Franklin Roosevelt

TITLE: The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph or Hope

AUTHOR: Jonathan Alter

Published 2007



My wife bought this book for me for Christmas when I told her about the idea about reading a book on every US President. She bought it at Barnes and Noble. While it would not have been my first choice, it certainly turned out to be a great first book for the project and an excellent springboard for future reading.

Alter's premise is looking at Roosevelt's first 100 days but ironically he doesn't get to the actual time period until Chapter Thirty One, page 207. Of course, in order to understand the flurry of legislation passed during that time period, Alter had to develop the historical characters before that but the title was more than a little misleading.

In a strange twist I found some of the best reading in the footnotes. Alter refers to past and future presidents in these on many occasions that made me want to know more. Footnotes in other books can take away from the narrative but Alter uses them as they are intended, to enhance the story.

Even with all the background, "The Defining Moment" has a rather narrow focus. It does not bog down in the actual legislation which is a good thing Although, I would have like to have known more about the repeal of Prohibition. Instead the book's theme is on the relationships developed between Roosevelt and the various people he comes in contact .

His relationship with family, especially his mother, was definitely interesting. His relationship with his wife and children have been well chronicled with nothing really new to add. Nevertheless, I found the entire dynamic fascinating.

How FDR interacts with his political allies and foes is probably the most intriguing. How he keeps people off balance was certainly a political tightrope that few could walk. Both allies and foes come and go but FDR uses them as interchangable parts to fit his particular purpose.

Alter's contention that Roosevelt has forever changed the way we look at future Presidents hold strong merit. Every President is measured by their first 100 days. Every President now has to be media savvy, it is part of the job, and FDR's use of the newest mediam, radio, is the harbinger to that thought.

RECOMMENDATION:

Easy read that is worth for $4.00 you can buy it on Amazon for right now.

NEXT UP:

COOLIDGE: An Ameican Enigma by Robert Sobel

The Premise

As all of us tend to do, I sat down on January 1, 2010, and made a list of New Year's Resolutions. Not the kind that vow to lose twenty pounds, although I certainly could use it, or to exponential change my lifestyle, thought processes, or beliefs. No, to pledge that radical of a change has always seemed pointeless to me. Instead, my thought was to find things that I genuinely enjoy and revisited them.

At 47 years of age, I am not old but I certainly have lived. With two teenagers, two dogs, and a wonderful wife, along with all the obligation that adulthood has brought, simple pleasures tend to be burrowed under, still fresh enough to see, but without the time to unearth the gems that once were. As a result I have decided to read a book about every US President in the year 2010.

I graduated with a history degree from University of Missouri-St Louis in 1988 so I at least have a cursory knowledge of the subject but that certainly does not make me an expert, nor do I claim to be. The idea is to read a book, let everyone know what I thought of it, and hopefully gain some feedback on who I should read about next and why.

At times, I will read something that is not related to Presidents and I will chime in on that as well. The source for my books are as follows:

1. The St Louis Public Library
2. The Half Price Book Store in Dallas (courtesy of my Aunt Trula Skaggs)
3. Barnes and Noble which is just a few miles from my house
4. The occasional book fair or garage sale.
5. Left Bank Books in St Louis
6. Amazon.com

The criteria for choosing the books will be far from exact:

1. They have to be about a US President, that is a given
2. The book does not have to be a full biographical account. It can be about something specific that occurred during the Presidency (Bay Of Pigs as an example)
3. Length is a determining factor. With 44 US Presidents and 52 weeks in a year, I can't read Team of Rivals with 944 pages, although I have and would like to read it.

So on with the reviews and most importantly, on too learning something new.