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Roosevelt's revolution: The first year, a personal perspective

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"Roosevelt's Revolution" is the memoir of Rexwell Tugwell in which he records his observations of FDR's first year in office. Then a professor at Columbia University, Tugwell brings his talents for organization and writing to his vantage point of Assistant Secretary of Agriculture. Despite his position as an Assistant Secretary, Tugwell was sufficiently well connected and strategically placed to permit up close observations of FDR and the inner workings of the administration. Being in the Department of Agriculture, Tugwell provides analyses of some of the principal programs of the New Deal, including the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA), the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the National Recovery Administration (NRA).

This book provides a particularly good view of Secretary of Agriculture, and later Vice-President, Henry A. Wallace. This alone makes the book a worthwhile read. Wallace is one of those unique figures of history who, although highly controversial, exerted an influence on public affairs stronger than that of most occupants of the same offices. The characterization of Wallace as a realistic successor to Roosevelt is one which is rarely seen in historical literature.

Because this book is limited to the first year of FDR's presidency, it is not a good starting point for a study of FDR or the New Deal. I recommend that the student of the era begin with more comprehensive works and then read this for an insight into the accomplishments of the first year and a flavor of the times, both in the administration and among its opponents. When you are ready for that, pick up your copy of "Roosevelt's Revolution."