The FDR Years: On Roosevelt and His Legacy

by William E. Leuchtenburg

"Happy days are here again." That was the rallying cry of a nation picking itself up from the black gloom of the Great Depression with the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Roosevelt left an indelible stamp on America and the Oval Office - many have gone so far as to call him the father of the modern American presidency. This text paints a picture of Roosevelt and the American decade he has come to define. The book investigates the many facets of Roosevelt's politics and personality that inspired a nation to believe that the presidency had been reborn. This account tells the story of Roosevelt's uniquely open relationship with the press, a sea change from previous presidential protocol, prompting one editor to proclaim that "for box office attraction you leave Clark Gable gasping for breath." It recounts the myth and history of the First Hundred Days, when Congress was said to be so trusting of their president that they "did not so much debate the bills it passed...as salute them as they went sailing by." Leuchtenburg details the massive impact Roosevelt had on presidents who followed, and on the American people, from the touching story of an impressionable young Republican couple who petitioned to have their son's name changed from Herbert Hoover Jones to Franklin D. Roosevelt Jones in the mid-1930s, to John F. Kennedy's famed "New Frontier" address of 1960, practically paraphrased from a 1935 speech by FDR. Leuchtenburg, who grew up like so many Americans listening to Roosevelt's "Fireside Chats" on the radio, peers into the less flattering details of FDR's world as well. He recounts Roosevelt's almost tyrannical attempts to control all of his government's dealings, threatening to override Congressional decisions that did not go his way.

Genres: History

377 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

William 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.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leuchtenburg's decades of research on FDR are on full display in this collection of academic essays. Along with providing distinctive insights into the "well worn" topic of the New Deal, Leuchtenburg also tackles more neglected aspects of FDRs brilliant career.

One of the highlights of the book is a brilliant essay on Huey Long ("The Kingfish") and the threat of fascism in America. Captured almost in crystalline purity is a portrait of a voting populace caught up in the passionate and confrontational (if ill-spoken) character of a politician who was most interested in achieving unilateral power and the adoration of the masses, whatever the cost. Timely, big league.

Perhaps the best part of this read was reveling in Leuchtenburg's sheer enjoyment of this president. It is always a treat to see a scholar's passion float to the surface and mingle with academic prowess.