Synopsis
America's Conversation with FDR
For readers of The Greatest Generation, an extraordinary window on the '30s and '40s By the time FDR took his oath of office on March 4, 1933, Americans had been in the depths of the Great Depression for four years. One week later, the President gave the first of what would be thirty-one Fireside Chats.
MacArthur Award-winning historian Lawrence W. Levine and independent scholar Cornelia Levine have combed through the millions of letters that flooded the White House in response to the Chats. Grateful, infuriated, proud, scolding, the letters, collected here and combined with the Levines' vivid historical commentary, give testimony to an extraordinary time in our nation's past.
Encouraged by the President ("Tell me your troubles"), farmers, salesmen, housewives, new immigrants, and old Republicans all wrote, telling him about their lives and what they thought of his initiatives. Their words paint a remarkable picture of America, from the hardship of the Depression, to the promise of the New Deal, to the turmoil surrounding our nation's entry into World War II.
Praise for Lawrence W. Levine:
"One of our era's most original historians."
—Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
"A master of American history."
—Mike Davis, author of City of Quartz
Reviews
FDR delivered a total of 31 "Fireside Chat" radio addresses during his presidency, the first just one week after taking office in 1933. At the end of each chat, he invited his listeners to write and tell him their concerns. McArthur Award-winning historian Lawrence Levine (The Opening of the American Mind) and his wife, Cornelia, an independent scholar, here assemble a representative sample of the American people's responses, arranged chronologically through 1945. Set into historical context by the Levines, the letters range from the engaging to the banal. Of course, the critical correspondence (of which there is plenty) makes for far more interesting reading than do the fawning letters of approval, of which there are also plenty. "I would feel more confident if you didn't have so many smart alex young Jews and Irish around you," wrote a farmer in 1940. "I am amazed that after the `pump priming' you have already poured into the Country you should have nothing better to offer than a repetition..." wrote a North Carolina conservative in '38. And then we have this, from 1942: "When you talk so glibly of drafting our... boys, it is absolute proof that you are war-mad." Perhaps a few of these missives, such as the several bearing asinine poems written to honor the president, should have been left to decay in the files of the FDR Library. Overall, however, the letters comprised variously of love, spite, wit and bigotry combine to offer a new and intriguing lens through which to view FDR and his America. 6 b&w photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt is widely considered by scholars as the father of the modern presidency. His ability to transform the office from one that responded to policy created by Congress to one that initiated public policy was due in no small part to his mastery of the new medium of radio. In this fine volume, award-winning historian Lawrence Levine (The Opening of the American Mind) and independent scholar Cornelia Levine present a sample of letters written by Americans from all walks of life in response to each of Roosevelt's "Fireside Chats." In an excellent introduction, the authors place the chats and the correspondence they generated in a larger context. FDR delivered 31 such talks, spaced unevenly over all 12 years of his presidency. Each chapter contains a summary of the chat with accompanying commentary, followed by a representative sample of letters received by the White House in response to the talk. These letters "help re-create a conversation between FDR and the American people." Indeed, these fascinating and touching letters provide much more insight into the lives of average Americans of that time than simply reading a historical account of the period. Recommended for all libraries. Thomas J. Baldino, Wilkes Univ., Wilkes-Barre, PA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
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