HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION. Readers of Jean Edward Smith's earlier work (JOHN MARSHALL:DEFINER OF A NATION or GRANT) should need no recommendation for his superb new biography of an American President who consistently competes with Lincoln and Washington for the mythical title of "Greatest President." And after reading FDR one may ask if Franklin Roosevelt actually was "the greatest." Using his trademark straightforward style of writing, Jean Smith covers all the bases and lets the facts speak for themselves. Yes, Roosevelt was a wealthy, priveleged patrician, but Smith's description of him rattling along dusty back roads and visiting with poor farmers in rural Georgia is as enlightening as his relationships with world leaders or even royalty. The dirt farmers were "my friends and my neighbors" and the King of Great Britain was simply "George". Yes, Roosevelt was the consumate master of mass communication via radio and newsreels, but Smith repeatedly surprises the reader with evidence of his ability to craft his speeches and policies completely on his own. Lend Lease to Great Britain was completely FDR's idea. Even Churchill, who called it "the most unsordid act in the history of any nation", had no idea it was going to happen. And it was Roosevelt, not a speech writer, who wrote -and then spoke memorably- phrases to do with the "Four Freedoms", the "Rendezvous With Destiny", and, of course,"My little dog,Fala." And yes, he liked his leisure pursuits like sailing, his stamp collection, and his evening cocktail ritual; but Smith also shows the diligent Franklin Roosevelt, the doer, who routinely worked twelve hour days at his desk, who met reporters twice every week(over 900 times),and who endured immense physical discomfort as he travelled to summits always sited for the convenience of the other participants. His accomplishments were, and remain, astonishing. In 1935 89% of American farms had no electricity (99% in Mississippi), by 1941 nearly half had power, and by the late 1940s virtually all. Franklin Roosevelt's story is grand stuff, inspiring, and requires no garnish. He had his flaws which Smith diligently chronicles. But at day's end the balance sheet is clearly, overwhelmingly, positive. Winston Churchill said meeting Roosevelt for the first time was "like opening your first bottle of champagne". Conservative icon Ronald Reagan always voted for him. And millions of impoverished but hopeful American families displayed his picture in their homes. This is the biography he has deserved-and we have needed-for a long time. Enjoy, learn, be inspired...and, like Franklin Delano Roosevelt, be optimistic.

Jean Edward Smith is the author of twelve books, including the highly acclaimed biographies Grant (a 2002 Pulitzer Prize finalist and a New York Times Notable Book), John Marshall: Definer of a Nation (a New York Times Notable Book), and Lucius D. Clay: An American Life (a New York Times Notable Book). A graduate of Princeton University and Columbia University, Smith taught at the University of Toronto thirty-five years before joining the faculty at Marshall University, where he is the John Marshall Professor of Political Science.


From the Hardcover edition.

One of today’s premier biographers has written a modern, comprehensive, indeed ultimate book on the epic life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In this superlative volume, Jean Edward Smith combines contemporary scholarship and a broad range of primary source material to provide an engrossing narrative of one of America’s greatest presidents.

This is a portrait painted in broad strokes and fine details. We see how Roosevelt’s restless energy, fierce intellect, personal magnetism, and ability to project effortless grace permitted him to master countless challenges throughout his life. Smith recounts FDR’s battles with polio and physical disability, and how these experiences helped forge the resolve that FDR used to surmount the economic turmoil of the Great Depression and the wartime threat of totalitarianism. Here also is FDR’s private life depicted with unprecedented candor and nuance, with close attention paid to the four women who molded his personality and helped to inform his worldview: His mother, Sara Delano Roosevelt, formidable yet ever supportive and tender; his wife, Eleanor, whose counsel and affection were instrumental to FDR’s public and individual achievements; Lucy Mercer, the great romantic love of FDR’s life; and Missy LeHand, FDR’s longtime secretary, companion, and confidante, whose adoration of her boss was practically limitless.

Smith also tackles head-on and in-depth the numerous failures and miscues of Roosevelt’s public career, including his disastrous attempt to reconstruct the Judiciary; the shameful internment of Japanese-Americans; and Roosevelt’s occasionally self-defeating Executive overreach. Additionally, Smith offers a sensitive and balanced assessment of Roosevelt’s response to the Holocaust, noting its breakthroughs and shortcomings.

Summing up Roosevelt’s legacy, Jean Smith declares that FDR, more than any other individual, changed the relationship between the American people and their government. It was Roosevelt who revolutionized the art of campaigning and used the burgeoning mass media to garner public support and allay fears. But more important, Smith gives us the clearest picture yet of how this quintessential Knickerbocker aristocrat, a man who never had to depend on a paycheck, became the common man’s president. The result is a powerful account that adds fresh perspectives and draws profound conclusions about a man whose story is widely known but far less well understood. Written for the general reader and scholars alike, FDR is a stunning biography in every way worthy of its subject.


From the Hardcover edition.

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Distributor: Random House, Inc.
Publication Date: 05-13-2008
Pages: 880
Measurements: 9.2in X 6.1in X 1.85in X 1.9lb