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Nonfiction Books » History Books » American History

The best books on franklin d. roosevelt, recommended by cynthia koch.

Historians consistently rank FDR, the 32nd and longest-serving president of the United States, as among America’s greatest. Here, Cynthia Koch , Director of History Programing for the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Foundation, talks us through his life and explains how, in many ways, his guile was key to his success.

Interview by Eve Gerber

Franklin Delano Roosevelt by Alan Brinkley

Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal by William Leuchtenburg

Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945 by David M. Kennedy

It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis

Eleanor Roosevelt: The Defining Years: Volume Two 1933-1938 by Blanche Wiesen Cook

1 Franklin Delano Roosevelt by Alan Brinkley

2 franklin d. roosevelt and the new deal by william leuchtenburg, 3 freedom from fear: the american people in depression and war, 1929-1945 by david m. kennedy, 4 it can't happen here by sinclair lewis, 5 eleanor roosevelt: the defining years: volume two 1933-1938 by blanche wiesen cook.

B efore becoming historian-in-residence at Harvard’s Franklin Delano Roosevelt Foundation , you were the director of FDR’s Presidential Library, which is housed on his palatial neoclassical New York estate. I want to begin by asking you about the roots and early years of America’s 32nd President.

The Roosevelts summered in Hyde Park; theirs was one of a string of estates along the Hudson River. FDR lived in the family estate at Hyde Park his entire life, and by the end of his life, it was about 1,300 acres. The Roosevelts also had a residence in New York City and a summer place on Campobello Island off the coast of Maine, in New Brunswick, Canada. The Roosevelts were also very cosmopolitan. They traveled to Europe very frequently, especially when his father was ill and they sought treatments at spas in Germany. I once calculated that by the age of 15 Franklin had spent more than half his life in Europe. So Franklin’s upbringing was very international.

As a child, Franklin had friends on neighboring estates but spent a lot of time alone. He was privately tutored at home until age 14, when his parents enrolled him at the Groton School. There he had his first formative educational experience under the leadership of Endicott Peabody, whose ethos was to form public-spirited young gentlemen to make contributions to the world.

“He changed from being a rather arrogant young man into someone who had deep empathy for people who were suffering”

FDR went on to Harvard and graduated in 1904. Although he completed his coursework in 1903, he stayed on to lead the student newspaper (the Harvard Crimson ) as its editor. He lived throughout his four years in a residence building on what was then called the ‘Gold Coast’ of Harvard (today’s Adams House), where the wealthiest young men stayed. There were porters and maids, who also made tea. It was a very elite existence.

FDR met his distant cousin Eleanor during his Harvard years. She was the niece of President Theodore Roosevelt. Eleanor had just returned from England where she had been sent at age 15 to the Allenswood boarding school outside London, where she first developed her progressive political viewpoints under the tutorship of the feminist headmistress Marie Souvestre, a progressive educator. Eleanor never completed her education beyond age 17. After her “coming out” as a debutante, Eleanor began working at a settlement house on the Lower East Side of New York. During this period she was courted by Franklin. They married in 1905 and almost immediately began their family.

Franklin attended Columbia University Law School, passed his bar exams, and worked briefly for one of the law firms in New York. But he soon became involved in politics and was elected to the New York State Senate in 1911. After working hard for Woodrow Wilson’s election, Roosevelt went to Washington in 1913 as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, intentionally following the path of Theodore Roosevelt.

The Roosevelts became part of the Washington political and social scene. Mrs. Roosevelt had three children by this time (she had five babies by 1916). To take care of her heavy social responsibilities as the wife of a high-ranking official, she hired a secretary. During these years Franklin learned about the workings of official Washington and its bureaucracy and, as war drew closer, he was instrumental in preparing the Navy for World War I. But this is also the period when Franklin and Lucy Mercer—Eleanor’s social secretary—fell in love and he began being unfaithful.

FDR’s lucky life was marred when he was afflicted with polio. When did that happen?

That happened in 1921, a year after he ran for vice president. He was 39 years old at the time.

Scholars’ surveys and public opinion polls consistently place FDR among the top three to five most admired presidents. How did the most aristocratic of Americans earn his place in the pantheon of America’s populist champions?

He had empathy. Many people, including Mrs. Roosevelt, attribute his possession of that quality to the trials that he went through during his battle against polio. He changed from being a rather arrogant young man into someone who had deep empathy for people who were suffering.

Turning to the books you’ve selected. The first recommendation I want to talk about is National Book Award-winning New Deal historian Alan Brinkley’s compact biography, Franklin Delano Roosevelt . Tell me about this one, please.

Franklin Roosevelt is not as well known today as he should be among students. And everybody appreciates a book that is less than a hundred pages long. There are many, many, wonderful biographies of Roosevelt, beginning with the ones done by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and James McGregor Burns. Then Jean Edward Smith and Roger Daniels. The genius of what Alan did is to make Roosevelt’s story accessible by getting it down to a hundred pages.

“No president since the founders has done more to shape the character of American government,” Brinkley wrote. “And no president since Lincoln has served through darker or more difficult times.” Upon entering office, FDR inherited from Herbert Hoover—his predecessor as President—the Great Depression caused by the Crash of 1929. FDR instituted a set of policies known collectively as The New Deal. Your next recommendation was written by America’s emeritus New Deal expert William E. Leuchtenberg. Please tell us about Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal .

William Leuchtenburg is the preeminent historian of the New Deal. He first published this book in 1963 and it remains the standard treatment. It’s the wellspring for almost everything we understand about the New Deal. It lays out, in a concise volume, the story of the New Deal.

Leuchtenberg brings to life the suffering of the people in the early years of the Great Depression. There are stories of the people living along railroad tracks and families going through the garbage to find food.

Freedom from Fear is a fantastic contribution to the Oxford History of the United States series by Stanford historian David Kennedy. This book won both the Pulitzer Prize and the Francis Parkman Prize and expanded our understanding of how Roosevelt refreshed a country that was desperate for change.

In Freedom from Fear , Kennedy condenses—into one very large volume—the story of how Roosevelt brought the country out of the Great Depression and into World War II . He begins in the Hoover years and explores some of the structural problems with the economy. He takes you right through the New Deal years, including the failure of New Deal programs during the late 1930s when political opposition mounted. And he carries you all the way through World War II and the early years of the Cold War that immediately followed.

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Next you recommend a 1935 dystopian novel by Nobel Prize winner Sinclair Lewis . Tell us about It Can’t Happen Here and its relevance to Roosevelt.

It Can’t Happen Here gives us a window into an aspect of the 1930s that is often forgotten. Roosevelt was elected during a period when authoritarianism was on the rise around the world, with the elevation of Adolf Hitler and the consolidation of Mussolini’s powers. Popular sentiment was not uniformly behind the New Deal and Franklin Roosevelt. In fact, by 1935 FDR was facing serious challenges, both from the right and from the left. It was a time when many Americans—including leading pundits like Walter Lippmann—worried that democracy was failing and demagogues could easily gain a grip on power.

Your final book is about one of America’s most memorable first ladies . Please tell me about historian Blanche Wiesen Cook’s Eleanor Roosevelt: The Defining Years, 1933–1938 .

Cook has dedicated much of her scholarly life to a three-volume biography of Eleanor Roosevelt. Since I’ve been involved with what I call the world of the Roosevelts, I turned to this book for the granular view of what was going on with Mrs. Roosevelt.

Blanche helps readers see the ways in which Eleanor advanced progressive causes, publicly and privately. Eleanor made contributions, both from the sidelines and out front—visiting coal mines, impoverished communities, and New Deal projects. She traveled all over the country speaking on issues of importance not only to FDR’s presidency, but on issues she wished to advance. She became increasingly involved with civil rights as the 1930s wore on.

It’s a story of Eleanor’s awakening and how she brought Franklin along. Franklin’s presidency would not have been what it was, by any measure, if it weren’t for the contributions that Eleanor was making.

Did Eleanor’s public profile and robust role in the administration represent a break from the part played by previous first ladies?

Eleanor was pretty much a 180-degree reversal of the traditional role. She didn’t want to be a White House hostess. She had seen the role of the first lady up close during Woodrow Wilson’s administration and during her uncle Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency. Eleanor also did not want to return to Washington because she had developed a very independent life during the 1920s. She was teaching, working on women’s labor issues and with Val-Kill Industries (a workers cooperative she founded with two friends on the Roosevelt estate), and was active in politics as the chair of the Women’s Committee of the Democratic Party. Blanche Wiesen Cook has called her the most important woman in national politics in the late 1920s.

Mrs. Roosevelt changed the role of First Lady. In partnership with the reporter Lorena Hickok—who was, perhaps, her lover—she began women-only press conferences where, mixed in with “women’s issues,” she often addressed national policy. She continued to write a column, which was a homely mixture of what her family was up to and what she was interested in in terms of national issues. She shared insights into the private life of the Roosevelt family, making them familiar figures to Americans and the president and his policies more accessible. She was public facing in a way that I don’t think any other First Lady has ever been.

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Historian Alan Brinkley, whom we discussed earlier, notes that the crises FDR faced as president “brought out his greatness, and his guile.” Having informed us about FDR’s greatness, please tell us about his guile.

His guile contributed to his greatness. FDR called himself the juggler because he had to keep so many things going at the same time. For instance, he wanted to stop lynching but knew that he couldn’t get an anti-lynching bill through Congress without antagonizing the southern wing of the Democratic Party—which would have ended the New Deal. He was willing to try guile and charm rather than turning to confrontation. FDR is criticized for trusting Stalin too much. I don’t think he trusted Stalin, but he was optimistic enough to believe he could use his charm to find common ground in the search for a peaceful world. He didn’t let people know what he was thinking. He was manipulative in a way that moved his policies forward. Guile—used in service to the New Deal, winning World War II, and planning for peace—was key to his success in many ways.

October 8, 2022

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Cynthia Koch

Cynthia Koch is Historian in Residence for the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Foundation at Adams House, Harvard University. She was Director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.

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My Journey Through the Best Presidential Biographies

The Best Biographies of Franklin D. Roosevelt

30 Friday Sep 2016

Posted by Steve in Best Biographies Posts , President #32 - F Roosevelt

≈ 43 Comments

Adam Cohen , American history , Arthur Schlesinger Jr. , biographies , book reviews , Conrad Black , Doris Kearns Goodwin , FDR , Frank Freidel , Geoffrey Ward , H.W. Brands , James MacGregor Burns , Jean Edward Smith , Jeff Shesol , Jonathan Alter , Joseph Lash , Peter Collier , presidential biographies , Presidents , Pulitzer Prize , Robert Sherwood , Ted Morgan

Every student of American history knows that Franklin D. Roosevelt served more terms as President of the United States than any other person ever has – or ever will .

During the FDR presidency, America faced two of the greatest crises in its history: the Great Depression and World War II. His response to those challenges fundamentally altered the relationship between the American people and their government…and left FDR with a reputation as one of the most consequential (if not successful) of U.S. presidents.

It should not be surprising that FDR consumed more of my time than any other president: 19 books, almost 12,000 pages and more than seven months. He proved daring, bold, intriguing, provocative and fascinating – but I’m glad to be moving on to Harry Truman!

I began with five single-volume biographies of FDR:

* “ FDR ” by Jean Edward Smith – This is one of the most frequently read and highly acclaimed biographies of FDR, and for good reason: it is excellent . Authored by one of today’s most capable biographers, “FDR” is thorough, engaging and well-balanced. It proved to be nearly the perfect length, consistently clear and difficult to put down. The only thing I really missed was a concluding chapter focused on FDR’s legacy. ( Full review here )

* “ Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt ” by H.W. Brands – This proved to be my favorite of the four Brands biographies I’ve read so far. A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, this book is detailed, well-organized and quite interesting; Brands’s discussion of the war years is particularly successful. Missing from this book is adequate coverage of Eleanor and some of FDR’s family and friends, as well a deeper look at their impact on his political life. ( Full review here )

* “ Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom ” by Conrad Black – This is the longest of the single-volume biographies I’ve read on any president. As a result, coverage of FDR is not merely thorough…it is encyclopedic . I cannot image a more comprehensive (or exhaustive) review of FDR’s life in a single volume. Unfortunately, Black’s writing style lacks fluidity and the narrative often fails to engage the reader. In addition, the author offers too many facts and not nearly enough insight or analysis. ( Full review here )

* “ Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Rendezvous with Destiny ” by Frank Freidel – This seems to be the abridgement of the multi-volume series Freidel never completed. After writing the first four (of a projected six) volumes, Freidel abandoned the series and, instead, wrote this book more than a decade later. Unfortunately, FDR’s pre-presidency is covered far too quickly and the remainder of the book focuses almost exclusively on the “public” FDR while often ignoring the foibles and quirks which made him so enigmatic. Reading more like a history text, this biography lacks an engaging narrative or a consistent exploration for why events unfolded as they did. ( Full review here )

* “ FDR: A Biography ” by Ted Morgan – Written by a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, I had high expectations for this biography. Unfortunately, I was left disappointed. This is a lengthy and detailed review of FDR’s life which fails to engage the reader. It lacks vibrancy, a consistent level of focus on important issues or events and provides inadequate insight and analysis. Its high points (including aspects of FDR’s childhood and its description of the Casablanca Conference) do not offset its shortcomings. ( Full review here )

Next I read three multi-volume series (only the first covers FDR’s entire life):

* James MacGregor Burns: – “ Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox 1882-1940 ” (Vol 1) – “ Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom 1940-1945 ” (Vol 2)

The Burns series is often considered the earliest truly comprehensive biography of FDR, its first volume having been published in 1956. The second volume won a Pulitzer Prize in 1971.

Volume 1 covers FDR’s life up through his second presidential term. It is far more focused on his public life than his friends and family – readers will learn more of Mussolini than Eleanor Roosevelt, for example – and is far more focused on his first eight years in office than his pre -presidency. But even his first two terms are strangely covered and discussion of the “New Deal” initiative, in particular, was a bit chaotic and difficult to follow. ( Full review here )

Volume 2 begins with FDR’s election to a third presidential term; its primary thesis is that FDR was a deeply divided man who was complex and incomprehensible. Despite offering many excellent moments, this volume is disappointing and, in the end, fails to adequately address its thesis or examine FDR’s legacy. ( Full review here )

* Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. – “ The Age of Roosevelt: The Crisis of the Old Order (1919-1933) ” (Vol 1) – “ The Age of Roosevelt: The Coming of the New Deal (1933-1935) ” (Vol 2) – “ The Age of Roosevelt: The Politics of Upheaval (1935-1936) ” (Vol 3)

Written in the late 1950s by Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., this series offers an interesting but incomplete examination of FDR’s life up through his early presidency. Originally intended to consist of four volumes, Schlesinger abandoned the series after being appointed Special Assistant to President Kennedy in 1961.

Volume 1 ostensibly covers FDR’s pre-presidency but is far more a political history of the times than a comprehensive introduction to Roosevelt. It is excellent at what it does cover (both of the era and FDR himself) but readers hoping to learn much about FDR’s early life will be disappointed. ( Full review here )

Volume 2 covers the earliest years of FDR’s presidency and focuses on his efforts to combat the Depression. The New Deal is dissected meticulously but the focus is almost always on the legislative process as well as the programs themselves. Roosevelt appears in person only occasionally. As a review of his early presidency this book shines; as an examination of FDR himself it falls short. ( Full review here )

Volume 3 covers the last years of Roosevelt’s first presidential term. Like earlier volumes, this book is detailed and insightful…but also focuses far more on the times than the man; it is essentially a political biography of the last phase of the New Deal. Schlesinger is masterful when writing about the era, but does not promise – or offer – a complete picture of Roosevelt himself. ( Full review here )

* Geoffrey C. Ward – “ Before the Trumpet: Young Franklin Roosevelt (1882-1905) ” (Vol 1) – “ A First-Class Temperament: The Emergence of Franklin Roosevelt (1905-1928) ” (Vol 2)

Geoffrey Ward’s series on FDR is the second “incomplete” series I read on Roosevelt. I am unaware whether Ward ever actually intended to complete his analysis of the Roosevelt’s timeline with a final volume…but what Ward does cover of FDR’s life in these two volumes is extremely well done.

Volume 1 reviews FDR’s life up to his marriage in 1905, including a very detailed look at Roosevelt’s ancestry. Two of the most interesting chapters may well be the last two which focus on Eleanor’s troubled childhood and her early relationship with Franklin. This proves a fine, but not perfect, introduction to FDR. ( Full review here )

Volume 2 covers Roosevelt’s life through his election as Governor of New York in 1928. As a consequence of this chronology, Ward spends more time reflecting on FDR’s personality and relationships than his politics. Very well written, this book is absorbing and revealing. Unfortunately, it ends too soon and leaves the reader to wonder where Ward might have taken the series had he followed Roosevelt into the White House… ( Full review here )

Finally, I read seven FDR- focused books:

* “ No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt ” by Doris K. Goodwin – This classic seems to be the best-read of all FDR-focused books. It is not a traditional biography but, instead, is part history text and part dual-biography. Chronologically it is focused on the last five years of FDR’s presidency, but periodically back-fills (sometimes extensively) to create context. But despite focusing on the “war years” this book is far more concerned with domestic rather than foreign affairs. In the end, “No Ordinary Time” is an excellent standalone read, but is probably even better when read after completing a traditional, comprehensive biography of FDR. ( Full review here )

* “ Supreme Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. The Supreme Court ” by Jeff Shesol – Focused on the “Court Packing” episode during FDR’s second term, I was skeptical of this book given the topic. Nevertheless, I found it well written, extremely clear and surprisingly engaging. Shesol takes the time to provide adequate context (for both the FDR presidency and the New Deal itself) before embarking on his primary mission. Lawyers may well enjoy this book but it is successfully aimed at the general reader. ( Full review here )

* “ Nothing to Fear: FDR’s Inner Circle and the 100 Days that Created Modern America ” by Adam Cohen – As its title suggests, Cohen’s book is focused on the earliest days of the FDR presidency. Because it also offers interesting mini-biographies of his five closest advisers, this feels a bit like Goodwin’s “Team of Rivals” but with less depth and character development. It does an adequate (if not exceptional) job reviewing Roosevelt’s first 100 days but, because much remained in the fight against the Depression at the end of this period, the book feels somewhat incomplete when it ends. ( Full review here )

* “ The Defining Moment: FDR’s Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope ” by Jonathan Alter – Oddly (given its title) this is not a book focused primarily on FDR’s “Hundred Days.” Indeed, the book’s precise mission is never really clear. After spending well more than half its pages reviewing FDR’s pre-presidency, fewer than fifty pages are actually devoted to FDR’s Hundred Days. While generally well written and often interesting, this book feels like ordering a pizza but receiving half a baked potato, some pepperoni and part of a tasty dessert. ( Full review here )

* “ Eleanor & Franklin ” by Joseph Lash – This Pulitzer Prize-winning book was written by a longtime friend of Eleanor Roosevelt who received special access to her papers after her death. Because of the author’s close relationship with Eleanor it is not surprising this is less a dual-biography of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt than a book designed to highlight Eleanor’s transformation from insecure orphan to champion of humanitarian causes. FDR only appears sporadically (usually as the antagonist) and Lash is reluctant to fully ponder this intriguing couple’s particular challenges. This is essentially a good biography of Eleanor which could have been great . ( Full review here)

* “ Roosevelt and Hopkins: An Intimate History ” by Robert Sherwood – This Pulitzer Prize-winning book was authored by one of FDR’s speechwriters at the request of the Hopkins family following his death. While apparently a dual-biography of FDR and Harry Hopkins (who was a friend and adviser to FDR) the lion’s share of the attention accrues to Hopkins. But in most ways this is really a detailed behind-the-scenes historical account of World War II as seen by Hopkins and Sherwood. Much of value is contained in these 934 pages, but the first one-third of the book is by far its best. ( Full review here )

* “ The Roosevelts: An American Saga ” by Peter Collier – This multi-generational (and multi- branch ) biography focuses on the FDR and TR branches of the Roosevelt family tree. The book proves readable, interesting and quite colorful. But it fails to shine much light on the FDR or TR presidencies and often feels imbalanced. Eleanor Roosevelt, in particular, receives particularly harsh coverage. The book also promises dramatic clashes between the two branches as they struggle to control the family legacy…but this thesis is oversold. All-in-all, an interesting but not compelling read. ( Full review here )

[ Added January 2020 ]

* I recently had the opportunity to read Alonzo Hamby’s “ Man of Destiny: FDR and the Making of the American Century ” which was published in 2015 and did not make my original list of biographies of FDR. Hamby’s goal was to write a balanced and efficient biography of Roosevelt. But while the book successfully achieves those two objectives, it proves disappointingly bland and colorless relative to other biographies which cover FDR’s life. Students of foreign policy who are less interested in Roosevelt’s personality and relationships may find it satisfying, but most readers are likely to find it relatively disappointing. ( Full review here )

[ Added January 2021 ]

* Over the past three weeks I read esteemed historian Robert Dallek’s 2017 biography “ Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Political Life .” Dallek professes his fondness for FDR, proclaiming him one of the country’s three greatest presidents. But, remarkably, the 627-page narrative is extremely objective and balanced nevertheless.

However, readers seeking colorful context or special insight into Roosevelt’s closest personal and professional relationships will be disappointed – as well those already familiar with the 32nd president who are hoping to find fresh revelations based on new research. In the end, this is a competent but clinical (and generally dry) synthesis of previously-published biographies of FDR. There is little new to see here and readers seeking an introduction to Roosevelt will want to look elsewhere. ( Full review here )

Best Single-Volume Biography of FDR: Jean Edward Smith’s “ FDR ”

Best Single-Volume Bio (Runner-Up): H.W. Brands’s “ Traitor to His Class ”

Best Non-Traditional Biography of FDR: Doris K. Goodwin’s “ No Ordinary Time “

Several readers have requested I share my thoughts on which supporting characters for each president seem compelling enough to warrant a biographical side-trip. Franklin Roosevelt offers interested readers an enormous circle of compelling friends, colleagues, advisers and nemeses. Among them:

– Louis Howe (close adviser to FDR) – Harry Hopkins (close adviser to FDR) – Frances Perkins (FDR’s Labor Secretary, first female U.S. Cabinet member) – Eleanor Roosevelt – Winston Churchill – Josef Stalin – Adolf Hitler – Douglas MacArthur – Dwight Eisenhower

In none of these cases do I claim to have uncovered the best biography of the individuals I have listed. But Eisenhower will be covered as part of my journey through the best presidential biographies in approximately 5 weeks!

The 10 Best Books on President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Essential books on franklin roosevelt.

There are countless books on Franklin Roosevelt, and it comes with good reason, after all, he is widely celebrated for leading the United States out of the great depression, playing an instrumental role in bringing about the destruction of World War II’s Axis powers, and in the process, securing a global peace the likes of which mankind maybe hasn’t experienced since the dawn of civilization.

He was elected President in November 1932, to the first of four terms. The following March there were 13,000,000 unemployed, and almost every bank was closed. In his first “hundred days,” he proposed, and Congress enacted, a sweeping program to bring recovery to business and agriculture, relief to the unemployed and to those in danger of losing farms and homes, and reform, especially through the establishment of the Tennessee Valley Authority. By 1935 the Nation had achieved some measure of economic recovery .

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Roosevelt directed the organization of America’s manpower and resources for a global war to be fought on opposing ends of the Earth’s surface. Feeling that the future peace of the world would depend upon relations between the United States and Russia, he devoted much thought to the planning of a United Nations, in which, he hoped, international difficulties could be settled.

“We all know that books burn, yet we have the greater knowledge that books cannot be killed by fire. People die, but books never die,” he once said . “No man and no force can put thought in a concentration camp forever. No man and no force can take from the world the books that embody man’s eternal fight against tyranny of every kind.”

Reading clearly played a profound role in molding Franklin Roosevelt as a person, and furthermore, this favorite educational activity of his must have had something to do with the spirited – and liberating for that matter – approach he took to life.

Therefore, in order to get to the bottom of what inspired one of history’s greatest men to the heights of societal contribution, we’ve compiled a list of the 10 best books on Franklin Roosevelt.

The Definitive FDR by James Macgregor Burns

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the longest serving president in US history, reshaping the country during the crises of the Great Depression and World War II. James MacGregor Burns’s magisterial two-volume biography tells the complete life story of the fascinating political figure who instituted the New Deal.

Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox (1882 – 1940) : Before his ascension to the presidency, FDR laid the groundwork for his unprecedented run with decades of canny political maneuvering and steady consolidation of power. Hailed by the New York Times as “a sensitive, shrewd, and challenging book” and by Newsweek as “a case study unmatched in American political writings,” The Lion and the Fox details Roosevelt’s youth and education, his rise to national prominence, all the way through his first two terms as president.

Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom (1940 – 1945) : The Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award–winning history of FDR’s final years examines the president’s skillful wartime leadership as well as his vision for postwar peace. Acclaimed by William Shirer as “the definitive book on Roosevelt in the war years,” and by bestselling author Barbara Tuchman as “engrossing, informative, endlessly readable,” The Soldier of Freedom is a moving profile of a leader gifted with rare political talent in an era of extraordinary challenges.

FDR by Jean Edward Smith

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.

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.

This bestseller among books on Franklin Roosevelt gives us the clearest picture yet of how a 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.

Traitor to His Class by H. W. Brands

Historian and biographer H.W. Brands explores the powerful influence of FDR’s dominating mother and the often tense and always unusual partnership between FDR and his wife, Eleanor, and her indispensable contributions to his presidency. Most of all, the book traces in breathtaking detail FDR’s revolutionary efforts with his New Deal legislation to transform the American political economy in order to save it, his forceful – and cagey – leadership before and during World War II, and his lasting legacy in creating the foundations of the postwar international order.

Franklin and Winston by Jon Meacham

The most complete portrait ever drawn of the complex emotional connection between two of history’s towering leaders. Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill were the greatest leaders of “the Greatest Generation.” In Franklin and Winston , Jon Meacham explores the fascinating relationship between the two men who piloted the free world to victory in World War II.

It was a crucial friendship, and a unique one – a president and a prime minister spending enormous amounts of time together (113 days during the war) and exchanging nearly two thousand messages. Amid cocktails, cigarettes, and cigars, they met, often secretly, in places as far-flung as Washington, Hyde Park, Casablanca, and Teheran, talking to each other of war, politics, the burden of command, their health, their wives, and their children.

The Coming of the New Deal by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.

The Coming of the New Deal , 1933-1935, volume two of Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and biographer Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.’s Age of Roosevelt series, describes Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s first tumultuous years in the White House. Coming into office at the bottom of the Great Depression, FDR told the American people that they have nothing to fear but fear itself. The conventional wisdom having failed, he tried unorthodox remedies to avert economic collapse.

His first hundred days restored national morale, and his New Dealers filled Washington with new approaches to recovery and reform. Combining idealistic ends with realistic means, Roosevelt proposed to humanize, redeem, and rescue capitalism. The Coming of the New Deal, written with Schlesinger’s customary verve, is a gripping account of critical years in the history of the republic.

Before the Trumpet: Young Franklin Roosevelt by Geoffrey C. Ward

Before Pearl Harbor, before polio and his entry into politics, FDR was a handsome, pampered, but strong-willed youth, the center of a rarefied world. In Before the Trumpet , the award-winning historian Geoffrey C. Ward transports the reader to that world – Hyde Park on the Hudson and Campobello Island, Groton and Harvard and the Continent – to recreate as never before the formative years of the man who would become the 20th century’s greatest president.

Here, drawn from thousands of original documents (many never previously published), is a richly-detailed, intimate biography, its central figure surrounded by a colorful cast that includes an opium smuggler and a pious headmaster; Franklin’s distant cousin, Theodore and his remarkable mother, Sara; and the still-more remarkable young woman he wooed and won, his cousin Eleanor. This is a tale that would grip the reader even if its central character had not grown up to be FDR.

1940 by Susan Dunn

In 1940, against the explosive backdrop of the Nazi onslaught in Europe, two farsighted candidates for the U.S. presidency – Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt, running for an unprecedented third term, and talented Republican businessman Wendell Willkie – found themselves on the defensive against American isolationists and their charismatic spokesman Charles Lindbergh, who called for surrender to Hitler’s demands.

In this dramatic account of that turbulent and consequential election, historian Susan Dunn brings to life the debates, the high-powered players, and the dawning awareness of the Nazi threat as the presidential candidates engaged in their own battle for supremacy. 1940 not only explores the contest between FDR and Willkie but also examines the key preparations for war that went forward, even in the midst of that divisive election season.

No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History, No Ordinary Time is a monumental work, a brilliantly conceived chronicle of one of the most vibrant and revolutionary periods in the history of the United States.

With an extraordinary collection of details, Goodwin masterfully weaves together a striking number of storylines – Eleanor and Franklin’s marriage and remarkable partnership, Eleanor’s life as First Lady, and FDR’s White House and its impact on America as well as on a world at war. Goodwin effectively melds these details and stories into an unforgettable and intimate portrait of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt and of the time during which a new, modern America was born.

FDR’s Folly by Jim Powell

The Great Depression and the New Deal. For generations, the collective American consciousness has believed that the former ruined the country and the latter saved it. Endless praise has been heaped upon President Franklin Delano Roosevelt for masterfully reining in the Depression’s destructive effects and propping up the country on his New Deal platform.

In fact, FDR has achieved mythical status in American history and is considered to be, along with Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln, one of the greatest presidents of all time. But would the Great Depression have been so catastrophic had the New Deal never been implemented?

Offering a healthy dose of skepticism among books on Franklin Roosevelt, historian Jim Powell argues that it was in fact the New Deal itself, with its shortsighted programs, that deepened the Great Depression, swelled the federal government, and prevented the country from turning around quickly.

Looking Forward by Franklin Roosevelt

Published in March 1933 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was first inaugurated, the classic New York Times bestseller Looking Forward delivers F . D.R.’s honest appraisal of the events that contributed to the Great Depression and mirror our own situation today. With blunt, unflinching, and clear prose Roosevelt attacks head-on the failure of the banking system and the U.S. government and sets forth his reasoning and hope for the major reforms of his New Deal.

If you enjoyed this guide to the 10 best books on Franklin Roosevelt, be sure to check out our list of 10 Books Albert Einstein Recommends Reading !

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FDR Paperback – May 13, 2008

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Print length 880 pages
Language English
Publisher Random House
Publication date May 13, 2008
Dimensions 6.18 x 1.9 x 9.2 inches
ISBN-10 0812970497
ISBN-13 978-0812970494
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Publisher ‏ : ‎ Random House; Reprint edition (May 13, 2008)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 880 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0812970497
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0812970494
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.18 x 1.9 x 9.2 inches
#64 in WWII Biographies
#142 in US Presidents
#259 in World War II History (Books)

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Jean edward smith.

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Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal led the nation through the Great Depression. Elected to four terms, his presidency helped ensure victory in World War II.

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(1882-1945)

Who Was Franklin D. Roosevelt?

Early life and education, marriage to eleanor roosevelt, new york state senate, national politics, affair with lucy mercer, polio and paralysis, new york governor, presidential elections, fireside chats, the new deal, foreign policy, world war ii, japanese internment, commander in chief, quick facts:.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the 32nd American president. FDR, as he was often called, led the United States through the Great Depression and World War II , and greatly expanding the powers of the federal government through a series of programs and reforms known as the New Deal .

Stricken with polio in 1921, Roosevelt spent much of his adult life in a wheelchair. A whole generation of Americans grew up knowing no other president, as FDR served an unprecedented four terms in office. Roosevelt’s social programs reinvented the role of government in Americans' lives, while his presidency during World War II established the United States' leadership on the world stage.

Penguin Books 'Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Political Life' by Robert Dallek

Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882, in Hyde Park, New York. He was born into a wealthy family as the only child of James Roosevelt and Sara Ann Delano Roosevelt, and a distant cousin of President Theodore Roosevelt .

The Roosevelts had been prominent for several generations, having made their fortune in real estate and trade, and lived at Springwood, their estate in the Hudson River Valley of New York State.

While growing up, Roosevelt was surrounded by privilege and a sense of self-importance.

He was educated by tutors and governesses until age 14, and the entire household revolved around him, with his mother being the dominant figure in his life even into adulthood. His upbringing was very unlike the common people whom he would later champion.

In 1896, Roosevelt attended Groton School for boys, a prestigious Episcopal preparatory school in Massachusetts. The experience was a difficult one for him, as he did not fit in with the other students. Groton men excelled in athletics and Roosevelt did not.

He strived to please the adults and took to heart the teachings of Groton's headmaster, Endicott Peabody, who urged students to help the less fortunate through public service.

After graduating from Groton in 1900, Roosevelt entered Harvard University , determined to make something of himself. Though only a "C" student, he was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity, editor of the Harvard Crimson newspaper and received his degree in only three years.

However, the general consensus by his contemporaries was that he was underwhelming and average.

Roosevelt went on to study law at Columbia University Law School and passed the bar exam in 1907, though he didn't receive a degree. For the next three years, he practiced corporate law in New York, living the typical upper-class life.

But Roosevelt found law practice boring and restrictive. He set his sights on greater accomplishments.

Roosevelt married Eleanor Roosevelt , his fifth cousin and the niece of Theodore Roosevelt, on March 17, 1905. The couple became engaged during Roosevelt’s last year at Harvard.

Franklin and Eleanor went on to have six children: Anna, James, Franklin (who died as an infant), Elliott, Franklin Jr. and John. Except for John, who chose a career as a businessman, all of the Roosevelts' children had careers in politics and public service.

In 1910, at age 28, Roosevelt was invited to run for the New York state senate. He ran as a Democrat in a district that had voted Republican for the past 32 years. Through hard campaigning and the help of his name, he won the seat in a Democratic landslide.

As a state senator, Roosevelt opposed elements of the Democratic political machine in New York. This won him the ire of party leaders but gained him national notoriety and valuable experience in political tactics and intrigue.

During this time, he formed an alliance with Louis Howe, who would shape his political career for the next 25 years. Roosevelt was re-elected to the state senate in 1912 and served as chair of the agricultural committee, passing farm and labor bills and social welfare programs.

During the 1912 National Democratic Convention, Roosevelt supported presidential candidate Woodrow Wilson and was rewarded with an appointment as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, the same job Theodore Roosevelt had used to catapult himself to the presidency.

Roosevelt was an energetic and efficient administrator. He specialized in business operations, working with Congress to get budgets approved and systems modernized, and he founded the U.S. Naval Reserve. But he was restless in the position as "second chair" to his boss, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, who was less enthusiastic about supporting a large and efficient naval force.

In 1914, Roosevelt decided to run for the U.S. Senate seat for New York. The proposition was doomed from the start, as he lacked White House support. President Wilson needed the Democratic political machine to get his social reforms passed and ensure his re-election.

He could not support Roosevelt, who had made too many political enemies among New York Democrats. Roosevelt was soundly defeated in the primary election and learned a valuable lesson that national stature could not defeat a well-organized local political organization.

Still, Roosevelt took to Washington politics and found his career thriving as he developed more personal relationships. At the 1920 Democratic Convention, he accepted the nomination for vice president, as James M. Cox's running mate. The pair was soundly defeated by Republican Warren G. Harding in the general election, but the experience gave Roosevelt national exposure.

Roosevelt repaired his relationship with New York's Democratic political machine. He appeared at the 1924 and 1928 Democratic National Conventions to nominate New York governor Al Smith for president, which increased his national exposure.

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In 1914, Roosevelt developed a relationship with Lucy Mercer, his wife’s social secretary, which evolved into a love affair. When Eleanor discovered the affair, she gave Franklin an ultimatum in 1918 to stop seeing Lucy or she would file for divorce.

Roosevelt agreed to stop seeing Mercer romantically, but years later began secretly see Mercer again. She was, in fact, with him at the time of his death.

In 1921, at the age of 39, Roosevelt was diagnosed with polio while vacationing at Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada. At first, refusing to accept that he was permanently paralyzed, Roosevelt tried numerous therapies and even bought the Warm Springs resort in Georgia seeking a cure.

Despite his efforts, he never regained the use of his legs. He later established a foundation at Warm Springs to help others and instituted the March of Dimes program that eventually funded an effective polio vaccine. Roosevelt's " Little White House " at Warm Springs is now a Georgia State Park and a National Historic Landmark.

For a time, Roosevelt was resigned to being a victim of polio, believing his political career to be over. But his wife Eleanor and political confidante Louis Howe encouraged him to continue on.

Over the next several years, Roosevelt worked to improve his physical and political image. He taught himself to walk short distances in his braces. And he was careful not to be seen in public using his wheelchair.

In 1928, outgoing New York governor Al Smith urged Roosevelt to run for his position. Roosevelt was narrowly elected, and the victory gave him confidence that his political star was rising.

As governor, FDR believed in progressive government and instituted a number of new social programs.

Following the stock market crash of 1929 , Republicans were being blamed for the Great Depression. Sensing opportunity, Roosevelt began his run for the presidency by calling for government intervention in the economy to provide relief, recovery and reform. His upbeat, positive approach and personal charm helped him defeat Republican incumbent Herbert Hoover in November 1932.

When FDR ran for his second term in 1936, he was re-elected to office on November 3, 1936, in a landslide against Alfred M. “Alf” Landon, the governor of Kansas.

Early in 1940, Roosevelt had not publicly announced that he would run for an unprecedented third term as president. But privately, in the middle of World War II, with Germany's victories in Europe and Japan's growing dominance in Asia, FDR felt that only he had the experience and skills to lead America in such trying times.

At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Roosevelt swept aside all challengers and received the nomination. In November 1940, he won the presidential election against Republican Wendell Willkie.

As the end of FDR’s third term as president neared, the U.S. was deeply involved in war, and there was no question that he would run for a fourth term. Roosevelt selected Missouri Senator Harry S. Truman as his running mate, and together they defeated Republican candidate Thomas E. Dewey in the presidential election of 1944, carrying 36 of the 48 states.

On March 12, 1933, just eight days after first taking office, Roosevelt initiated his first of more than 30 fireside chats . Broadcast live on the radio from the White House, the earnest and accessible speeches were a powerful tactic to rally American support around FDR’s New Deal and World War II policies.

Within his first 100 days after taking office in March of 1933, Roosevelt called for a "New Deal" for Americans, proposing sweeping economic reforms to address the Great Depression.

The greatest crisis in American history since the Civil War , 13 million Americans were unemployed and hundreds of banks were closed. Roosevelt ordered the temporary closure on all banks to halt the run on deposits.

He formed a "Brain Trust" of economic advisers who designed the "alphabet agencies" such as the AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Administration), to support farm prices by reducing agricultural production through subsidies; the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps ), to employ young unmarried men to work refurbishing public lands and national parks; and the NRA (National Recovery Administration), which regulated wages and prices.

Other agencies insured bank deposits, regulated the stock market, subsidized mortgages and provided relief to the unemployed.

By 1936 the U.S. economy showed signs of improvement: Gross national product was up 34 percent, and unemployment had dropped from 25 percent to 14 percent. But FDR faced criticism for increased government spending, unbalanced budgets and what some perceived as a move toward socialism.

During the mid-1930s, several New Deal acts were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court . Roosevelt retaliated by proposing to "pack" the court with justices more favorable to his reforms.

Many in Congress, including some Democrats, rejected the idea. By 1938, negative publicity, a continuing sluggish economy and Republican victories in midterm elections virtually ended Roosevelt's ability to pass more reform legislation.

In 1933, FDR stepped away from the unilateral principle of the Monroe Doctrine and established the Good Neighbor Policy with Latin America.

Since the end of World War I, America had held an isolationist policy in foreign affairs, and by the early 1930s, Congress passed the Neutrality Acts to prevent the United States from becoming entangled in foreign conflicts.

However, as military conflicts emerged in Asia and Europe, Roosevelt sought to assist China in its war with Japan and declared that France and Great Britain were America's "first line of defense" against Nazi Germany .

In 1940, Roosevelt began a series of measures to help defend France and Britain from Nazi aggression in World War II, including the Lend-Lease agreement, which Congress passed as the Lend-Lease Act in 1941.

During early 1941, with war raging in Europe, FDR pushed to have the United States' factories become an "arsenal of democracy" for the Allies—France, Britain and Russia. As Americans learned more about the war's atrocities, isolationist sentiment diminished.

Roosevelt took advantage, standing firm against the Axis Powers of Germany, Italy and Japan. Bipartisan support in Congress expanded the Army and Navy and increased the flow of supplies to the Allies.

However, any hopes of keeping the United States out of war ended with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Within a few months after declaring war, Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 , ordering all persons of Japanese descent to leave the West Coast. As a result, 120,000 people, many American citizens, were sent to internment camps located inland.

Oddly, no such order applied to Hawaii, where one-third of the population was of Japanese descent, nor to Americans of Italian or German ancestry living in the United States.

Nearly all Japanese Americans along the West Coast were forced to quit their jobs and sell their property and businesses at a tremendous loss. Their entire social order was turned upside down as families were given just days to leave their homes and neighborhoods and be transported to the internment camps.

During World War II, Roosevelt was a commander in chief who worked with and sometimes around his military advisers. He helped develop a strategy for defeating Germany in Europe through a series of invasions, first in North Africa in November 1942, then Sicily and Italy in 1943, followed by the D-Day invasion of Europe in 1944.

At the same time, Allied forces rolled back Japan in Asia and the eastern Pacific. During this time, Roosevelt promoted the formation of the United Nations .

In February, 1945, Roosevelt attended the Yalta Conference with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet General Secretary Joseph Stalin to discuss post-war reorganization. He then returned to the United States and the sanctuary of Warm Springs, Georgia.

On the afternoon of April 12, 1945, Roosevelt suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage and died. The stress of World War II had taken its toll on his health, and in March 1944, hospital tests indicated he had atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease and congestive heart failure.

By Roosevelt’s side at his death were two cousins, Laura Delano and Margaret Suckley, and his former mistress Lucy Mercer Rutherford (by then a widow), with whom he had maintained his relationship.

Within hours of Roosevelt's passing, Vice President Harry S. Truman was summoned to the White House where he took the oath of office. FDR's sudden death shook the American public to its core. Though many had noticed that he looked exhausted in photographs and newsreels, no one seemed prepared for his passing.

In the annals of American history, Roosevelt is regarded as one of the greatest presidents ever to lead the nation: His name is routinely mentioned alongside those of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln .

FDR's leadership and courage during the worst years of the Great Depression and World War II are remembered as his lasting achievements. As one biographer noted, "He lifted himself from a wheelchair to lift the nation from its knees."

Watch "FDR: The War Years" on HISTORY Vault

FULL NAME: Franklin Delano Roosevelt BORN: January 30, 1882 BIRTHPLACE: Hyde Park, NY DIED: April 12, 1945 ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Aquarius

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There is nothing I love as much as a good fight.
This great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.
These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men.
We know now that government by organized money is just as dangerous as government by organized mob.
The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.
Freedom to learn is the first necessity of guaranteeing that man himself shall be self-reliant enough to be free.
Wealth in the modern world does not come merely from individual effort; it results from a combination of individual effort and of the manifold uses to which the community puts that effort.
There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations much is given. Of other generations much is expected. This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny.
War is a contagion, whether it be declared or undeclared. It can engulf states and peoples remote from the original scene of hostilities.

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The 12 Best FDR Biographies Explore the President's Life and Impact
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt Biography: 32nd President of the United States
The 12 Best FDR Biographies Explore the President's Life and Impact
Franklin D Roosevelt 1944 Portrait [800x959] : r/HistoryPorn
The 12 Best FDR Biographies Explore the President's Life and Impact

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Franklin D. Roosevelt
FDR
Franklin D. Roosevelt: President and Leader of an Economic Renaissance
The World Wars: Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
President Franklin D. Roosevelt Biography

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The 12 Best FDR Biographies Explore the President's Life and Impact
President Franklin D. Roosevelt guided the U.S. through difficult times—yet remained veiled from his people in many ways. The best FDR biographies reveal the man and his policies alike.
The best books on FDR
There are many, many, wonderful biographies of Roosevelt, beginning with the ones done by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and James McGregor Burns. Then Jean Edward Smith and Roger Daniels. The genius of what Alan …
The Best Biographies of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Best Single-Volume Biography of FDR: Jean Edward Smith’s “FDR” Best Single-Volume Bio (Runner-Up): H.W. Brands’s “ Traitor to His Class ” Best Non-Traditional Biography …
The Definitive FDR
Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom (1940–1945): The Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award–winning history of FDR’s final years examines the president’s skillful wartime …
The 10 Best Biographies of American Presidents
If you’re interested in reading about the presidency and the remarkable characters who’ve held the office — if you’d like to gain a deeper understanding of our nation and how we got to here — below I present my 10 …
Amazon.com: FDR: 0783324816600: Smith, Jean …
They describe the biography as inciteful, thorough, and the best one-volume biography of Franklin Roosevelt. Readers praise the easy prose and clear writing style. They also find the information comprehensive, scholarly, …
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the 32nd American president. FDR, as he was often called, led the United States through the Great Depression and World War II, and greatly expanding the powers...