Hard Bargain: How FDR Twisted Churchill's Arm, Evaded the Law, and Changed the Role of the American Presidency

by Robert Shogan

With Hard Bargain , Robert Shogan offers an account of one of World War II's most dramatic chapters—the story of how Franklin D. Roosevelt secretly brokered a deal to provide the destroyers Winston Churchill needed to save Britain from destruction. At the center of the momentous events of 1940 are two extraordinary leaders: Churchill, the forthright pragmatist, and Roosevelt, the suave politician. As Hitler's war machine threatened to starve England into submission, these two men initiated a complex negotiation that would shatter all precedents for conducting foreign policy. FDR yearned to enter the war, but was handcuffed by domestic politics. Churchill had to plead for American intervention at a time when the United States was intensely isolationist. Drawing on archives on both sides of the Atlantic, Shogan masterfully recreates the President's maneuvers as FDR stepped around the Constitution in order to clinch the deal, a move that has had repercussions from Korea to the Persian Gulf.

Genres: History, American

328 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1995

Reviews

["Cyril' (David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not totally convinced that FDRs handling of the sale of the destroyers was as bad as Shogan depicted, nor am I convinced that the presidential actions he cites as flowing from this incident were all egregioius. But one thing is clear, Shogan gives a very comprehensive and fair account of the facts. In this (and another book of his on FDR I have read) he neither portrays Roosevelt as the greatest thing since sliced bread, nor is he one of the worst presidents that we have had in the last century, positions taken all too often. Personally, I am not a great fan of FDR, but I would give him a pass on overreaching his constitutional authority, just as I give President Lincoln a pass for so doing. Sometimes there is a cause that supercedes even the Constitution. Though I do understand the concern expressed by this author. Lincoln and Roosevelt superceded their authority for a great goal, even if, especially in FDRs case the motives were less grand, but in lesser hands (any of the last three presidents we have had, for instance), this could be disasterous.

[Angela Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good... truly paints Roosevelt as a wily (and conniving) politician. Not inaccurate. Fair about Churchill's position, and his lack of choice. Makes a good case for the kind of power Roosevelt wielded, and how his presidencies changed the office. Overall, a helpful read. But doesn't have the depth of some others who have tackled Roosevelt. Perhaps it isn't meant to.