FDR: The First Hundred Days (Critical Issue) - Softcover

Anthony-j-badger

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0809015609 ISBN 13: 9780809015603

Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux; 1 Reprint edition, 2009

Synopsis

The Hundred Days, Franklin Roosevelt’s first fifteen weeks in office, have become the stuff of legend, a mythic yardstick against which every subsequent American president has felt obliged to measure himself. The renowned historian Anthony J. Badger cuts through decades of politicized history to provide a succinct, balanced, and timely reminder that Roosevelt’s accomplishment was above all else an exercise in exceptional political craftsmanship. Declaring that Americans had “nothing to fear but fear itself,” Roosevelt entered the White House in 1933 confronting 25 percent unemployment, bank closings, and a nationwide crisis in confidence.From March 9 to June 16, FDR sent Congress a record number of bills, all of which passed easily. From legalizing the sale of beer to providing mortgage relief to millions of Americans, Roosevelt launched the New Deal that conservatives have been working to roll back ever since. Badger emphasizes Roosevelt’s political gifts even as the president and his brain trust of advisers, guided by principles, largely felt their way toward solutions to the nation’s manifold problems. Reintroducing the contingency that marked those fateful days, Badger humanizes Roosevelt and suggests a far more useful yardstick for future presidents: the politics of the possible under the guidance of principle.

About this title

About the Author:

Anthony J. Badger is Paul Mellon Professor of American History at Cambridge University and Master of Clare College. He is the author of a number of books, including North Carolina and the New Deal and The New Deal: The Depression Years, 1933–1940.

From AudioFile:

Roosevelt took office in the throes of a horrible economic crisis for the U.S. The controversial New Deal was his emergency response to the Depression. Upon his inauguration, like President Obama, FDR appealed to a Democratic Congress and went to work spending money to create jobs. Narrator William Hughes handles the rapid-fire political and economic details without theatrical characters or emotion. With a quick pause in the narration, he makes it clear when he speaks the words of someone not the author. Hughes enhances the sometimes-tedious rhetoric by varying his pitch and rhythm, making the delivery conversational. Hearing this audiobook in the light of the new Obama administration, facing similar challenges, makes it more timely and appealing than it might otherwise be. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux; 1 Reprint edition
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0809015609
• ISBN 13: 9780809015603
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224