1940: FDR, Willkie, Lindbergh, Hitler―the Election amid the Storm - Softcover

Dunn, Susan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0300205740 ISBN 13: 9780300205749

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2014

Synopsis

The spellbinding story of the Roosevelt-Willkie election season, when bitterly divided Americans debated the fate of the nation and the world

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. The book tells an inspiring story of the triumph of American democracy in a world reeling from fascist barbarism, and it offers a compelling alternative scenario to today’s hyperpartisan political arena, where common ground seems unattainable.

About this title

Book Description:

This spellbinding story of the Roosevelt-Willkie election season explores the deep divisions in the United States on the eve of World War II, the pull of Lindbergh's staunch isolationism, and the courageous candidates and politicians who forged crucial agreements across the aisle.

About the Author:

Susan Dunn is the Third Century Professor of Humanities at Williams College. She is the author of a dozen books, including The Three Roosevelts, cowritten with James MacGregor Burns, and Roosevelt’s Purge, winner of the Henry Adams Prize and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in history. She lives in Williamstown, MA.

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0300205740
• ISBN 13: 9780300205749
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 418