Man of Destiny: FDR and the Making of the American Century
From an acclaimed historian comes an authoritative and balanced biography of FDR, based on previously untapped sources

No president looms larger in twentieth-century American history than Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and few life stories can match his for sheer drama. Following in the footsteps of his Republican cousin President Theodore Roosevelt, FDR devoted himself to politics as a Democrat and a true man of the people. Eventually setting his sights on the presidency, he was elected to office in 1932 by a nation that was mired in the Great Depression and desperate for revival.

As the distinguished historian Alonzo Hamby argues in this authoritative biography, FDR's record as president was more mixed than we are often led to believe. The New Deal provided much-needed assistance to millions of Americans, but failed to restore prosperity, and while FDR became an outstanding commander-in-chief during World War II, his plans for the postwar world were seriously flawed. No less perceptive is Hamby's account of FDR's private life, which explores the dynamics of his marriage and his romance with his wife's secretary, Lucy Mercer. Hamby documents FDR's final months in intimate detail, claiming that his perseverance, despite his serious illness, not only shaped his presidency, but must be counted as one of the twentieth century's great feats of endurance.

Hamby reveals a man whose personality — egocentric, undisciplined in his personal appetites, at times a callous user of aides and associates, yet philanthropic and caring for his nation's underdogs-shaped his immense legacy. Man of Destiny is a measured account of the life, both personal and public, of the most important American leader of the twentieth century.
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Man of Destiny: FDR and the Making of the American Century
From an acclaimed historian comes an authoritative and balanced biography of FDR, based on previously untapped sources

No president looms larger in twentieth-century American history than Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and few life stories can match his for sheer drama. Following in the footsteps of his Republican cousin President Theodore Roosevelt, FDR devoted himself to politics as a Democrat and a true man of the people. Eventually setting his sights on the presidency, he was elected to office in 1932 by a nation that was mired in the Great Depression and desperate for revival.

As the distinguished historian Alonzo Hamby argues in this authoritative biography, FDR's record as president was more mixed than we are often led to believe. The New Deal provided much-needed assistance to millions of Americans, but failed to restore prosperity, and while FDR became an outstanding commander-in-chief during World War II, his plans for the postwar world were seriously flawed. No less perceptive is Hamby's account of FDR's private life, which explores the dynamics of his marriage and his romance with his wife's secretary, Lucy Mercer. Hamby documents FDR's final months in intimate detail, claiming that his perseverance, despite his serious illness, not only shaped his presidency, but must be counted as one of the twentieth century's great feats of endurance.

Hamby reveals a man whose personality — egocentric, undisciplined in his personal appetites, at times a callous user of aides and associates, yet philanthropic and caring for his nation's underdogs-shaped his immense legacy. Man of Destiny is a measured account of the life, both personal and public, of the most important American leader of the twentieth century.
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Man of Destiny: FDR and the Making of the American Century

Man of Destiny: FDR and the Making of the American Century

by Alonzo L Hamby
Man of Destiny: FDR and the Making of the American Century

Man of Destiny: FDR and the Making of the American Century

by Alonzo L Hamby

Hardcover

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Overview

From an acclaimed historian comes an authoritative and balanced biography of FDR, based on previously untapped sources

No president looms larger in twentieth-century American history than Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and few life stories can match his for sheer drama. Following in the footsteps of his Republican cousin President Theodore Roosevelt, FDR devoted himself to politics as a Democrat and a true man of the people. Eventually setting his sights on the presidency, he was elected to office in 1932 by a nation that was mired in the Great Depression and desperate for revival.

As the distinguished historian Alonzo Hamby argues in this authoritative biography, FDR's record as president was more mixed than we are often led to believe. The New Deal provided much-needed assistance to millions of Americans, but failed to restore prosperity, and while FDR became an outstanding commander-in-chief during World War II, his plans for the postwar world were seriously flawed. No less perceptive is Hamby's account of FDR's private life, which explores the dynamics of his marriage and his romance with his wife's secretary, Lucy Mercer. Hamby documents FDR's final months in intimate detail, claiming that his perseverance, despite his serious illness, not only shaped his presidency, but must be counted as one of the twentieth century's great feats of endurance.

Hamby reveals a man whose personality — egocentric, undisciplined in his personal appetites, at times a callous user of aides and associates, yet philanthropic and caring for his nation's underdogs-shaped his immense legacy. Man of Destiny is a measured account of the life, both personal and public, of the most important American leader of the twentieth century.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780465028603
Publisher: Basic Books
Publication date: 09/22/2015
Pages: 512
Sales rank: 913,772
Product dimensions: 6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.90(d)

About the Author

Alonzo L. Hamby is Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus at Ohio University. He is the author of several books, including Beyond the New Deal: Harry S. Truman and American Liberalism, Man of the People: A Life of Harry S. Truman, and For the Survival of Democracy: Franklin Roosevelt and the World Crisis of the 1930s.

Hamby also has received two National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowships, a Harry S. Truman Library Institute Senior Fellowship, a Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Fellowship, and the Ohio Academy of History Distinguished Service Award. Born in Missouri, Hamby graduated from Southeast Missouri State University and earned his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Table of Contents


PART I: Becoming FDR
1. “The Best People”: Family and Identity, 1882–1896
2. Young Gentleman: Schooldays, 1896–1904
3. Eleanor and Franklin: Marriage, Family, Job, 1904–1910
4. Insurgent Progressive, 1910–1913
5. Riding in Front: Assistant Secretary of the Navy, 1913–1914
6. Armageddon: The Great War, 1914–1919
7. Victory in Defeat 1919–1921
8. Paralysis and Philanthropy 1921–1928
9. The Young Prince Returns, 1922–1928
10. Chief Executive: Power in Albany, 1929–1932
11. Destiny Calls: The Quest for the Presidency, January–July 1932
12. Much to Fear: Election and Interregnum, July 1932–March, 1933

PART II: The New Deal
13. Nothing to Fear: Creating a New Deal, March–July 1933
14. Unlimited Ambitions, Limited Achievement: The First New Deal, July 1933–November 1934
15. Presidential Government: The Politics of Maximum Leadership, 1933–1934
16. Toward "A New Order of Things": Origins of the Second New Deal, 1935
17. Rendezvous with Destiny: The Second New Deal and the Triumph of 1936
18. "Panic and Lack of Confidence": The Economic and Political Consequences of the Second Hundred Days, 1937–1939

PART III: The World at War
19. Winds of War, 1933–1939
20. Private Plans and Public Danger, September 1939–November 1940
21. Undeclared War, December 7, 1940–December 7, 1941
22. Commander-in-Chief of the United Nations, December 1941–January 1943
23. Dr. New Deal at Bay: Mobilization and Mortality, 1942–1944
24. War and Diplomacy, February 1943–June 1944
25. Indispensable Man, June 6, 1944–November 7, 1944
26. The Quest for A New World Order, November 8, 1944–April 15, 1945

Epilogue: FDR and the American Century

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