Robert Dallek is an accomplished historian specializing in historical biography. He has previously written extensively about John F. Kennedy among other presidents and world leaders. Dallek is recognized as a seasoned presidential historian and biographer. In this book, he writes with authority about Franklin D Roosevelt a Political Life and mission to create a “new social order” during a time of “enduring national transformation.”
Throughout his remarkable political career, Roosevelt managed to steer the country as “one organic entity, [reaffirming] that no interest, no class, no section, is either separate or supreme above the interests of all”—views he expressed in an interview before his first presidential win in 1932.
This was especially surprising given his own patrician background and the general expectation of dictatorial leadership during the Depression crisis. The author examines several formative factors that contributed to Roosevelt’s ability to successfully tap public sentiment and address significant issues.
He was not held to pursue his ambitions despite being stricken by polio and his trips to Warm Springs, Georgia, where he mingled with the similarly afflicted and marginalized. The author also effectively shows how Roosevelt was an astute political animal who sometimes made questionable decisions for political expedience.
Such as failing to push for an anti-lynching law for fear of losing Franklin D Roosevelt a political life with white Southern support, incarcerating Japanese-Americans during World War II, and fumbling over saving Jews from persecution by Nazi Germany. He also delayed open support for western democracies for fear of a backlash from the anti-war lobby in America but when he bought his country to ar, his commitment was full and final. The Weekender
