FDR: The First Hundred Days - Hardcover

Badger, Anthony J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0809044412 ISBN 13: 9780809044412

Publisher: Hill and Wang, 2008

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.

Reviews

Franklin Roosevelt’s first 100 days in the presidential office, in 1933, saw an amazing number of economic recovery bills issued from the White House and passed by a relatively agreeable Congress: 16 major pieces of legislation were enacted between March 8 and July 16, 1933. This scurry of activity became a paradigm, for succeeding administrations, of early presidential productivity. However, because the American economy was faltering so drastically at that time, there was an especial need for speed to get the country back up and running; it was incumbent upon the new president to attempt so many legislative remedies in such a brief space of time for the express purpose of reopening the banks, regulating agriculture, establishing employment relief, and controlling industry. With insight, great judiciousness, and extremely well-ordered pacing, Badger, an expert in American history at Cambridge University, reviews the pieces of legislation and analyzes their effectiveness. An important book in contributing to a complete picture of twentieth-century U.S. history that is clear and accessible. --Brad Hooper

Edition details

• Publisher: Hill and Wang
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0809044412
• ISBN 13: 9780809044412
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224