Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of FDR

by H.W. Brands, Mark Deakins (Narrator)

A sweeping, magisterial biography of the man generally considered the greatest president of the twentieth century, admired by Democrats and Republicans alike. Traitor to His Class sheds new light on FDR's formative years and on his remarkable willingness to champion the concerns of the poor and disenfranchised. His combination of political genius, firm leadership, and matchless diplomacy saved democracy in America during the Great Depression and championed the American cause of freedom in World War II.

Drawing on archival materials, public speeches, personal correspondence, and accounts by family members and close associates, acclaimed bestselling historian and biographer H. W. Brands offers a compelling and intimate portrait of Roosevelt's life and career.

Brands explores the powerful influence of FDR's dominating mother and the often tense and always unusual partnership between FDR and his wife, Eleanor, and her indispensable contributions to his presidency. Most of all, the book traces in breathtaking detail FDR's revolutionary efforts with his New Deal legislation to transform the American political economy in order to save it, his forceful-and cagey-leadership before and during World War II, and his lasting legacy in creating the foundations of the postwar international order.

Traitor to His Class brilliantly captures the qualities that have made FDR a beloved figure to millions of Americans.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Presidents, American History, Politics, Biography Memoir

29 pages, Audio CD

First published November 4, 2008

About the author

H.W. Brands is an acclaimed American historian and author of over thirty books on U.S. history, including Pulitzer Prize finalists The First American and Traitor to His Class. He holds the Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History at the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned his PhD. Originally trained in mathematics, Brands turned to history as a way to pursue his passion for writing. His biographical works on figures like Franklin, Jackson, Grant, and both Roosevelts have earned critical and popular praise for their readability and depth. Raised in Oregon and educated at Stanford, Reed College, and Portland State, he began his teaching career in high schools before entering academia. He later taught at Texas A&M and Vanderbilt before returning to UT Austin. Brands challenges conventional reverence for the Founding Fathers, advocating for a more progressive and evolving view of American democracy. In addition to academic works, his commentary has featured in major documentaries. His books, published internationally and translated into multiple languages, examine U.S. political, economic, and cultural development with compelling narrative force. Beyond academia, he is a public intellectual contributing to national conversations on history and governance.

Reviews

[Matt]

“He is the truest friend; he has the farthest vision; he is the greatest man I’ve ever known.”
- Sir Winston Churchill, speaking of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1943


Having recently finished a book on President Herbert Hoover, it seemed only natural to move on to his successor in office – and the man in whose shadow he has disappeared: Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Finding a book about FDR is easy. Indeed, finding a thousand books on FDR is easy. You literally have to type only those three letters into a browser, and you get all the options in the world. The challenge comes in picking the right one. There are biographies aplenty, both single and multi-volumes. There are books on FDR and his wife, Eleanor; on FDR and his friendship with Churchill; on FDR as a commander-in-chief; on FDR and the Great Depression. There are collections of his letters, his speeches, and his fireside chats. With Roosevelt, as with Lincoln, there are many angles of approach.

I settled on H.W. Brands’ Traitor to His Class for a couple reasons. First off, despite reading extensively about FDR in the context of World War II, I’ve never tackled a full-scale, birth-to-death biography. Once I’d decided to go the bio route, it was a no-brainer to pick one by Brands. He is fast becoming one of my favorite author-historians. I’ve enjoyed several of his earlier works (The Age of Gold; Lone Star Nation; and Andrew Jackson), and he absolutely knocked his biography on U.S. Grant (The Man Who Saved the Union) out of the park. Brands is a good historian and writer, and he knows the immense value of solid storytelling.

I also like Brands because he is not a torch-bearing partisan. He’s not out there to build statues or tear them down. To the contrary, he is able to recognize the contributions of historical figures as diverse as Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. In a hyper partisan time, it means something to me that Brands is able to write about both the Age of Roosevelt and the Age of Reagan without foaming at the mouth. Because of this, I respect his judgments as derived from the evidence, rather than shaping the evidence to fit his judgments. I didn't want a hagiography, and I definitely didn't want some hack teardown. I wanted a biography that paid its due to an inarguably great president while also critiquing his many failings, shortcomings, and mistakes.

Brands divides his 616-page biography into thirds. The first third is devoted to FDR’s early life, including his birth into easy wealth and privilege, his entrance into Democratic politics as a New York State Senator, his service as Assistant Secretary of the Navy during World War I, and his battle with the effects of polio, which weakened his legs nearly to the point of uselessness. It is this latter struggle, a debilitating and unexpected shock to an active young man, that probably forever altered his outlook, both morally and politically. Would FDR have related to the “common man” so closely without his affliction? Could he have? It seems unlikely. To that end, I found Brands’ passages regarding Roosevelt’s creation of the Warm Springs rehabilitation institute to be quite insightful.

The second third of Traitor to His Class begins in 1929 with the stock market crash and subsequent economic depression. It follows Roosevelt as he wins the presidency, institutes the New Deal, and continues to juggle both the Great Depression and a widening world war overseas. Hot off a book on Hoover and the Depression (Herbert Hoover in the White House), this was the section that interested me most. Overall, I think Brands does a good job with it. He has written extensively about American capitalism, so he has fluency in the subject matter. He gives credit where it’s due, and blame as well. His assessment of what worked and what did not is very rational. He acknowledges that FDR’s programs did not end the Depression (he does not even engage with the arguments, fashionable in certain circles, that he prolonged it), but that he did change – for a time, if not forever – the interaction between government and business. Through all his interventions, Roosevelt never wavered in his core conviction in support of capitalism; ultimately, he sought instead to restrain the excesses that threatened both everyday people and capitalist theory itself. The New Deal, as Brands notes, was a mixture of both “structurally conservative” and radically progressive programs. In the end, though, the Great Depression was beyond anyone’s ability to simply solve, and it only ended in the massive gear-up for total war.

The final third of Traitor to His Class is given over to the war years. It covers FDR’s attempts to prepare America for a world war (via changes to the Neutrality Act, institution of the draft, and Lend Lease), his struggle with America First isolationists (who felt burned regarding America’s intervention in WWI and were intent on keeping the country out of round two), and of course his tenure as a wartime president. There is nothing wrong with this section, but I’ve been over it so many times that nothing really stood out. Besides, this aspect of Roosevelt’s career has already been handled masterly by Doris Kearns Goodwin in No Ordinary Time.

Brands is not a florid prose stylist, and he does not have the space to give us the glorious biographical tangents indulged by the likes of Robert Caro or Edmund Morris. Still, he has a keen knack for narrative momentum, and does a great job of balancing a wide-angled overview with more intimate set pieces. He finds the occasion to relate the stories within the bigger story, which is imperative for making things come alive. As I’ve said before, and which I’ll say again, if I just wanted the bottom line facts, I’d go to a Roosevelt wiki or read a timeline. With a biography, I want much more. I want a sense of the man, what it was like to be in his presence, how he made his decisions, and why. Brands accomplishes this. While FDR has always been an elusive figure (which he intended, it seems), there are a lot of primary sources related to him, and Brands makes good use of them. He seamlessly integrates contemporary recollections into his own portraiture, giving you enough different viewpoints to give us at least an approximation of the real FDR. He also hones in on certain important relationships, especially his strange, estranged, and captivating relationship with Eleanor. And every once in awhile, Brands will step aside and deliver some reasoned speculation about his subject that attempts to interpret the reasoning behind some of his momentous choices.

This is a pretty big book, and the font seems small, making it seem bigger (of course, the font seems smaller to me every day). Even so, there is no way Traitor to His Class can cover every aspect of Roosevelt’s life. Entire volumes have been devoted to Roosevelt’s Supreme Court picks, and his court packing plan. Here, that topic only gets a couple pages. Certain figures are almost entirely written out of the story. (New Dealer Tommy “the Cork” Corcoran, for instance, gets only one brief mention). Still, I think Brands does a really good job of at least touching on all the high points.

I liked FDR coming into this book, and frankly, nothing was going to change my fundamental opinion. Thus, Traitor to His Class did not do much to form my opinion of Roosevelt. It did, however, give me a deeper appreciation of why I liked him in the first place.

Roosevelt was a man of vision. Perhaps more than any president before him, he cared about the welfare of the ordinary citizens of his nation. The ones who tended to suffer the most during financial panics or economic downturns or in times of drought or flood. He saw a world in which an aging farmer without a pension might be given security in old age; a world in which electricity was not a luxury for the few, but a necessity for the many; a world in which a person could put their money in the bank without fear of losing it; a world in which good people banded together to stop the bad. He was not entirely successful. He was not without flaws. But his contradictions and complications are part of what make him so attractive and intriguing. He is, next to Lincoln, among the most relatable presidents. Despite his wealth, despite the extraordinary power he accumulated, he was and remains utterly human, which is to say, utterly fallible.

Brands does an extraordinary job with Roosevelt. But it is Eleanor, treated so shabbily at times by her husband, who captured him best in her memoirs.

"I decided to accept the fact that a man must be what he is, life must be lived as it is," Eleanor Roosevelt wrote. "You cannot live at all if you do not learn to adapt yourself to life as it happens to be. All human beings have failings; all human beings have temptations and stresses."

Her thoughts must have turned to her husband's dalliances, events to which she had made her peace.

"Men and women who live together through long years get to know one another’s failings, but they also come to know what is worthy of respect and admiration in those they live with and in themselves," she added.

She summed her thoughts by writing what might be Franklin Roosevelt's most fitting epitaph:

"If at the end one can say: ‘This man used to the limit the powers that God granted him; he was worthy of love and respect and of the sacrifices of many people, made in order that he might achieve what he deemed to be his task,’ then that life has been lived well and there are no regrets.”

[Louise]

The title implies that the book is going to be about FDR defying the social and financial elite from which he sprang. Fortunately, I didn't let this narrow and negative title deter me because this turned out to be a comprehensive biography encompassing far more than the New Deal and devoting very little text to the "traitor of his class" concept.

There are more pages on FDR's relationship with Louis Howe, alone, than there is for his "betrayal" of his "class".

The observations of FDR's relationship with Uncle Teddy, Eleanor and Mother Sara are in the context of family and politics, not a betrayal of values. There is little mention of the Astors, Vanderbilts or other prominent families of the era. If there is a statement on "class" it is that FDR is a not so rich outsider among the very elite.

Throughout the book Brand demonstrates an FDR style. It holds for the press, staff, and fellow politicians as well as with Churchill and Stalin. Roosevelt characteristically gives them what they think is the story, policy or commitment that they want to hear, but when the words are parsed, the statement is an illusion.

Brand shows how partisan criticism of Roosevelt flowed from Republicans regardless of the truth. Criticism culminates on p. 697 as the obviously fact challenged "Republican congressman William Lamertson says Roosevelt lobbied the War Department to ensure his sons not be sent to combat zones" for which there are no facts.

This is a sweeping biography, covering a life of many facets. Each of these facets deserves a book, and for some there are excellent volumes such as Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship and Eleanor & Franklin: The Story of Their Relationship Based on Eleanor Roosevelt's Private Papers.

I've read a few Roosevelt books and material of this era, but this is the first to analyze the effect of Roosevelt's polio on his relationships and world view. According to Brand, FDR's onset of polio in midlife strengthened Eleanor and Louis Howe through his increased dependence on them and gave him insight into the plight of those who suffer. Brand does not avoid the logistics to be considered for a president and politician and effects of Roosevelt's health on others. The part of Roosevelt visiting the war wounded in Hawaii is incredibly moving.

This is a very good overview of Roosevelt. With a life so sweeping, an overview is all that can be expected in 800 pages. It is readable throughout, in some parts it's a page turner. Brand's presentation of World War II can bring tears to your eyes. While this is a big chunk for the casual reader, I recommend it for those interested in Roosevelt and his time.

[Erik Graff]

My father was eleven when FDR became president, twenty-three and serving in the SW Pacific when he died. FDR, with the depression and the war, substantially shaped a generation and still informs our world. This book gives a positive representation of what the man and his world were like.

Although we tend to think of the public figure, author Brands pays substantial attention to FDR's family and childhood, his early career with the Navy Department and New York state, and his affectional relationships. His wife, Eleanor, mother of their six children, is treated at length, also quite positively, this book providing her biography as well.

Although almost 900 pages long, I found this book to be a page-turner, so attractive that I went to bed early in order to get a substantial amount of it in before falling asleep each day.

[Donald Powell]

A long book with an almost comprehensive rendition of the life of the subject. The idea of gathering the details to assemble such a work is daunting. The author's perspective was not hostile but did not hide his blemishes or apologize for his shortcomings. The book is a great review of history of the last few generations but also offered insight and facts not commonly covered in more generic histories. It was well written, easy to follow and provided helpful background and context.

[Dan]

Winston Churchill missed the funeral. The demands of the war prevented a journey to America. But the prime minister had been bracing himself emotionally for the loss of his partner [Roosevelt]. At the close of the Casablanca conference, Roosevelt made ready to leave. Churchill stopped him. “You cannot go all this way to North Africa without seeing Marrakech,” he said. “Let us spend two days there. I must be with you when you see the sunset on the snows of the Atlas Mountains.” Roosevelt put off his departure, and he and Churchill drove the hundred and fifty miles across the desert together. They spoke of the war and politics and of the history of the region and the future of the world.

Traitor To His Class garnered H.W. Brands the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 2009.

This 900 page book benefits from even pacing and a strictly chronological approach to Roosevelt’s life. The writing is quite good and the level of research along with well placed quotations are exactly what one would expect in a first rate biography.

In particular the coverage and writing about FDR’s relationship with Churchill is excellent. There were four WWII summits that were detailed and were probably the best parts of the book.

The story around FDR’s purchase and the importance of the Warm Springs spa to his life was also well done. The healing powers and pool helped FDR recover from the effects of polio and he traveled there much more than I had realized.

Brand does not dance around FDR’s affairs. FDR’s mistress Lucy was often there with him at Warm Springs including the day he died. Eleanor thought she had come to grips with his behavior but the details still angered her.

FDR’s sometimes tenuous financial situation was something new to the biographies that I’ve read and found quite interesting. FDR and Eleanor were very wealthy by the standards of the early 20th century. But they also had a large number of children who went to private academies. There was an enormous staff of servants to go with their many houses and estates in NYC, Hyde Park, Nova Scotia and recently Warm Springs Georgia. FDR held mostly government jobs in his life and Eleanor had no salary until the 1950s when she was the U.N. Representative. It was said that more than half of FDR’s life savings were spent to purchase Warm Springs in the early 1920’s. They were old money people for sure.

Now for the bad. This book did suffer from one problem. Roosevelt’s complete life can’t be thoroughly addressed in one volume. Most every topic covered in this book is interesting but most topics were too brief. There was not enough discussion about his twelve- year presidency and almost no coverage on his able cabinet.

4 stars.

[Joe]

I'm a big fan of this author's books - he's written three very good and readable single volume biographies of Ben Franklin, Theodore Roosevelt and Andrew Jackson - all of whom led busy lives. In his latest work the author tackles FDR, another complicated historical figure. What makes this book work is also its flaw, although very engaging - at over 800 pages the book is actually not a tedious read - there is a glossing over or lack of detail on topics such as The New Deal, FDR's attempt to change the make-up of the Supreme Court after his re-election in 1936 and foreign policy, specifically the lead up to America's entry into World War II and the war itself. In other Roosevelt bios these topics are handled in great detail - sometimes eye-glazingly so - in Brands' book a little more detail might have helped. If you are well read in this period of U.S. history there isn't anything new here.

That being said, this book is not a bad place to start on FDR's life and times if you are a novice, although Jean Edward Smith's recent book is more informative. And if you're looking for the best of the bunch - and have the time - Conrad Black's 1000+ page tome is my book of choice. Kenneth Davis' multi-volume bio is also excellent but unfortunately the author passed away before finishing his work, i.e. FDR & World War II. This series can be supplemented by Eric Larabee's Commander in Chief - an excellent book if you can find it.

As an aside Jonathan Alter's recent book on FDR's first "100 Days", The Defining Moment, is also an excellent read.

[Nathan]

Brands is a character in his biographies as much as his subjects are; he isn't shy about telling you what he thinks of them. The lasting impression I got from T.R.: The Last Romantic was Brand's distaste for the earlier President Roosevelt. He casts a kindlier eye on Teddy's relative. Despite the ominous title, Brands portrays FDR as a true champion for social (especially economic) reforms, explaining in detail the machinations that led to the New Deal, the National Industrial Recovery Act, and social security. These programs are shown as political philanthropy, honest and noble progressive campaigns against the predatory market system that plagued the age. Depending on your political preferences, this will be either enjoyable or misguided; either way, Brands shows that history does indeed repeat itself. The parallels to modern-day politics are obvious, useful and fascinating.
Brands also reveals the machinations of statecraft in detail that I'd never read before, notably at Yalta. He might have made Pearl Harbor more than the footnote it was, but within the context of his narrative, his treatment of that event does illuminate, on a larger scale, the role America was to play in World War II.

Not so fascinating are the subplots. Eleanor Roosevelt, an intriguing character in her own right, is portrayed mostly in her combative relationship with FDR, and her social concerns thus feel more like tantrums than serious causes. She is relegated to a secondary role, which is understandable, but she is dismissed along the way, which is unfair. Roosevelt's childhood is likewise not sketched out beyond the bare minimum, which makes me wonder what was left unsaid.

Finally, Brands is not a great writer. He wants to share his personal perspective on historical events, but that personal touch feels out of place in his dry and utilitarian narrative. He gives all the information you could possibly want on the subject, but doesn't always manage to weave it into a compelling story. There is no sense of drama or history or moment. This was not always an enjoyable read, which is a shame, because it is always an informative one.

[Erin]

4.5 Stars!

"The Democracy must make it clear that it seeks primarily the good of the average citizen through the free rule of the whole electorate."

This book was a monster.

Franklin Roosevelt is I'd say a top 3 all time president. He wasnt perfect but he did some great things. Things Democrats would never do today. He's the only president to serve 4 terms, for some young people FDR was the only president they knew for most of their lives. He was the president who pulled the country through the Great Depression and he oversaw our entry into World War II.

Did he let Pearl Harbor happen so we could get into the war?

Im just asking questions.

More than 2 thousand sailors and soldiers died that day, with thousands more injured. But the Allies kicked Japan and Hitler's ass so all's well that ends well right?

"Capitalism has served its time and its passing from the face of the earth. A new system must be found to take its place."


The New Deal transformed the United States. Its what true Progressivism looks like. Putting the working class first, making the rich pay their fair share, forcing big business to hire people at a living wage and to rebuild after the Depression. The Democrats passed unemployment insurance and old age pensions(the original Social Security).

The Democratic party is no longer Progressive. The only true Progressives are Leftist. Democrats are diet Republicans. FDR could never get elected president today..because he'd never get the Democratic nomination. Democrats today only care about big business and Israel. I mean the Democratic leader in the House just this week met with fascist and came out against Medicare 4 All. Neither party cares about you unless you are rich or committing genocide.

I mean FDR had a 65% approval rating going into his second term. And he did it all with polio while mostly being in a wheelchair. He lived in time before the Americans with Disabilities Act. People back in his day didn't give a shit about disabled people. There were no accommodations in any part of life for people who couldn't walk or had mobility issues.

I gotta talk about my girl Eleanor. Shes the best First Lady we've ever had. I love Michelle she's number 2 but nobody doing like Elleanor did it. She was out here condemning sweatshops and child labor. She flew with Amelia Earhart. Called for increased teacher pay. She too was further left than most current day Democrats.

Was she gay?

I don't know but if she was good for her. Her husband was passing dick out like candy, she deserved her pleasure too.

"Where wealth accrues honorably, the people are always silent partners. The wealthy therefore have a particular obligation to contribute to the maintenance of society."

We need more FDR's...but not racist. We need politicians who will fight for the working class instead of telling people that,Better things are not possible so here take this Data center. We need to stop voting out of fear and vote out of righteous anger instead.

"Democracy has disappeared in several other great nations, not because the people of those nations disliked democracy but because they had grown tired of unemployment and insecurity, of seeing their children hungry while they sat helpless in the face of government weakness."

I 100% recommend this book!

[Sonny]

― “Liberty and freedom and democracy are so very precious that you do not fight to win them once and stop. You do not do that. Liberty and freedom and democracy are prizes awarded only to those peoples who fight to win them and then keep fighting eternally to hold them.”
― H.W. Brands, Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt

A series of polls of historians and political scientists conducted since 1948 (see Historical rankings of presidents of the United States - Wikipedia) have consistently ranked Franklin Delano Roosevelt as one of the three highest-rated presidents (the other two being Abraham Lincoln and George Washington). FDR, the 32nd President of the United States, led the United States through two national crises: the Great Depression and World War II, events that fundamentally altered the course of American history.

Historian and biographer H.W. Brands has provided the reader with what may very well be the best modern general biography of Franklin Roosevelt. Published in 2008, Traitor to His Class was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. While the focus of the focus of the book is on his presidency, Brands covers FDR’s childhood, especially his relationship with his somewhat domineering mother, his marriage to the extraordinary Eleanor Roosevelt, and his time as governor of New York.

Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president of the United States in 1933, after Herbert Hoover. Through his first six years in office, Franklin Roosevelt spent much of his time trying to bring the United States out of the Great Depression. Believing that the Depression was temporary, arising from international circumstances, President Hoover thought that there was no need for federal government intervention in stabilizing prices, controlling business, or fixing the currency. He chose a limited response instead that did not begin to help the millions of Americans in need. President Roosevelt believed that the nation's economic problems were largely self-inflicted. He rejected Hoover's weak approach in favor of a more robust response. He asked Congress for broad executive power to meet the crisis. Although Roosevelt had campaigned on a pledge to balance the budget, his economic advisors led by Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau persuaded him to boost government spending in an effort to stimulate the economy.

― “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”
― H.W. Brands, Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt

While Roosevelt crafted the New Deal, he did not ignore America’s foreign policy. He strongly believed that the most powerful nation in the world had an important role to play in the world. FDR kept a wary eye on events unfolding in Europe and Asia during the mid-1930s. Working with British prime minister Winston Churchill, he took decisive steps to provide aid to Britain and prepare the United States for the possibility of war. Together, the two leaders crafted the “Atlantic Charter,” affirming the sense of solidarity between the U.S. and Great Britain against Axis aggression. Constrained by the Neutrality Acts and strong isolationist sentiments in America, FDR skillfully nudged the United States towards supporting Great Britain by supplying aid. He also bought the United States time to shore up its military preparedness, which at that time was inadequate for a major war. Roosevelt's leadership during this period was crucial.

Franklin Roosevelt transformed both the office of the presidency and the nation. Not even his severest critics dared attempt to roll back the changes he brought about. His election to an unprecedented four terms demonstrates his success as a leader. Known for his remarkable willingness to champion the concerns of the poor and disenfranchised, FDR possessed the critical traits of an effective leader: intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity, and sociability. Brand’s biography is both thoroughly readable and extremely fair in its assessment of FDR. Traitor to His Class captures the qualities that made FDR a beloved figure to millions of Americans, both Democrats and Republicans. My only complaints are that Brands gives insufficient coverage to FDR’s two terms as New York governor, his childhood, and his marriage to Eleanor. In addition, while Brands reports events, he could have spent more time analyzing and interpreting events. 4.5 stars rounded up.

[Steve]

http://bestpresidentialbios.com/2016/...

“Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt” is H.W. Brands’s 2008 biography of FDR and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Brands is a professor at the University of Texas and the author of more than two dozen books (including six presidential biographies). His most recent biography “Reagan: The Life” was published in 2015.

This lengthy single-volume biography of FDR is detailed, comprehensive and magisterial. It is organized into three major sections and its 824 pages leave no major aspect of Roosevelt’s life unexplored – but it focuses on the various phases of his life with different levels of intensity.

Coverage of Roosevelt’s early years and pre-presidency is solid (but not exceptional) and Brands provides more background on FDR’s retreat at Warm Springs than I’ve encountered elsewhere. His two-term gubernatorial career, however, is surprisingly under-covered. Discussion of President Roosevelt’s domestic agenda (with the New Deal as its key component) is clear, thorough and well-balanced.

One of Brands’s most conspicuous talents is his ability to not only describe the individual events in his subject’s life but also to provide robust historical context for his narrative. Important moments – particularly during FDR’s presidency – are not just described, they are explained. As a consequence, readers lacking a thorough background in Roosevelt’s era rarely feel out of touch with the landscape in which he operated.

The most successful aspect of the biography is its three-hundred page coverage of Roosevelt’s service as a wartime president. Brands’s review of these years – from his commentary relating to the events which sparked World War II through his captivating review of the Yalta Conference – is excellent. The biography ends on a strong note with an outstanding chapter reviewing Roosevelt’s legacy and his impact on American (and world) history.

But for all the detail Brands provides in this weighty tome, relatively little effort is expended covering Roosevelt’s family and “friends.” His mother, who by many accounts was doting and highly supportive of Franklin, is treated relatively harshly. Eleanor – compelling in her own right – appears only sporadically and seems to frustrate (rather than enhance) the narrative. And the roles of Lucy Mercer, Missy LeHand and FDR’s children are surprisingly under-weighted.

Readers familiar with Brands’s other biographies will recognize his writing style – it is a straightforward, fact-focused and occasionally dry style which lacks the fluidity and color of other world-class biographers. More disappointing is that Brands reports events far more diligently than he analyzes or interprets them. It is usually the reader’s responsibility to decipher events or to consider Roosevelt’s evolution as a husband, father and politician.

Overall, H.W. Brands’s “Traitor to His Class” is a detailed, comprehensive and meritorious single-volume biography of a compelling and highly-regarded president. While providing little new insight into an already exhaustively-reviewed figure, this biography provides readers with a solid introduction to FDR’s life with a particular strength in its coverage of his political career.

Overall rating: 4¼ stars

[Greg Bailey]

This book is an adequate history of the FDR administration. As a biography, it is less so. I came away from it without a sense that I know FDR significantly better than I already did. The chapters covering his early life are helpful, but as FDR ascends to the presidency, Brands seems to allow the rush of events--the Depression, the Second World War--to become his focus. We're told what FDR did, but as a general rule, not why he did it. Brands rarely steps back to analyze what inner convictions drove Roosevelt to take a particular course.

In fact, I would say that Brands does not do an adequate job of defending the provocative title of this book. I'm skeptical that simply because Roosevelt, a child of privilege, expanded the federal social-welfare apparatus in such an enormous way makes him a "traitor" to his class, but Brands seems to think the point is self-evident and never defends it.

In Brands' defense, it seems FDR was not a prolific letter writer, and he was not really close to anyone. Getting at the man behind the image would not be a simple task for any historian.

One interesting feature of the book is Brands' frequent quotations from official transcripts of White House press conferences. FDR's interactions with the press were quite interesting, but of course he was often misleading, so while I can admire his political skills, I am still left wondering what convictions drove his policies.

[Marshall Smiland]

An amazing book about an amazing man. He led the US through the darkest days of its history and gave the ordinary people a hope which they may not have had without his reassuring voice. As usual, Brands does a terrific job with his biography and in this case gives us a fascinating view of a man who, although afflicted by polio, changed his country and the world forever.

[Linda]

Wow, this was a good one. I'd say, like, 4.6 or 4.7 stars. Don't judge it by how long it took me to get through it -- I had a very strange month and multiple weekends of travel and didn't read a page for days at a time three different times. When I did read, I was fascinated by FDR's life, impressed by his leadership, alarmed by his (for lack of a better word) manipulation, and so intrigued by how it all went down. I learned new things about Eleanor, about Stalin, about the war effort, about the Cabinets and VPs, about the New Deal... It was a very informative 800-page adventure.

I started out reading with the bad FDR taste left in my mouth from the Hoover bio; the two were so decidedly different, and I really thought FDR treated him poorly, from the Hoover perspective. But basically, the new administration just had no use for the old ways, and while I didn't come around to saying FDR acted well and nobly toward Hoover, I just think he didn't give him the time of day. It's interesting -- Hoover was so rugged-individualistically self-made rich, and FDR was so born-into-wealth, and look how differently their political lives/theories ended up. (That said: Hoover is misunderstood, and I think he meant well - a lot better than some current politicians! But this is about FDR...) And no matter how poorly FDR might have treated Eleanor/marriage, or how cunning he was with everyone around him, or how deceptive he could be, he was, bottom line, a leader. He straight-up led the country through the New Deal, the recovery, the 1930s, and then the war. It's almost mind-boggling all that he did and everyone he met and interacted with, all while carrying the weight of his leg braces or supporting his body weight at podiums or otherwise dealing with his physical problems but never letting them see him sweat! It becomes, sadly, not really mind-boggling at all that the job killed him, in the end.

It's hard for me to support military "triumphs" because I'm so disgusted by the fact that the world uses war to confront problems, but I couldn't help but respect FDR, Churchill, and Stalin and all that they did to deal with the menace of Hitler. I came away from this book wanting to read more about both Churchill and Stalin. They're so famous, but the glimpses of them in this book intrigue me and make me want to know more about the little things, the personal touches.

Definitely recommended. Worth the time commitment. A great dose of history.

[Amy Moritz]

What drew me to this book was the title, "Traitor to His Class." I had just finished reading a book of letters from The Great Depression and was fascinated about class in America in that era and the double-edge sword of pride which kept people from seeking the help they needed until it was too late. With no knowledge other than the fact my dad liked the book, I borrowed it from him, excited to learn about how a man of privilege became a radical voice for poor and labor.

Here's the thing -- I don't feel like I got a lot of that in this book. At least not in the depth I was anticipating. FDR's polio certainly impacted his sense of inclusion in American life and his time spent at Warm Springs in Georgia gave him a first-hand look at the way so many Americans lived hand to mouth. But that was about it.

However, this still was an excellent overall biography of FDR giving an overview of his desire to be president, his political tactics and his use of office through domestic and international crises. He seemed to make few bold moves without the overall support of the American public (see: modern day polling data) but the author frames it as FDR's deep respect and desire for democracy -- although Roosevelt did try to guide the American people to his point of view.

So while I was hoping for more discussion of wealth and class status in America in the 1930-40s than for discussion of the Yalta Conference, I learned a lot and enjoyed the book.

[Kyle Suratte]

“‘I began almost as soon as we got into the conference room,’ FDR told [U.S. Secretary of Labor] Frances Perkins. ‘I said, lifting my hand to cover a whisper (which of course had to be interpreted), Winston is cranky this morning, he got up on the wrong side of the bed. A vague smile passed over Stalin’s eyes, and I decided I was on the right track…I began to tease Churchill about his Britishness, about John Bull, about his cigars, about his habits. It began to register with Stalin. Winston got red and scowled, and the more he did so, the more Stalin smiled. Finally Stalin broke out in a deep, hearty guffaw, and for the first time in three days I saw light. I kept it up until Stalin was laughing with me, and it was then that I called him Uncle Joe."

[Edward]

Long comment on the book and some of its preliminary outlines here, from Ron Unz’s long new piece on FDR at Unz.com:

“I’d been very favorably impressed with the Brands book, and noticed that the same author had previously published a lengthy 2008 biography of FDR that had been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, so Traitor to His Class, a doorstop-sized work running around 900 pages seemed like a good starting point for my investigation.

From the beginning, Brands emphasized Roosevelt’s very wealthy and elite family background. The future president was a descendent of the early Dutch settlers who had founded New York, and he followed that family tradition by being educated at Groton and Harvard College. FDR seems to have been a mediocre student with few if any intellectual interests, and years later he always described his failure to be admitted to Harvard’s elite Porcellian social club as the greatest disappointment of his entire life. By all accounts, Roosevelt almost never read any books, with the sole exception being dime detective stories. I’d sometimes come across these sorts of striking anecdotes about FDR in my casual readings, but having them explicitly stated in such a weighty and widely-praised biography fully confirmed their credibility.

After college, FDR enrolled at Columbia Law School, though he found legal studies rather uninteresting, received mediocre grades, and dropped out before graduating. By contrast, he was a very active and enthusiastic member of the New York City Yacht Club, so despite his lack of a law degree, a yachting friend of his soon offered him an unpaid apprenticeship at one of America’s most prestigious law firms. Roosevelt found practical legal work just as dull as he had his law school classes, but the couple of years or so he spent in that position, half of that time working without salary, seems to have been the only real job he ever held in his entire life.

During that period, Roosevelt was already telling his friends that he intended to make politics his career and hoped to reach the presidency, something that struck me as an astonishingly bold goal for someone then in his late 20s with such unimpressive personal achievements. But his very successful subsequent political career owed much to a crucial factor that I had entirely failed to grasp.

When I first began reading candid accounts of FDR’s background and his personal characteristics, the historical analogy that immediately came to my mind was that of President George W. Bush, but I’d failed to fully appreciate just how closely the two cases matched. As most people know, Bush’s very successful career in Republican Party politics was almost entirely due to the famous name of his father, President George H.W. Bush, with many ignorant voters notoriously getting the two men confused. I think it’s widely acknowledged that if Bush’s last name or even his first name had been something different, it’s unlikely that he would have ever been elected to anything at all.

Similarly, I’d always found it an odd coincidence that America had had two presidents with the rather unusual name Roosevelt just a couple of decades apart, but until reading the Brands book I’d failed to understand that much more than mere coincidence was involved.

As the author emphasized, the two terms in office of President Theodore Roosevelt, followed by his extremely active and high-profile post-presidential career had made TR the foremost public figure of his era, also establishing “Roosevelt” as the most famous political name in America, perhaps even in the entire world. FDR came from an entirely different branch of that family, being only a fifth cousin of his important relative, although his wife Eleanor was actually TR’s niece. But FDR’s very famous last name was still regularly regarded as a major political asset, with Democratic Party leaders always glad to put up a Roosevelt of their own and capitalize on the huge fame of the progressive Republican of the same surname.

So when the Democrats of Dutchess County in Upstate New York heard that FDR might be interested in running for office, they eagerly recruited him even though he’d spent the last few years living in New York City. His district was a heavily Republican one and Roosevelt was wealthy enough to fund his own race, so he seemed like the ideal candidate. FDR was handsome and charming and he campaigned in an expensive and gaudy red automobile at a time when horse-and-buggies were still the main means of transportation, so as he drove around his rural district, his unusual vehicle often attracted as much attention as the candidate who rode inside it. The year 1910 happened to be a very good one for Democrats, so Roosevelt won an upset victory by 1,440 votes, entering the New York State Legislature, while his fellow Democrats gained control of both houses.

The election of a Democratic Roosevelt was considered a major political novelty, especially since most people incorrectly assumed that he was actually a close relative of the recent Republican president. The New York Times soon published a lengthy profile on the freshman lawmaker, with the feature writer even declaring that “His patronymic had gone before him.”

Back then, the notorious Tammany Hall Democratic political machine ran New York City, with the state’s Democrats being sharply divided into pro- and anti-Tammany factions. FDR became a leading figure in the latter camp, probably inspired by a mixture of TR’s progressive views and his own shrewd political instincts on how to make a quick name for himself.”

[Brian Eshleman]

For figure like Roosevelt and the demanding times in which he lived, to use a word like magisterial to describe him or this book would be almost cliché. But, true to form, H.W. Brands gives tangibility to both his subject and his subject's times. In a work of this length, not a word is wasted. He has to lecturer's feel for delving into anecdote and offering connecting explanation.

[Rosalyn]

4.5 stars rounded up to 5. I dock .5 because although Brands does cover Roosevelt's personality/pysche, those moments are few and far in between, so that he extensively covers how FDR was a "traitor to his class" but not why, which to me is more compelling to read. Was there a particular moment or person or period of his life that inspired him? How did he come to have his political philosophy? Although I could Google the answers, I expected to learn about them in this lengthy biography, which I didn't really. Brands did accurately convey FDR's guile/charm/perfect politician ambiguity, so that even all these years later, the president still holds people at arm's length, only revealing what he wants us to know. Unfortunately for me, it didn't make for the best 5 star read, but I can't blame the author. Unless I read another FDR book that includes more personal revelations from primary sources, ie. FDR's journals, letters etc., which Brands rarely included. Still, impressive book chronicling huge events, upheavals, a complete change of American society, of which FDR was the constructor of.

[Scott Pomfret]

A solid biography of FDR, though the title doesn't really fit the content. Of course, it documents the privileged life and of course it details the New Deal and related efforts, but it does not make much, if anything, of his being considered a class traitor. The topic is barely broached at all.

Where Brands succeeds is in delivering a relatively sympathetic of FDR that nonetheless pulls no punches on his considerable faults. FDR's political savvy and ambition are the main themes here. At no time does Brands portray him as an idealist, but rather a man of confidence scheming and sometimes lying to achieve what he believes to be the right result.

Eleanor Roosevelt gets extended air time here and the portrait is overwhelmingly sympathetic and admiring (and touching in many places). Churchill and Stalin are examined at length and both come off as flawed but in their own ways brilliant.

[Dr. Tami R Peterson]

Brand's Traitor to His Class is a highly fact-filled read on the political life of FDR. While the title suggests a more analytical approach, it is in fact a highly narrative one. Brand focuses a great deal on FDR during the New Deal period and less so on the WW2 period. Clearly this period was the one in which FDR was considered a "traitor" to his upper class roots but as Brand correctly shows, once the war began, FDR turned away from labor and towards big business. While this switch from "Dr. New Deal" towards "Dr. Win the War" was certainly an important part of FDR's approach, it seems evident that he was getting ready to turn once again towards the working class and the poor with his "Second Bill of Rights" proposals near the end of both his life and WW2.

As with most biographies of FDR, he comes across as a brilliant politician who was able to navigate a wide variety of interests with a contradictory combination of charm and brutal political shrewdness. FDR was an idealist only to a degree, using the Constitution when it suited him and discarding it when it did not - as evidenced in both the attempted packing of the Supreme Court and the later internment of Japanese Americans. He had a way of maintaining a balance between different individuals to allow the best outcome to come forth. While this way of working often drove his contemporary subordinates to distraction in domestic affairs, the book highlights this trait as an indispensable asset on the international stage. It is clear that a man with a different political style could have had a negative impact on international relations for years to come. As it was, and in spite of the Cold War, one finishes reading Brand's work being grateful to have had a person with FDR's temperament leading the United States during such a tumultuous and unpredictable time, despite his numerous contradictions and faults.

[Nancy]

I started off reading this book then switched to the listening to the CD version on a trip to Idaho. My husband and I really got hooked on it. Mark Deakins is a skilled reader who did an excellent job of holding our interest on a book that lasts for 37 hours and 11 minutes. Listening to Deakins read is better than simply reading the book. After I'd heard a few hours, I never went back to the physical book.

FDR was a really remarkable man who was a lot more complex than I understood. Where to even begin? On a personal note, I learned the truth of family story in this book. I had been told that my great-great uncle almost became Chief Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court. He had been chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court when James Cox was governor. Supposedly James Cox would have appointed him if only he had won his presidential race. What was never mentioned is that the Harding/Coolidge ticket absolutely trounced the Cox/Roosevelt ticket. The Democrats never had a chance in that election. Brands starts with Roosevelt's childhood and the influence of his mother and proceeds to tell a sprawling story. Roosevelt was a master at influencing public opinion and changed the course of the United States in many ways that still greatly affect our lives today. Though long, the book is well worth reading. Even better, digest it by listening to it over the course of a couple months. (It is not a new book so I was able to renew my library copy several times. You probably can too.)

[Jee Koh]

Written with a full appreciation of Roosevelt's accomplishments and a frank understanding of his flaws, Traitor to His Class is an engrossing read. The chief burden of the book is to explain how a man of Roosevelt's class and privilege could have become so firm a supporter of ordinary men and women, and so visionary an architect of American internationalism. Part I "Swimming to Health 1882 - 1928" covers the early period, right up to his becoming the Governor of New York. Part II "The Soul of the Nation 1929 - 1937" traces his path to the Presidency and the implementation of New Deal as a response to the Great Depression. The final part "The Fate of the World 1937 - 1945" examines America's entry into WWII and FDR's record as Commander-in-Chief. I was intrigued to learn that, in a moment of carelessness, FDR promised Winston Churchill to send American troops to defend Singapore. The Atlantic Charter was an important document supporting self-rule among the colonies. It explained why newly decolonized nations looked to American instead of the old imperialistic powers of Europe. The only child of an adoring mother, FDR was filled with a sense of his greatness from young. He died, praised by Churchill as "the greatest man" he had ever known.

[judy]

You have to try really hard to make a biography of FDR boring but this distinguished professor has done just that. As the owner of at least 25 books on FDR including the memoirs of some of his close associates and as devoted reader of anything Roosevelt, I am qualified to speak. I thought, perhaps, the author might go with the "traitor to his class" angle but he rarely went there. I kept trying to think, given his outstanding credentials, why he did write this book. What contribution was he making to our understanding? A blurb on the back talks about "shedding new light and brilliant insight". I didn't find either and I did look. In fact, I found myself irritated because there was so much he didn't he didn't include. My beloved Doris Kearns Goodwin actually submitted a blurb saying Brands brought "vivid life to the central figures" in his story. That would be no---they were pure cardboard. If you want them to come to life, read her amazing "No Ordinary Time". I have never read a Roosevelt history that I did not enjoy a little bit or uncover something new. Oh well, there's a first time for everything.

[Kate]

A truly exceptional book. Eleanor and Franklin were two people who history placed at the right time and place. It is very sad that their marriage which started out based on love ended in sadness of both misunderstanding and acrimony. Despite the people who think theirs was a marriage of convenience for political reasons it was not. I think it failed because a/ FDR's mother interfered constantly b/Eleanor had a very unhappy and loveless childhood which FDR could not or would not deal with and try to
recognize her insecurity. and c/ he was handsome, rich and very clever and thus attracted all women including those he had affairs with. His wit, courage and
smarts guided the USA through the Great Depression and the second World War. She was the perfect help meet for him. The truly frightening part is that the same conditions were in place prior to 2008 and what has happened since only mirrors the Great Depression. The only difference is there are more social programs in place to help people than there were in 1932. Same excuses from the same parties. That part is very disheartening. What would our world be like today if FDR lived long enough to help shape it?

[Dan Wilbur]

I picked this up because I wanted to live, for a time, in a fantasy world where a progressive President was in the White House and the American military had moral authority. What I found was that FDR dragged his feet more often than you’d think on matter of social justice, labor, America’s involvement in stopping the Axis powers. An incredibly detailed account of the political climate in the US and personal life of FDR while he made big decisions. Did you know one of the reasons he headed the navy in WWI was simply because he’d been piloting yachts since he was a baby? Did you know his daughter set up trysts with old lovers while he was managing a war? Did you know that Senators weren’t directly elected until the 17th amendment? Should I have paid more attention in school? Yes. But even if you did, there’s new info in this book.

Lastly, this book is for you if you want to read 100 pages of Churchill and FDR falling in love platonically but then when it gets to storming the beaches at Normandy, there’s a single paragraph about the effort. A great read.

[Dan Pepper]

Maybe I'm being a facile idiot but my disappointment here is that it really doesn't engage with Roosevelt and his class or especially what they thought of him. It's just a standard issue biography of FDR, which was fine and I learned some stuff but it's like how the black album is good as an album but maybe not as a Metallica album.

The book's contention that Roosevelt was not much of an ideologue is very interesting and the idea in various places that he basically never confided in anyone so it makes it hard to know what to think of him. In some ways maybe he was politics personified in that he was willing to be what he had to be in order to be elected president.

Maybe I'm being too harsh here but I'm not sure why you'd read this Roosevelt biography if it doesn't focus on class like the title promises.

[Donna]

This is a straight-forward biography of Franklin Roosevelt. I liked it because it stuck mostly to chronological reporting and only occasionally went "out of order" to pick up an important theme. Brands is really good at this kind of writing. I look forward to reading his works on B. Franklin & A. Jackson.

As I was reading this I began to watch "The Waltons" (first season DVD). It was interesting to see the impact of FDR on these people, from his picture in the homes to the "blue eagle" in the general store. FDR may have been a traitor to the blue-blooded Knickerbockers, but he was a savior to the rest of America.

[Susan Albert]

If you're looking for a book that sets FDR as a patrician born and bred in the context of his efforts to deal with the devastation of the Depression on the lower and middle class, this is the book to read. Often charged with being a socialist, "[FDR] believed in democracy--in the capacity of ordinary Americans, exercising their collective judgment, to address the ills that afflicted their society. He refused to rely on the invisible hand of the marketplace, for the compelling reason that during his lifetime the invisible hand had wreaked very visible havoc on millions of unoffending Americans."

[Alex Gl]

This biography is interesting because of FDR‘s life and not because of the writing. Not great storytelling, feels at times just like hearing to a Wikipedia article. I don’t have the feeling I know the person behind the initials, although I know certainly more about what his accomplishments as a president.

Would have also loved to know more about how he dealt with his disability, but the author does not go into much detail.

All in all would not recommend.

[Stephen Tryon]

I wish all Americans of voting age would read this book. Brands' biography of Franklin Delano Roosevelt is excellent on many levels: as a biography of one of our greatest presidents (FDR ranks among the top three in many rankings of our presidents), as a fascinating portrait of the very human interactions among national leaders during one of the most challenging periods in our history, and as an additional perspective on some major events in American history. Brands' use of primary sources includes comments from FDR's children and from others who interacted with him at pivotal moments. FDR's relationships with his wife Eleanor, his close associates in his political career, and with world leaders like Churchill and Stalin are illuminating. In particular, his personal views of and interactions with Douglas MacArthur foreshadow the trouble Truman had with MacArthur. I came away with a different perspective on someone whose character I had accepted uncritically based on what I was taught at West Point. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Brands' biography of FDR paints a clear picture of the causes and effects of the Great Depression, the New Deal, the Second World War, the advent of Social Security, and the birth of the United Nations.

Part of Roosevelt's brilliance as a president lay in his compassion for the common people in America, who were suffering greatly when FDR was inaugurated. Many of his personal associates felt that the polio, which temporarily made Roosevelt a paraplegic and permanently robbed him of the full use of his legs, was a pivotal event that increased his empathy for others. It certainly caused him to spend a great deal of time in rural Georgia, where he became directly acquainted with the vast disparities in economic resources and potential in different parts of America.

One of Roosevelt's greatest achievements was in seeing the connections between what he observed during the First World War, the actions of the governments of other nations (as well as those of the three branches of the government of the United States), and the path he felt was necessary to avoid future world wars. When he, along with Churchill, proposed the Atlantic Charter, he was really projecting into the international arena the goals he had set for American society to get out of Depression. The Four Freedoms that served as a shorthand for the Charter were freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want and freedom from fear.

As a veteran, I am particularly grateful that FDR was the father of the GI Bill of Rights. Having seen the suffering of WWI veterans at the onset of the depression (including the Bonus March on Washington and Hoover's use of the army to remove some of the veterans by force), FDR proposed a comprehensive plan to prevent a recurrence of this tragedy. "First on his list was a mustering-out bonus large enough to cover living expenses for a reasonable period between discharge from the military and the assuming of civilian jobs. Second, unemployment insurance for those unable to find jobs. Third, government funding for further education. Fourth, credit with Social Security for the time spent in the military. Fifth, medical care and rehabilitation for those injured in the service. Sixth, pensions for disabled veterans." (Brands, p. 722)