First published 2006
Jonathan Alter examines Franklin Delano Roosevelt's rise to power during America's darkest economic hour. In March 1933, banks shuttered across the nation as millions lost their savings and livelihoods. The author traces how a privileged young aristocrat transformed into the leader who would rescue American democracy. Alter reveals the key figures who shaped Roosevelt: his domineering mother, his independent wife Eleanor, his eccentric adviser Louis Howe, and his political rival Al Smith. The narrative follows Roosevelt from his polio diagnosis at Warm Springs, Georgia, through his narrow presidential nomination in 1932, to his legendary inaugural address declaring that Americans had nothing to fear but fear itself. Alter uncovers new evidence, including a draft speech showing Roosevelt considered mobilizing American Legion veterans as a private army on his first day in office. Instead, Roosevelt chose a different path, rescuing the banking system, creating immediate employment programs, and pioneering mass communication through press conferences and fireside chats. His experimental approach during those crucial first months laid the foundation for Social Security and fundamentally rewrote America's social contract, demonstrating how decisive leadership restored national hope.
Genres: biography, history, 20th-century, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: leadership, transformation
Setting: Warm Springs, Georgia
Period: 1933
308 pages · Kindle Edition · Simon Schuster