130 of 141 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Definitive One-Volume Biography of FDR, January 4, 2004
Literally hundreds of books have been written about Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Yet he remains, to much of the general public and to historians, a Sphinx. What different light could possibly be shed on this man, the most revered--and hated--American of the 20th Century?
Conrad Black, a highly successful Canadian businessman, offers many unique insights. In doing so, he brushes away the legends, distortions, and outright lies that have accumulated over the decades, and shows us an FDR scrubbed clean of both hagiography and historical revisionist muckraking. The author has rightly chosen to concentrate on FDR's 12 years as President, so Black's description of FDR's life before the presidency takes up less than 30% of the book.
It is Black's contention that FDR was not merely the 20th Century's greatest American President, but the most important person of the 20th Century - period. He bases this on seven key accomplishments:
1) FDR was, alongside Churchill, the co-savior of Western Civilization during its darkest hour.
2) FDR ended American isolation and permanently engaged America in Europe and the Far East. Roosevelt, an anti-colonialist since his school days, predicted the crack-up of the British Empire. Decades before the fact, he foresaw China's emergence as a major power, and the Middle East as a potential source of trouble.
3) Roosevelt reinvented the Federal Government's relationship to the people, reviving the economy and rescuing capitalism without resorting to the Fascistic and Socialistic extremes of other countries. Despite the contentions in the recently published "FDR's Folly," Roosevelt did indeed revive the domestic economy, reducing unemployment from over 30% in 1933 to about 7% by 1939. On top of the economic improvements, FDR's "workfare" programs resulted in the creation of an infrastructure in use to this day: The Golden Gate and Bay Bridges, Hoover Dam, the Tennessee Valley Authority--which brought electricity to millions of rural citizens, and countless smaller projects.
4) FDR was an almost uniformly successful war leader, moreso than Washington, Madison, Lincoln, or Wilson. He chose the right people to carry out his war aims--Marshall, Nimitz, MacArthur, and Eisenhower--and the few times he overrode their objections (insisting on giving the defeat of Germany top priority and authorizing Doolittle's raid on Tokyo) the results were favorable for the Allies. Despite the disaster at Pearl Harbor (for which Black rightly lays blame at the local commanders' feet) the Americans prosecuted World War II with remarkably few defeats. Under FDR, America produced unimaginable amounts of war material which sped victory on all fronts, all while America endured the least number of war casualties among Allied nations.
5) Shattering the Yalta Myth, Black contends and convinces that Roosevelt created the circumstances which allowed his predecessors--from Truman through Clinton--to complete the Wilsonian objective and make the world truly safe for democracy. Indeed, Europe as it exists today is very much as Roosevelt envisioned it. Sadly, if Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson had studied FDR's views on the Far East, the Vietnam war would have likely been avoided. The use of the United Nations to prosecute the First Gulf War and to harmlessly vent tensions between nations--as in the Cuban Missile Crisis--was again as FDR intended. But Black also points out that Roosevelt would be appalled at how the UN has degenerated in the last decade into a platform for America bashing.
6) FDR was unmatched in his sheer political brilliance and mastery of the varied moods of the American electorate. He knew when to push forward, when to pull back, and when to slacken the reigns of power. His clairvoyance extended to the politics of other nations, and had Churchill followed his political advice, the Prime Minister likely would not have been dumped by the British electorate mere weeks after victory over Germany.
7) Not least, by his triumph over Polio (although recently a theory has surfaced that he actually may have been stricken with Guillian-Barre) Franklin Roosevelt was then, and remains today, a symbol of inspiration for all those faced with seemingly insurmountable odds.
FDR's many character flaws, his deceitfulness, his inability to emotionally bond with those closest to him, and recklessness in the Lucy Mercer affair are laid out for all to see. Black also rightly castigates FDR's political mistakes, such as the internment of Japanese-Americans, the ludicrous plan to "pack" the Supreme Court, and the appointment of Joseph P. Kennedy as Ambassador to Britain. (Nor does Eleanor escape Black's unsparing judgment. Though her causes were worthy, she was suckered by some outlandish groups {such as the American Youth Congress, which was a Communist front} left much to be desired as a wife, hectored her husband constantly, and they were both lousy parents.)
Yet, when push came to shove, FDR could level with the American people as no other President except Truman, grimly telling them of Allied defeats and bucking them up to soldier on to victory. When he set astronomical goals for war production (60,000 planes in 1942, 125,000 planes in 1943, etc.), his numbers were criticized on the domestic front as unattainable and arrogantly sloughed off by Hitler. What neither his domestic nor foreign enemies appreciated was FDR's absolute confidence in the American people.
It has the stuff of myth: A disabled man who lifted a prostrate nation to its feet--not once, but twice. A relatively young, vigorous (despite his paralyzed legs) President who transferred his energy and optimism to a defeated, bankrupt country with a military the size of Sweden's--who became exhausted after twelve years of leadership, but with the country restored and greatly enhanced, with a military second to none, ready to take leadership of the world.
Conrad Black shows the man behind the façade, shatters two libelous myths that Roosevelt haters have been bandying for decades, and brings the era to life. Recently, some controversy has surrounded the author's business dealings, but they have no bearing on the value of this book. Champion of Freedom is thorough without being ponderous, opinionated without losing objectivity, and eminently readable (though the book itself is a bit heavy). This is the definitive single-volume biography of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and deserves to be read by everyone.
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66 of 73 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful Overview Of FDR's Fascinating Life!, November 25, 2003
This book is an example of how much difference a writer's gift can make in the success of his efforts at biography. While there is little that is new or novel in this superb one-volume interpretation of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's storied life, the integration of the established facts and the use of mainly secondary sources is done with such art and ability that it becomes a stunning read, one the average reader will find immensely approachable and eminently readable. What is more amazing is that this effort is done so well by a non-professional in the sense that author Conrad Black is neither an academic historian nor a professional author. Yet no one who reads this can doubt his way with words, a gift so considerable that he turns this mainly derivative biographical effort into what is sure to become one of the most widely read biographies of FDR yet.
The book is both entertaining and engaging, told in such an eloquent way that his often-humorous anecdotes and descriptions of various events involving both FDR and his significant orbit of friends and family is a source of constantly evolving interest to the reader. The author shows his admiration for FDR based on what he refers to colorfully as an abiding show of personal courage in the face of adversity and pain, as well as by his enormous social and political skills in nudging individuals and groups in the direction of what he felt to be in the greater good. Examples given include his meticulous and adroit handling of the country's movement away from an abiding isolationism and in the positive direction of active support of Britian as well as of China. His single-minded determination to slide the country away from the dangers of neutrality in the face of the global threat of fascism was perhaps one of the most skillful uses of political persuasion and cultural 'spin' of the 20th century.
The author seems to view FDR as the primary force working toward a radical reconstruction of the post WWII world, and a man who in conjunction with Winston Churchill, so accurately foresaw the dangers of such a world that his prescription for working through it remained valid for several decades after his death. In fact, his idea that the key to the future peace of the postwar world lay in the focusing on the democratization of that world did more than anything to help legitimize democratic forms of government to the very audience he strove to convince, the members of the United Nations forum he helped so much to breathe air into even as he was himself dying.
The author, interestingly, is a staunch advocate of the merits of the so-called "New Deal" that FDR's administrations help to invoke in the midst of the worldwide crisis of the Great Depression, which Black correctly views as having saved capitalism and the free market system it connotes at a time when both capitalism itself as well as the free market system was being widely suspected as being the cause of the troubles themselves. In addition, the creation of social security, farm subsidies, wage and price legislation, and of course, securities regulations (which in the last twenty years we have legislated into meaningless self-regulation) helped to correct the egregious excesses of the times, and paved the way to the economic recovery that the war finally provided the impetus for. So, while at times the author seems a bit too reverential of the subject at hand, he does a superb job covering the waterfront, something he does indeed with style, verve, and an entertaining intelligence. Enjoy!
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34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Essential Bio of an American Colossus, December 1, 2004
After reading Conrad Black's Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom, it is hard for me to imagine a better, more comprehensive or more balanced biography of FDR. Roosevelt's life generally inspires biographies that are either hagiographic or hatchet jobs. Black disdains these simplistic interpretations. What he gives us instead is an incredibly detailed, strongly opinionated, but remarkably fair analysis of the man who was perhaps the greatest of twentieth century America's giants.
This is a massive book, running to 1134 pages. Rather than concentrating on a particular aspect of Roosevelt's life or career, Black has tackled the whole of it, both public and private. Roosevelt's pedigree and privileged childhood, his schooling, complex marriage, family relationships, rise in politics, life-changing illness, and presidency are all covered here in great detail. The significant appointments, political moves policies and legislation, political allies and enemies, and the crisis of each of his four presidential terms are covered in depth. Black writes engagingly, and does a masterful job of turning what could have been dull, dry details into a fascinating tale of political gamesmanship.
Black's FDR is compelling and complex. Born to privilege, the last great American figure to follow the old code of noblesse oblige, Roosevelt seems to have been genuinely concerned with the welfare of the masses, while at the same time being curiously indifferent to the feelings of those he knew personally. While not an intellectual, he possessed the most remarkable political instincts of any man of his time. Both gregarious and aloof, visionary and Machiavellian, he was, as he himself noted, sphinx-like and unfathomable.
Black has written what is sure to become the definitive biography of Franklin Roosevelt - immediate required reading for all that would study his life. Though written to appeal to both the scholar and those with a general interest, it is not the biography to read if you have only a casual interest in FDR and wish a quick introduction to his life. Black's tour de force biography comes very close to saying everything that needs to be or can be said about Roosevelt's amazing life. It is powerful, provocative, and highly recommended.
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