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Summary
Summary
Brought up in a privileged family, Franklin Delano Roosevelt had every opportunity in front of him. As a young man, he found a path in politics and quickly began to move into the public eye. That ascent seemed impossible when he contracted polio and lost the use of his legs. But with a will of steel he fought the disease-and public perception of his disability-to become president of the United States of America.
FDR used that same will to guide his country through a crippling depression and a horrendous world war. He understood Adolf Hitler, and what it would take to stop him, before almost any other world leader did. But to accomplish his greater goals, he made difficult choices that sometimes compromised the ideals of fairness and justice.
FDR is one of America's most intriguing presidents, lionized by some and villainized by others. National Book Award finalist Albert Marrin explores the life of a fascinating, complex man, who was ultimately one of the greatest leaders our country has known.
Author Notes
Albert Marrin is the author of numerous nonfiction books for young readers, including Flesh and Blood So Cheap- The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy , which was a National Book Award finalist, as well as Black Gold- The Story of Oil in Our Lives , A Volcano Beneath the Snow- John Brown's War Against Slavery , and Thomas Paine- Crusader for Liberty .
His many honors include the Washington Children's Book Guild and Washington Post Nonfiction Award for an "outstanding lifetime contribution that has enriched the field of children's literature," the James Madison Book Award for lifetime achievement, and the National Endowment for the Humanities Medal, awarded by President George W. Bush.
Reviews (4)
Horn Book Review
Marrin's biographies tend to go well beyond covering the lives of their subjects to provide rich examinations of the contexts of those lives. His latest is both a biography of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and an exploration of the first half of the twentieth century. The book examines the personal milestones in the life of FDR (his childhood, his marriage to his fifth cousin Eleanor, his early political career, his polio) as well as the larger political events that touched the nation, most notably the Great Depression and World War II. Roosevelt emerges from these pages as something of an enigma, exuding warmth and affability to the public while remaining aloof and distant in private, even with family and friends; however, some of that enigmatic quality can be attributed to some unsubstantiated assertions on Marrin's part. Ultimately, this book often seems to be as much a commentary on modern times as it is on the past, and here the discussion of, say, the ethics of civilian bombing seems extremely relevant to current world events. Notes, a bibliography, image credits, and an index are appended. jonathan hunt (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* The American Crisis, as defined by Marrin, is the razed landscape of post-Roaring Twenties strife headlined by the 1929 Wall Street Crash, the Dust Bowl, and the Great Depression, which only the Second World War not the ballyhooed New Deal could fix. It's a massive, thorny slab of history, but Marrin's superpower is crystalline clarity. He begins with the young, privileged FDR, raised from a lineage made rich off of whale fat and opium. If that odd fact perked your interest, just wait: Marrin spikes his prose with keep-you-reading bits of esoterica (Depression-era mothers abandoning babies at animal shelters, German dogs taught to bark, Mein Führer). FDR, portrayed as a booming, brilliant sexist convinced of his myth before it was even written, becomes president as if preordained, and Marrin briskly depicts the courage he instilled within the populace in his first 100 days. His shining legacy government's expanded role in providing a social safety net is contrasted with a murkier view of his wartime stewardship. Was he suckered by Stalin? Did he do all he could to help the Jews? In contrast to Marrin's more concentrated works, such as Flesh and Blood So Cheap (2011), this strays from its protagonist for long stretches, and that will challenge readers. The payoff, though, is fantastic: frequent, illuminating photos; unimpeachable sourcing; and a breathtaking historical synthesis.--Kraus, Daniel Copyright 2014 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Starred Review. Gr 8 Up-Marrin blends biography and history in this masterly overview of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's leadership in two of the most dangerous crises of the 20th century. His outstanding writing draws on primary sources and includes ample background and detail about Roosevelt's personal and public lives and lengthy descriptions of the people and events that defined his presidency. Marrin is highly objective about Roosevelt, portraying him as neither saint nor villain. He explains how Roosevelt's upbringing and class, battle with polio, and ever-present political instincts influenced his decisions and gave him the confidence to confront often-intractable dilemmas, relieve suffering during the Great Depression, and wage World War II. However, Marrin also discusses some of the negative results of FDR's choices, including the continuation of Jim Crow and his reluctance to support anti-lynching laws, the exclusion of Jewish refugees and a tepid response to the Holocaust, and the tragic miscalculation of his ability to influence Joseph Stalin's postwar aggression in Eastern Europe. The author includes some of his own memories of FDR and concludes that the man deserves his historical rating as a great president. High-quality black-and-white photos in a clean layout enhance the text, and documentation is meticulous. This book far surpasses most extant titles about Roosevelt and provides a more nuanced evaluation of his life and presidency than titles such as Sudipta Bardhan-Quallin's Franklin Delano Roosevelt: A National Hero (Sterling, 2007). It will help readers better understand one of our most fascinating and influential presidents, and it deserves a place in all secondary collections.-Mary Mueller, Rolla Public Schools, MO (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A comprehensive examination of Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency and its legacy. For Marrin, Roosevelt's influence was such that "we need to know about the thirty-second president because we cannot understand our world today without understanding his role in shaping it." Marrin explores FDR's early years of privilege, the complex relationships Roosevelt had with his mother and his wife, Eleanor, and his seemingly inevitable march to a life in politics. Roosevelt's charm and ability to sway individuals and crowds are described in detail. FDR's strong actions after assuming the presidency during the Great Depression were not without criticism, and Marrin acknowledges them, but the electorate remained supportive enough to elect him four times. This well-researched and highly detailed examination of FDR and his presidency provides insight for readers generations removed from the events. Every aspect of the story is included. Marrin artfully weaves the elements of FDR's personality and home life with events occurring in the country and on the world stage. Colorful descriptions of other important leaders and clear storytelling contribute to a lively narrative; the generous inclusion of archival images makes for a handsome package. Students of the period will be captivated. (source notes, further reading; index and photo credits not seen) (Biography. 12-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Excerpts
Excerpts
His father and I always expected a great deal of Franklin. We thought he ought to take prizes, and we were not surprised when he did. After all, he had many advantages that other boys did not have. --Sara Roosevelt, My Boy Franklin (1933) A Privileged Childhood Hyde Park, the Roosevelt estate, is in walking distance of the village of Hyde Park. Located in Dutchess County, on the east bank of the Hudson River, the village lies seventy-five miles north of New York City. On the evening of January 30, 1882, James Roosevelt sat at his desk in the library of his estate overlooking the river. On this bitter cold night, snow lay deep on the ground, and ice floes in the river sparkled in the moonlight like flecks of silver. At once happy and relieved, James reached for a steel-nibbed pen as he opened his wife Sara's diary. Turning to a fresh page, he wrote, "At quarter to nine my Sallie had a splendid large boy, but was unconscious when he was born. Baby weighs ten pounds without clothes." It was a close call, as mother and child nearly died. Sara had gone into labor twenty-four hours earlier, but had trouble giving birth. She was in such agony that the doctor administered chloroform to knock her out. He gave too much. When her baby finally arrived, it was not breathing. Quickly, the doctor grabbed the newborn and began blowing into his mouth, forcing air into his lungs until he began to breathe normally. A few days later, once they were sure he would live, the grateful parents named their son Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Despite his birth ordeal, baby Franklin had a sweet disposition. Sara wrote that he "crows and laughs all the time" and was "always bright and happy" and "never cries." Franklin was born into a family whose roots lay deep in American history. In 1644, Claes Martenszen van Rosenvelt and his wife, Jannetje, sailed from Holland bound for New Amsterdam, a tiny Dutch settlement at the southern tip of Manhattan Island. Van Rosenvelt means "of the field of roses" in Dutch, but what the name had to do with roses is a mystery. Anyhow, within twenty years of the couple's arrival, an English army under the Duke of York seized New Amsterdam. Overjoyed at the easy victory, His Grace renamed the colony New York in his own honor. Claes was a practical man, more interested in making his fortune than battlefield heroics. Frugal and hardworking, he accumulated land, buildings, and money. Over the years, his sons and grandsons chose brides from equally frugal and hardworking families. In the process, the van Rosenvelt name changed to its English form, Roosevelt. By the mid-1700s, the family had split into two branches. Its Hudson Valley branch settled near Hyde Park; the other made its home in New York City and Oyster Bay, Long Island. Both families gained respect for their wealth, public service, and patriotism. Isaac the Patriot, a Roosevelt ancestor, was among those who ratified the Constitution in 1788. The following year, he led George Washington's horse in the first inaugural parade, held in New York City. In the twentieth century, both branches of the family would give America a president. Baby Franklin's mother was a Delano. Sara's people counted themselves among the bluest of American blue bloods, their ancestors having come with the Pilgrims in 1620 aboard the Mayflower. Fiercely proud of her heritage, Sara boasted, "My son Franklin is a Delano, not a Roosevelt at all!" It was she who insisted on naming him Franklin Delano, after a childless uncle. Friends said that Delano men had salt water, not blood, in their veins. Over the years, Sara's family had grown wealthy by hunting whales for their fat, which, when melted and burned in lamps, lit the nation's homes. Other Delanos owned merchant ships, trading American manufactured goods for Asian spices, silk, and tea. Warren Delano, Sara's father, went into a less upright, but more profitable, business. He struck it rich selling opium. In the 1820s, China had much to sell foreigners but bought little from them in return. From the Forbidden City, the imperial palace in Beijing, the emperor declared that China already had everything worth having. Thus, Chinese people must shun the "hairy monkey men" and "foreign devils," as they called whites. British merchants disagreed, bribing Chinese officials to allow entry of opium, a highly addictive drug produced in British-ruled India. Though the emperor banned opium in his realm, in the 1840s British forces defeated China in the first of two conflicts called the Opium Wars. Before long, millions of Chinese became slaves to a drug that enriched foreigners, filling their strongboxes with silver and China with misery. Warren Delano had no qualms about dealing in "black dirt," as Chinese people called the tarlike opium they smoked in pipes. He wrote his family: "I do not pretend to justify . . . the opium trade [from] a moral . . . point of view, but as a merchant I insist it has been a fair, honorable and legitimate trade." Selling opium, he claimed, was no better or worse than selling wine and whiskey. The American Civil War made Warren Delano richer than ever. As the conflict raged, he imported huge chests of raw opium, which he sold to the Medical Bureau of the U.S. War Department at a handsome profit. Purified opium relieved the agony of gunshot wounds and amputations, though not without ill effects. A few injections turned wounded men into addicts, creating a drug problem never before seen in America. Opium use was legal in the 1800s. Groceries sold it in syrup form, sweetened with sugar to mask the bitter taste. A few drops of this stuff put crying infants to sleep and stopped diarrhea, a common cause of infant death. Opium also eased women's "monthly complaints." The only problem was that it created yet more addicts. Excerpted from FDR and the American Crisis by Albert Marrin All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.