Presidential Biographies: Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt is definitely one of the most biographied presidents, and it is understandable why. He served as President longer than anyone has (or will unless there is a Constitutional Amendment allowing a President to hold the office for longer than two full terms.) He held the office through a Great Depression and then a World War, and he won four Presidential elections before dying while in office. His pre-presidential story is also an interesting one, coming from a moneyed background, running for Vice-President in 1920, and then contracting polio that left him unable to walk without aid and considerable effort.
There are so many biographies of FDR that those I mention will be limited to what is in my potus_geeks library, while realizing that there are probably many other good ones that I am unaware of. My choice for the best one is Robert Dallek's 2017 book FDR: A Political Life, though that would be closely followed by H. W. Brands' 2009 book Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Other comprehensive biographies of Roosevelt include Jean Edward Smith's 2007 doorstop, simply called FDR, Conrad Black's equally voluminous 2003 book FDR: Champion of Freedom, James MacGregor Burns' 1971 biography Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom, or Frank Freidel's 1991 offering Roosevelt: A Rendezvous With Destiny. Alan Brinkley's 2009 book Franklin Delano Roosevelt is much briefer, while Doris Kearns Goodwin's 1994 book No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II is primarily concerned with the Roosevelts in the war years.
Stanley Weintraub wrote about FDR's early years in his 2013 book Young Mr. Roosevelt: FDR's Introduction to War, Politics and Life, while Adam Cohen's 2009 book Nothing to Fear: FDR's Inner Circle and the Hundred Days That Created Modern America is about the start of Roosevelt's presidency.
Roosevelt won his first election (defeating incumbent Herbert Hoover) in 1932, and that year has spawned some fascinating history books. David Pietrusza in his 2105 book 1932: The Rise of Hitler and FDR--Two Tales of Politics, Betrayal, and Unlikely Destiny contrasts the rise of the two most iconic leaders of the war years (perhaps of the century). Steve Neal, in his 2004 book Happy Days Are Here Again: The 1932 Democratic Convention, the Emergence of FDR--and How America Was Changed Forever focuses on how Roosevelt won his party's nomination for President, while the University of Kansas Press's Presidential Election Series volume on this election was written by David Ritchie and is entitled Electing FDR: The New Deal Campaign of 1932 (published in 2007).
FDR won the 1936 election in a landslide over Kansas Governor Alf Landon, and you might think that this contest might not offer much to write about, but you would be wrong, especially when the story is told by David Pietrusza, who works his magic combining history with delightful reading in his 2022 book Roosevelt Sweeps Nation: FDR’s 1936 Landslide and the Triumph of the Liberal Ideal.
Marine General Smedley Butler claimed that he was privy to a plot hatched by American businessmen to organize a coup to overthrow FDR and have Butler serve as a puppet president in his place. This amazing tale is told in two books: Jules Archer's 2008 book The Plot to Seize the White House: The Shocking TRUE Story of the Conspiracy to Overthrow FDR and Sally Denton's 2012 book The Plots Against the President: FDR, A Nation in Crisis, and the Rise of the American Right.
One of Roosevelt's failures was his plan to increase the size of the Supreme Court in order to appoint more justices friendly to his New Deal legislation. It was met with mass resistance and never got off the ground. This is the subject of two books: Jeff Shesol's 2010 book Supreme Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. the Supreme Court and James F. Simon's 2012 book FDR and Chief Justice Hughes: The President, the Supreme Court, and the Epic Battle Over the New Deal.
FDR surprised many by seeking and winning a third term in office, something that had never been done before or since. It was considered bad form because George Washington had refused to do it and every president after him that had the chance to do so declined to. This was an issue in the election of 1940, and the story of that election is told in three book. There is Susan Dunn's 2013 book 1940: FDR, Willkie, Lindbergh, Hitler - the Election amid the Storm; Charles Peters' 2005 book Five Days in Philadelphia: The Amazing "We Want Willkie!" Convention of 1940 and How It Freed FDR to Save the Western World; and the University of Kansas Press's Presidential Election Series volume written by John W. Jeffries entitled A Third Term for FDR: The Election of 1940 (published in 2017).
The United States entered the Second World War in December of 1941, but Roosevelt wanted to come to the aid of England and the other allied nations much sooner. One Christmas in Washington by David Bercuson and Holger Herwig, published in 2005, tells the story of how FDR and Churchill forged their alliance. Other books about FDR as a wartime president include Kenneth Davis's 2000 book FDR: The War President 1940-43 and Nigel Hamilton's 2014 book The Mantle of Command: FDR at War 1941-42.
Roosevelt had one more election to win and that was in 1944. The story of that election is told in David Jordan's 2011 book FDR, Dewey and the Election of 1944 and in Stanley Weintraub's 2012 book Final Victory: FDR's Extraordinary World War II Presidential Campaign. The year 1944 is also the subject of an excellent book by Jay Winik, published in 2015, entitled 1944: The Year that Changed History, which describes the battles within FDR's administration between those who wanted to help Jews escape persecution by the Nazis, and those who didn't.
I'll end this by making mention of three other books about FDR. Douglas Brinkley's 2016 book Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America explores Roosevelt's role as a conservationist, much like his famous cousin, Theodore Roosevelt. Together We Cannot Fail: FDR and the American Presidency in Years of Crisis by Terry Golway (published in 2009), looks at Roosevelt's extraordinary ability as an orator, and includes an audio CD of some of his speeches and fireside chats. Finally, The Last 100 Days: FDR at War and at Peace by David Woolner (published in 2017) looks at the end of Roosevelt's life, a period often overlooked by historians, yet vital to the story of his presidency, the author argues.
Just listing some of the many books written about Roosevelt is exhausting, so one can only imagine how much energy the man must have had to be able to pack so much into his life and presidency. There is no shortage of fascinating material for students of history and of the presidency. So many books, so little time!
There are so many biographies of FDR that those I mention will be limited to what is in my potus_geeks library, while realizing that there are probably many other good ones that I am unaware of. My choice for the best one is Robert Dallek's 2017 book FDR: A Political Life, though that would be closely followed by H. W. Brands' 2009 book Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Other comprehensive biographies of Roosevelt include Jean Edward Smith's 2007 doorstop, simply called FDR, Conrad Black's equally voluminous 2003 book FDR: Champion of Freedom, James MacGregor Burns' 1971 biography Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom, or Frank Freidel's 1991 offering Roosevelt: A Rendezvous With Destiny. Alan Brinkley's 2009 book Franklin Delano Roosevelt is much briefer, while Doris Kearns Goodwin's 1994 book No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II is primarily concerned with the Roosevelts in the war years.
Stanley Weintraub wrote about FDR's early years in his 2013 book Young Mr. Roosevelt: FDR's Introduction to War, Politics and Life, while Adam Cohen's 2009 book Nothing to Fear: FDR's Inner Circle and the Hundred Days That Created Modern America is about the start of Roosevelt's presidency.
Roosevelt won his first election (defeating incumbent Herbert Hoover) in 1932, and that year has spawned some fascinating history books. David Pietrusza in his 2105 book 1932: The Rise of Hitler and FDR--Two Tales of Politics, Betrayal, and Unlikely Destiny contrasts the rise of the two most iconic leaders of the war years (perhaps of the century). Steve Neal, in his 2004 book Happy Days Are Here Again: The 1932 Democratic Convention, the Emergence of FDR--and How America Was Changed Forever focuses on how Roosevelt won his party's nomination for President, while the University of Kansas Press's Presidential Election Series volume on this election was written by David Ritchie and is entitled Electing FDR: The New Deal Campaign of 1932 (published in 2007).
FDR won the 1936 election in a landslide over Kansas Governor Alf Landon, and you might think that this contest might not offer much to write about, but you would be wrong, especially when the story is told by David Pietrusza, who works his magic combining history with delightful reading in his 2022 book Roosevelt Sweeps Nation: FDR’s 1936 Landslide and the Triumph of the Liberal Ideal.
Marine General Smedley Butler claimed that he was privy to a plot hatched by American businessmen to organize a coup to overthrow FDR and have Butler serve as a puppet president in his place. This amazing tale is told in two books: Jules Archer's 2008 book The Plot to Seize the White House: The Shocking TRUE Story of the Conspiracy to Overthrow FDR and Sally Denton's 2012 book The Plots Against the President: FDR, A Nation in Crisis, and the Rise of the American Right.
One of Roosevelt's failures was his plan to increase the size of the Supreme Court in order to appoint more justices friendly to his New Deal legislation. It was met with mass resistance and never got off the ground. This is the subject of two books: Jeff Shesol's 2010 book Supreme Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. the Supreme Court and James F. Simon's 2012 book FDR and Chief Justice Hughes: The President, the Supreme Court, and the Epic Battle Over the New Deal.
FDR surprised many by seeking and winning a third term in office, something that had never been done before or since. It was considered bad form because George Washington had refused to do it and every president after him that had the chance to do so declined to. This was an issue in the election of 1940, and the story of that election is told in three book. There is Susan Dunn's 2013 book 1940: FDR, Willkie, Lindbergh, Hitler - the Election amid the Storm; Charles Peters' 2005 book Five Days in Philadelphia: The Amazing "We Want Willkie!" Convention of 1940 and How It Freed FDR to Save the Western World; and the University of Kansas Press's Presidential Election Series volume written by John W. Jeffries entitled A Third Term for FDR: The Election of 1940 (published in 2017).
The United States entered the Second World War in December of 1941, but Roosevelt wanted to come to the aid of England and the other allied nations much sooner. One Christmas in Washington by David Bercuson and Holger Herwig, published in 2005, tells the story of how FDR and Churchill forged their alliance. Other books about FDR as a wartime president include Kenneth Davis's 2000 book FDR: The War President 1940-43 and Nigel Hamilton's 2014 book The Mantle of Command: FDR at War 1941-42.
Roosevelt had one more election to win and that was in 1944. The story of that election is told in David Jordan's 2011 book FDR, Dewey and the Election of 1944 and in Stanley Weintraub's 2012 book Final Victory: FDR's Extraordinary World War II Presidential Campaign. The year 1944 is also the subject of an excellent book by Jay Winik, published in 2015, entitled 1944: The Year that Changed History, which describes the battles within FDR's administration between those who wanted to help Jews escape persecution by the Nazis, and those who didn't.
I'll end this by making mention of three other books about FDR. Douglas Brinkley's 2016 book Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America explores Roosevelt's role as a conservationist, much like his famous cousin, Theodore Roosevelt. Together We Cannot Fail: FDR and the American Presidency in Years of Crisis by Terry Golway (published in 2009), looks at Roosevelt's extraordinary ability as an orator, and includes an audio CD of some of his speeches and fireside chats. Finally, The Last 100 Days: FDR at War and at Peace by David Woolner (published in 2017) looks at the end of Roosevelt's life, a period often overlooked by historians, yet vital to the story of his presidency, the author argues.
Just listing some of the many books written about Roosevelt is exhausting, so one can only imagine how much energy the man must have had to be able to pack so much into his life and presidency. There is no shortage of fascinating material for students of history and of the presidency. So many books, so little time!