.
As President Truman grew into his role, his view on race was also growing. Truman believed greatly in the Constitution. That belief led him to stand on the behalf of the rights of Blacks. Truman was for the Anti lynching laws, and stated as to why "when I came back home from the Army after the First World War and went back to my hometown, there were regular meetings of the KKK going on and it scared the shit out of me!"
No President before or after Lincoln has ever put so much on the chopping black when it came to the rights of Black Americans as President Truman did. Truman gave a rousing speech to Congress on anti-lynching laws, commission on Civil Rights, and brought to Congress the outlawing of segregation on interstate travel and to desegregate the arm forces. Truman felt for the men in the armed services that were horribly mistreated just because of the color of the skin, especially after they served their country. He vowed to fight evils like this during his presidency to stop this from happening.
The personal code of Truman and his belief in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights led him to embrace the Civil Rights. Truman was quoted saying "While my ancestors may have thought that slavery was a proper thing and that the suppression of the black race was a good thing for this country, I came to the conclusion, on my own hook that it isn't"
Lydon Baines Johnson had a curious background, his family were one half slave owners and the other half cattle-drivers. Johnson's early career is all of him voting against Civil Rights, which as a President, he defended that he voted to the will of his people. The main reason LBJ was picked as President Kennedy's VP was because he was from Texas. From the moment LBJ entered the Oval office, after JFK's assassination, he would refer to himself as the "Southern President." He was a President who truly sounded like he was from the South, he had that twang.
When LBJ became President he realized that this county was a Civil Rights country and he went further than any other President on Civil Rights. LBJ did not balk at using the full force of the government on behalf of the constitutional rights of the Black American Citizens. Mainly because of that Force, the South wasn't the biggest fan of his. LBJ was viewed as even more anti-southern than Truman was. He was so disliked that when future President Jimmy Carter's mom volunteered for Johnson's campaign her car was covered in graffiti.
LBJ was the President who was born and raised in a confederate state who signed the biggest Civil Rights Act into Law. Johnson truly spelled out the meaning of full integration meant for the Country in a way no President had before.
Highly recommended!
FDR is of course from Hyde Park NY but because of his illness he spent much time in Georgia. FDR generally went to Warm Springs without Eleanor because she was not a fan of Georgia's endemic racism, but it did remind her of her family in Georgia. When FDR ran for Presidency in 1932 he was known as the candidate for the South, spending 6 months out of 12 in Georgia during his term as governor for New York. Once he became President he generally deferred to the Southern leadership on racial matters. FDR was known to discriminate against blacks and to extend the Jim Crow laws.
The First Lady, Eleanor, had an unusually relationship herself with the South - the South generally disliking her. Eleanor had advancing views on equality, more so than her husband. The South resented her belief in equality between the races.
The New Deal which is a cornerstone of FDR's legacy helped more of the Southern states than the Western or Northern states. The New Deal, at the National level, was designed to help the worst off. Almost every New Deal measure that was enacted was sponsored by a Southerner and would never have passed without the help of the South. The New Deal saved more than half of the black schools in the South, and nearly half of all the housing built went to black families in the South.
FDR believed that Lynch Law was murder and vocalized it, which was very rare to have the POTUS talk about it. He even delivered a speech to Congress on the subject which many believe help led to his second term. Roosevelt also believed in Voting Rights and spoke out on them as well, stating that "the sooner we get to the basis of political equality, the better it will be for the country as a whole."
FDR would help instruct Northern States on the needs of the Southern States and would explain why Federal Aide should go to the South instead of the North. His adopted state of Georgia opened his eyes to the problems of the South. Many citizens in the South regarded FDR as the first President to truly treat them feel as if they were a part of the United States.
FDR's death opened the door for Harry Truman, who the South felt quite comfortable with. Truman was from the South. All of Truman's family had slaves, many were given as wedding presents. Truman grew up on stories of brave confederates. Truman was a civil war buff mainly because of those stories, which is something he had in common with LBJ. He was quite upfront with his views, he did not mingle with blacks and had quite the racist slang terms in his vocabulary. The South felt that as a grandson of a Slave Holder Truman would be sympathetic with their racial codes.
As President Truman grew into his role, his view on race was also growing. Truman believed greatly in the Constitution. That belief led him to stand on the behalf of the rights of Blacks. Truman was for the Anti lynching laws, and stated as to why "when I came back home from the Army after the First World War and went back to my hometown, there were regular meetings of the KKK going on and it scared the shit out of me!"
No President before or after Lincoln has ever put so much on the chopping black when it came to the rights of Black Americans as President Truman did. Truman gave a rousing speech to Congress on anti-lynching laws, commission on Civil Rights, and brought to Congress the outlawing of segregation on interstate travel and to desegregate the arm forces. Truman felt for the men in the armed services that were horribly mistreated just because of the color of the skin, especially after they served their country. He vowed to fight evils like this during his presidency to stop this from happening.
The personal code of Truman and his belief in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights led him to embrace the Civil Rights. Truman was quoted saying "While my ancestors may have thought that slavery was a proper thing and that the suppression of the black race was a good thing for this country, I came to the conclusion, on my own hook that it isn't"
Lydon Baines Johnson had a curious background, his family were one half slave owners and the other half cattle-drivers. Johnson's early career is all of him voting against Civil Rights, which as a President, he defended that he voted to the will of his people. The main reason LBJ was picked as President Kennedy's VP was because he was from Texas. From the moment LBJ entered the Oval office, after JFK's assassination, he would refer to himself as the "Southern President." He was a President who truly sounded like he was from the South, he had that twang.
When LBJ became President he realized that this county was a Civil Rights country and he went further than any other President on Civil Rights. LBJ did not balk at using the full force of the government on behalf of the constitutional rights of the Black American Citizens. Mainly because of that Force, the South wasn't the biggest fan of his. LBJ was viewed as even more anti-southern than Truman was. He was so disliked that when future President Jimmy Carter's mom volunteered for Johnson's campaign her car was covered in graffiti.
LBJ was the President who was born and raised in a confederate state who signed the biggest Civil Rights Act into Law. Johnson truly spelled out the meaning of full integration meant for the Country in a way no President had before.
Highly recommended!
June 5, 2007
Excellent work by one of the best professors at UNC.
December 31, 2007
Momma Truma refused to sleep in Lincoln's bed!!
December 21, 2022
This book is an interesting look at three of our presidents. One did much less than I expected, the others did more. A look into politics has changed. Two of them did a lot for the civil rights movement. Another book or ten could be written on how they changed the politics. Kind of sad there was not much on how the messaging changed. Plenty on their voiced opinions but not how rhetoric changed. Great book.
May 9, 2017
The book goes a long way to explaining the winding path, warts and all, that led the Democratic party, to move from being the party of the segregationist South to become the party of Civil Rights. It also makes clear, yet again, that LBJ was likely the only politician in the United States who could succeed in pushing through the 1964, 1965, and 1968 Civil Rights acts.
The chunky writing style is why I gave the book four stars. On substance, it's a five-star book.
The chunky writing style is why I gave the book four stars. On substance, it's a five-star book.
March 7, 2025
I was shocked to find out Leuchtenburg wrote this book in his 80s. He's truly a masterclass historian whose work in his 80s is just as good as it was in his 30s. His analysis of place and its effect on political figures and public policy is outstanding. He has effectively argued for political history, and the importance of place in historical analysis is just as important and vibrant a field as it was in the 1960s.
April 12, 2015
A very interesting look at FDR, Truman, and LBJ. However, it was a bit hard to get through. Takes some time!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews