FDR

Starred review from February 12, 2007
Independent biographer Smith (1996's John Marshall: Definer of a Nation
and 2001's Grant
) crafts a magisterial biography of our most important modern president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Scores of books have been written about Roosevelt, exploring every nook and cranny of his experience, so Smith breaks no "news" and offers no previously undisclosed revelations concerning the man from Hyde Park. But the author's eloquent synthesis of FDR's complex and compelling life is remarkably executed and a joy to read. Drawing on the papers of the Franklin Roosevelt Presidential Library as well as Columbia University's oral history collection and other repositories, Smith minutely explores the arc of FDR's intertwined political and private lives. With regard to the political, the biographer seamlessly traces Roosevelt's evolution from gawky, aristocratic, political newcomer nibbling at the edges of the rough-and-tumble Dutchess County, N.Y., Democratic machine to the consummate though physically crippled political insider—a man without pretensions who acquired and performed the jobs of New York governor and then United States president with shrewd, and always joyous, efficiency. As is appropriate, more than half of Smith's narrative deals with FDR as president: the four terms (from 1933 until his death in 1945) during which he waged war, in turn, on the Depression and the Axis powers. As for the private Roosevelt, Smith reveals him as a devoted son; an unhappy husband who eventually settled into an uneasy peace and working partnership with his wife and cousin Eleanor; an emotionally absent father; and a man who for years devotedly loved two women other than his wife—Lucy Mercer Rutherford and Missy LeHand, the latter his secretary. This erudite but graceful volume illuminates FDR's life for scholars, history buffs and casual readers alike. Photos not seen by PW
.

Starred review from March 15, 2007
Smith (political science, Marshall Univ.;John Marshall: Definer of a Nation ), a constitutional law scholar and the author of several penetrating biographies, including an account of one of our least regarded presidents (Grant ), now tackles a President of the highest repute. To understand Franklin D. Roosevelt's legacy requires an appreciation for the unique role that the United States occupies in world history. Understanding America's founding promise and the challenges of the Civil War, the Great Depression, and World War II, Smith unravels the motivation of perhaps the greatest U.S. Presidentif not the greatest democratic leaderof the 20th century. Smith clearly admires both FDR and his policies. Rather than finding new data, the author excels at placing his narrative in a balanced context. He is especially effective in undermining conspiracy theorists who see Pearl Harbor as a presidential ploy to get the United States into war. As he did so effectively with John Marshall, Smith shows FDR as a human being capable of betrayal, hubris, and stubbornness. This page-turner is the best single-volume biography available of America's 32nd president, complementing the recent work of Doris Kearns Goodwin (No Ordinary Time ) and Conrad Black (Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom ). Essential. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 1/07.]William D. Pederson, Louisiana State Univ., Shreveport

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2007
For those needing an introduction to historical figures who have been the subject of thousands of books, the one-volume biography is a sensible start. Smith's sound synthesis initiates them into FDR's chronology and into themes historians have perceived within it. His ebullient charisma prompts many writers, including Smith here, to seek out the formative influences on FDR that engendered in him the self-confidence to persevere through personal and national crises. Smith accordingly elaborates on the only child's closeness to his mother, his education at Groton and Harvard, and his initially meteoric ascent in politics, halted by polio in 1921. Smith highlights this as the cynosure for thinking about FDR's life: his famous resolve to defeat the disease and walk again, whether born of courage or self-deception, reflected a certain mysteriousness of personality noted by all who met him. With its ensuing narrative on FDR's comeback in 1932, launch of the New Deal, and decisions about war and peace, Smith's portrait will ground readers in FDR's controversies and historical stature.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)