Closest Companion: The Unknown Story of the Intimate Friendship Between Franklin Roosevelt and Margaret Suckley - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0395660807 ISBN 13: 9780395660805

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1995

Synopsis

The author draws on the recently discovered letters and diaries of FDR's sixth cousin, Margaret Lynch Suckley, one of the president's closest confidantes in the last decade of his life, to construct an illuminating account of the private Franklin Roosevelt.

About this title

About the Author:

Geoffrey C. Ward is the bestselling author of two books about FDR—Before the Trumpet and A First-Class Temperament—and the coauthor (with Ken Burns) of The War, The Civil War, Jazz, and Baseball. The former editor of American Heritage magazine, he is the winner of many awards, including the Parkman Prize for history and the National Book Critics Circle Award. He lives in New York.

From Library Journal:

Margaret Lynch Suckley, or "Daisy" as she was fondly called by Franklin Roosevelt, was the president's closest companion during his final years. Shortly after her death at age 100 in 1991, friends discovered her secret diary, many letters she wrote to FDR, and the 38 letters he wrote to her. Suckley's papers, skillfully edited by Roosevelt biographer Ward, reveal a mutual relationship of love, trust, and discretion, unlikely to be found in today's kiss-and-tell memoirs. As a confidante and probable lover, Daisy was unconditionally trusted by Roosevelt. He even informed her of the plans for the D-Day invasion. However, much of Daisy's diaries and letters to and from FDR deal with less pressing concerns?descriptions of seasonal changes, parties, FDR's cruises, and the antics of the Scottish terrier Fala, a gift from Daisy. These entries are repetitive and often tedious. More fascinating are the anecdotes about Churchill and Roosevelt and FDR's sad decline and death in 1945. Suckley's writings show a relaxed, not often documented, side of FDR and a likable, modest woman who lived for and loved Roosevelt. Recommended for large history collections.?Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, Pa.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0395660807
• ISBN 13: 9780395660805
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 444
• Editor: Geoffrey C. Ward