For the Survival of Democracy

by Alonzo L. Hamby

Book Overview

Franklin D. Roosevelt is remembered as one of America's greatest presidents, a leader who guided us through depression and war. Yet for the period prior to World War II, we rarely think of him in a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684843404
• ISBN13: 9780684843407
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Free Press
• Length: 512 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Views of an Honest Liberal

This is a very critical biography of FDR, all the more so because Dr. Hamby, one of America's best political historians, appears to be a man of the moderate left. He appreciates what FDR set out to do, but is too honest, intelligent and open minded not to show just how badly FDR fell short. Unlike conservative criticism of Roosevelt, he accepts the goals but not the process. This makes for a valuable study. One of the points the author makes is how FDR allowed politics to trump conviction, a flaw which has damaged the Democratic Party ever since. For instance, we all know how the Neutrality Acts were supposed to have hamstrung Roosevelt's ability to stand up to Hitler. What few other historians tell you is that FDR himself was responsible for those acts, because, fearful of splitting his coalition of conservative Catholics and the far left, he did not want to take a stand on the Spanish Civil War. Hamby does not take his criticisms as far as they could go: according to Richard Gid Powers, it was FDR who politicized the FBI by getting J. Edgar Hoover to spy on his political enemies. Couch and Shugart show that the majority of WPA funds were distributed in regions, not where people needed food, but where the Democrats needed votes. Hamby shows how FDR used specious, politically motivated lawsuits to discredit Andrew Mellon and Samual Insull, but neglects to mention that he did the same thing to other people he targeted, including the President of First National City Bank and the Chairman of General Motors. No matter; Hamby focuses on the failure of the policies and that is a more important lesson for today. Unlike Alonzo Hamby, the Democratic Party tends to make heroes of its charismatic leaders and goats of its other leaders. So Truman, Johnson and Carter left office under a cloud (and Truman and LBJ, at least, did great things in office), while the Party idolizes its charismatic do-nothings: FDR, JFK and Clinton. The result is a peculiar divorce of substance from style which has ruined the party as an instrument of progress. FDR initiated this divorce and if the Democratic Party ever wants to become an instument of progress again, it would be well advised to read the collected works of Professor Hamby. A useful and unusual feature of this book is to compare the progress of the United Kingdom, Nazi Germany and New Deal America in overcoming the Great Depression. This is an excellent primer in comparative economics, reminiscent of Richard Overy's How the Allies Won.

Hamby is a Subtle Genius

It has taken years for me to fully appreciate the subtle genius of Alonzo Hamby. In _For the Survival of Democracy_, Hamby has done it again. He builds his argument slowly, but on a solid foundation. His particular talent is his ability to make sense out of messy historiography and complicated issues. Again, he strikes the perfect balance.This original and thought-provoking work has managed to integrate the useful criticisms of Roosevelt's conservative critics without taking them too far. It is a useful corrective to the popular perceptions of world politics in the 1930s.The epilogue alone makes the book worth the purchase price.