#10 The Many Sides of FDR
Tuesday – 1:00 p.m. Winter Term 2009 (14 weeks)
Coordinator: Lee Johnson Co-coordinator: Leo Roos
Course Description
Why do many Americans revere Franklin Delano Roosevelt as the greatest president of the twentieth century, while others revile him? How did he manage the titanic struggles with global economic depression and war? Who were key advisors and how did he use them? How did he respond to failures? What domestic factors affected his accomplishments? Eleanor’s role? His female companions? His paralysis? His mother? In seeking answers, this S/DG focuses on a fascinating circle of individuals caught up in a maelstrom of shattering events during the first half of the 20th century.
Our journey will be greatly aided by a recently published and glowingly reviewed core book, supplemented with a collection of engrossing optional readings.
Topics
- Early years: Upbringing, college, marriage, Theodore Roosevelt, NY state legislator, Louis Howe, Woodrow Wilson, Assist. Sec. of Navy.
- Toward war and beyond. World War I, Lucy Mercer, 1920 elections, law practice, Missy LeHand, polio, NY governor.
- Winning the presidency. Herbert Hoover and collapse of national prosperity, 1932 election victory, bank failures, public panic. FDR’s inauguration. Lorena Hickock.
- First one hundred days. Fireside chats, helping farmers, bank reform, curtailing government expenditures, emergency relief, new government agencies, FDR’s mixed (contradictory?) strategy, public reaction, economic effects.
- Stresses and successes. Social Security Act, other key pre-1936 legislation, relations with labor and business, learning from mistakes, Eleanor’s achievements.
- Presidential overreach. 1936 election, Court packing fiasco, labor unrest, partial economic recovery and retreat, FDR’s political intrusions, civil rights stance.
- Overview: 1933-38. Home life, management style, bi-partisanship, use of advisors, good and poor decisions, assessment of New Deal, people better off?
- European war: Hitler’s rise, Munich, helping Britain, coping with isolationists, refugees, military draft, racial discrimination, 1940 election, USSR ally.
- U.S. & Japan. China & Manchuria, oil embargo, negotiations, Japan’s agonizing decision, Pearl Harbor, laying blame. Could FDR have prevented war?
- The broader war. Allies vs. Axis, internment of Japanese-Americans, Manhattan Project, Harry Hopkins, strategic disagreements with Churchill, Mediterranean campaign.
- Turning the tide. Stalingrad, U-boat retreat, reaction to Jewish massacres, Teheran Conference, FDR’s declining health, D-Day, 1944 election, Truman V.P.
- Yalta and beyond: Dealing with Stalin, dividing Europe, plans for defeating Japan, plans for U.N., last public appearances, health spent, death.
- FDR and Eleanor. Together and apart, conflict and resolution, contributions to each other’s life, Eleanor’s achievements after FDR.
- Overall assessment: Roosevelt’s persona as paraplegic, son, husband, politician. Comparisons with other presidents (e.g. Wilson, JFK, Reagan), Roots of greatness—and failure. What history does, and does not, teach us.
Bibliography
Core Book
Jean Edward Smith, FDR (Random House, 2008)
Others
Goodwin, Doris Kearns. No Ordinary Time: Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II. (Simon & Shuster,1994). Highly recommended. Winner of five book awards including Pulitzer Prize.
Alter, Jonathan. The Defining Moment; FDR’S One Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope. (Simon &Schuster, 2007).
Gallagher, Hugh Gregory. FDR’s Splendid Deception. The moving story of Roosevelt’s massive disability—and the intense efforts to conceal it from the public.
Leuchtenburg, William E. Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal 1932-1940 (Harper & Row, 1963).
Persico, Joseph E. Franklin and Lucy (Random House, 2008).
Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. The Crisis of the Old Order, 1919-1933 (Mariner Edition, Houghton Mifflin, 2003).
___________________ . The Coming of the New Deal, 1933-1935.____________.
___________________. The Politics of Upheaval, 1935-1936.____________.
Pre-Meeting: Tuesday, December 9, 2008; 1:00 p.m. |