FDR - Jean Edward Smith [0]
FDR
“Miraculous … a careful, intelligent synopsis of the existing Roosevelt scholarship … and a meticulous re-interpretation of the man and his record … At last we have the biography that is right for the man.”
—The Washington Post
“Magisterial … The author’s eloquent synthesis of FDR’s complex and compelling life is remarkably executed and a joy to read.… This erudite but graceful volume illuminates FDR’s life for scholars, history buffs and casual readers alike.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“[A] remarkable, sympathetic biography … [Smith] does a fine job.”
—The New Yorker
“Compelling … richly researched … one of those monumental works that … does not lose sight of the individual at its heart.”
—The Denver Post
“An outstanding biography of ‘the most gifted American statesman of the twentieth century’ … an exemplary and highly readable work that ably explains why FDR merits continued honor.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“A marvelous book.”
—The Dallas Morning News
“Especially deft … Smith vibrantly captures the complete drama of an American original.”
—Newark Star-Ledger
“An intricate network of personal detail … deeply moving.”
—The New York Sun
“Smith’s towering new biography brings the great man to vivid life once more, offering us a valuable chance to ponder again the crucial mystery of leadership.”
—JON MEACHAM, author of Franklin and Winston and American Gospel
“[Smith] is an accomplished biographer, and he lays out in the most charming prose the dynamics of a gifted politician.”
—The Washington Times
“This page-turner is the best single-volume biography available of America’s thirty-second president. Essential.”
—Library Journal (starred review)
ALSO BY JEAN EDWARD SMITH
Grant
John Marshall: Definer of a Nation
George Bush’s War
Lucius D. Clay: An American Life
The Conduct of American Foreign Policy Debated
(ED., WITH HERBERT M. LEVINE)
The Constitution and American Foreign Policy
Civil Liberties and Civil Rights Debated
(ED., WITH HERBERT M. LEVINE)
The Papers of General Lucius D. Clay (ED.)
Germany Beyond the Wall
Der Weg ins Dilemma
The Defense of Berlin
Copyright © 2007 by Jean Edward Smith
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Random House Trade Paperbacks, an imprint
of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
RANDOM HOUSE TRADE PAPERBACKS and colophon are trademarks
of Random House, Inc.
Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Random House, an imprint of
The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., in 2007.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., for
permission to reprint brief excerpts from Working with Roosevelt by Samuel I. Rosenman,
copyright © 1952 by Harper & Brothers. Copyright renewed © 1980 by
Dorothy R. Rosenman, Robert Rosenman, and James R. Rowen. Used by permission.
Unless otherwise noted, the photographs in this work are courtesy of the Franklin D.
Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, Hyde Park, New York.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Smith, Jean Edward.
FDR / Jean Edward Smith.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-1-58836-624-5
1. Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882–1945. 2. Presidents—United States—Biography. I. Title.
E807.S58 2007 973.917092—dc22 2006043087
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To the memory of my parents,
Eddyth and Jean—proud Mississippians
devoted to Franklin Roosevelt
HE LIFTED HIMSELF FROM HIS WHEELCHAIR
TO LIFT THIS NATION FROM ITS KNEES.
Preface
THREE PRESIDENTS DOMINATE American history: George Washington, who founded the country; Abraham Lincoln, who preserved it; and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who rescued it from economic collapse and then led it to victory in the greatest war of all time. Elected for an unprecedented four terms, Roosevelt proved the most gifted American statesman of the twentieth century. When he took office in 1933, one third of the nation was unemployed. Agriculture lay destitute. Factories were idle,