Drawing on archival materials, public speeches, personal correspondence, and accounts by family 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.
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Background Information
Franklin D. Roosevelt overcame polio to become president during the Great Depression and World War II. The American economy felt into a slump after the Crash of 1929 and continued at low levesl throughout the next decade. Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt, became the first First Lady to establish her importance beyond her role as the president's wife. Franklin D. Roosevelt declared that he would deliver a New Deal, which became the name for his anti-Depression programs.