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.
