The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope

by Jonathan Alter

Book Overview

This is the story of a political miracle -- the perfect match of man and moment. Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office in March of 1933 as America touched bottom. Banks were closing everywhere. Millions of people lost everything. The Great Depression had caused a national breakdown. With the craft of a master storyteller, Jonathan Alter brings us closer than ever before to the Roosevelt magic. Facing the gravest crisis since the Civil War, FDR used his cagey political instincts and ebullient temperament in the storied first Hundred Days of his presidency to pull off an astonishing conjuring act that lifted the country and saved both democracy and capitalism.Who was this man? To revive the nation when it felt so hopeless took an extraordinary display of optimism and self-confidence. Alter shows us how a snobbish and apparently lightweight young aristocrat was forged into an incandescent leader by his domineering mother; his independent wife; his eccentric top adviser, Louis Howe; and his ally-turned-bitter-rival, Al Smith, the Tammany Hall street fighter FDR had to vanquish to complete his preparation for the presidency."Old Doc Roosevelt" had learned at Warm Springs, Georgia, how to lift others who suffered from polio, even if he could not cure their paralysis, or his own. He brought the same talents to a larger stage. Derided as weak and unprincipled by pundits, Governor Roosevelt was barely nominated for president in 1932. As president-elect, he escaped assassination in Miami by inches, then stiffed President Herbert Hoover's efforts to pull him into cooperating with him to deal with a terrifying crisis. In the most tumultuous and dramatic presidential transition in history, the entire banking structure came tumbling down just hours before FDR's legendary "only thing we have to fear is fear itself" Inaugural Address.In a major historical find, Alter unearths the draft of a radio speech in which Roosevelt considered enlisting a private army of American Legion veterans on his first day in office. He did not. Instead of circumventing Congress and becoming the dictator so many thought they needed, FDR used his stunning debut to experiment. He rescued banks, put men to work immediately, and revolutionized mass communications with pioneering press conferences and the first Fireside Chat. As he moved both right and left, Roosevelt's insistence on "action now" did little to cure the Depression, but he began to rewrite the nation's social contract and lay the groundwork for his most ambitious achievements, including Social Security.From one of America's most respected journalists, rich in insights and with fresh documentation and colorful detail, this thrilling story of presidential leadership -- of what government is for -- resonates through the events of today. It deepens our understanding of how Franklin Delano Roosevelt restored hope and transformed America.The Defining Momentwill take its place among our most compelling works of political history.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743246004
• ISBN13: 9780743246002
• Release Date: May 2006
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 415 Pages
• Weight: 1.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.3" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Great Portrait of a Leader's Defining Moments

I really enjoyed this book, and it was very timely for me to read it right before President Obama's inauguration. Jonathan Alter begins by presenting the life of Franklin Roosevelt leading up to his first one hundred days as President. You read about his close relationship with his mom, his ambivalent and sometimes uncomfortable relationship with the Roosevelts on Theodore Roosevelt's side, and his courtship and marriage to Eleanor Roosevelt. You will also learn about FDR's 1918 extramarital affair with Lucy Mercer and how he and Eleanor never shared a bed ever again. We see the rise of FDR, first as a local NY politician, then as assistant secretary of the Navy, then later as a failed VP candidate and future governor of New York. You'll also read about FDR's battle with Polio and his determination to get back into politics after a time of convalescence at his Warm Springs, Florida retreat. You will also read about his reliance upon advisor Louis Howe and his secretary Missy LeHand. As President, we see that FDR's ebullience and charisma and experimental spirit led him to sign 15 bills into law in his first 100 days, including the Civilian Conservation Corps Act (putting 250,000 people to work in forestry and in parks and in environmental preservation), the Agricultural Adjustment Act (later declared unconstitutional, but at the time, it paid farmers not to plant certain crops in order to create a demand for later on - it was reformed and repassed later as well), the Emergency Banking Act, the FDIC (which FDR opposed at first, but his VP helped through), the TVA, and many other bills. These 100 days not only introduced legislation that we still have today, but it set a precedent in the eyes of the public that all incoming Presidents should have an agenda ready to enact right away. Many programs that FDR initiated live on and some live on in spirit in legislation signed by future Presidents. Alter does a great job at keeping this book interesting. I highly recommend it.

Franklin Roosevelt, The Right Person For the Time

A number of factors, it appears, converged to define this great man, who surely advanced/enabled the future success of this country in so many ways. Jonathan Alter masterfully lets the reader see the evolution of this man: born of privilege, living the personification of just such a privileged person during the early years, and maturing into a serious, caring and effective political figure. Alter brings to light the impact that his doting mother, influential wife,sense of competition with Teddy Roosevelt,determination to live with polio and his own perception that we was an effective actor all gave him the necessary tools (largely his confidence and belief in himself) to stand up to great challenges. This book, "The Defining Moment",is a new look at Franklin Roosevelt, different from many other Roosevelt books I have previously read. The presentation of the book teases one to compare events of his time to events in our contemporary world and begs the question: what would Roosevelt have done about this? or what would he have said about how thing are presently being done? Perhaps some very brave historian/writer might undertake such a difficult task to surmise such answers. What I would give for just such an analysis--even if it could only produce hypotheticals.

Alter Defines Our Moment

Defining Moment - Jonathan Alter Jonathan Alter has recorded the first hundred days of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Presidency in a purist, accurate and well researched writing. We learn that Roosevelt was flawed, at best. He had a huge ego, in spite of his non-working legs due to polio. He loved the art of one-upmanship and brought it to an extreme level repeatedly, especially when dealing with his adversaries. Roosevelt had devious qualities, an enormous sense of humor and a need to get things done. He would delegate but would track the results of his assignment. The defining moment for Roosevelt - the character quality that set him apart was his ability to listen, having surrounded himself with men who did not agree with his plans and policies. In fact, he welcomed the "devils advocate" routine he developed among his cabinet members and staff. Most particularly, was his ability to discard an idea when it was presented to him as a lousy one. Taking no offense, but attempting to learn from the dialogue, he quickly and happily abandoned a plan he might have spent hours or days devising. His determination was in the trying and success. Nothing else. It was a different time in 1933. Our world was not so fraught with fear of crime, fear of foreigners. Unlocked doors and freedom to roam was the norm. The only fear that existed was economical after the Great Crash of 1929. This is where Roosevelt would step up to the plate and make bold moves to TRY to improve the state of the economy. If it did not work, he was perfectly content to say so and try something else. It was the trying that endeared the citizenry to him. During the crisis at hand, closing of banks, no circulating cash, fear of the country failing to recover, Roosevelt used the magic of his voice to calm the citizens and brought about a confidence in his Presidency. He commenced a twice a week press conference in the oval office for over 100 reporters. Remember, the press was print at that time. His openness to answer questions and availability unmatched ever in the office, the media was quickly endeared to him, which, of course, was then reflected in their news reports. When Roosevelt began his fireside chats over radio, he designed the words he wrote and spoke, from observing or conversing with the laborer, the clerk, the janitor. He instinctively knew he had to understand their lives and what they were experiencing, before he could fix the problems. It is certainly a time in our history we would not want to re-live, except by example. How different our lives would be today if the legislators worried about the welfare of the constituents as Roosevelt did, instead of the where the next donation to their campaign might stem. How different the leadership in foreign policy, education, immigration and the economy would be if our president had even an inkling of what it was like to be a farmer in Iowa, a bank clerk in Atlanta, a mason in Boston or even a waiter at the Watergate Hote

At the hour of deepest crisis

The picture Alter paints of the United States on March 5,1933 as FDR is about to make his First Inaugural is truly frightening. It is a country in which banks are closing in which there is rampant and growing unemployment, a country which has lost confidence in itself, in the institutions of democracy and its leaders. And therefore there are many including the most influential columnist of the time Walter Lippman who are contemplating the need for dictatorship. Alter arrestingly describes how at this moment FDR prepared himself to take power. He had rejected a Hoover offer to undertake 'joint emergency' measures in the interim between his election and his taking office. He understood that drastic reform measures must be taken. In the course of his Inaugural the famous " The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" Roosevelt begins the dramatic action which will rescue American democracy. Alter carefuly describes the the seven and a half months between Franklin D. Roosevelt's election as president and the end of the special session of Congress that quickly became known as the "Hundred Days.He describes the background of Roosevelt and how he was groomed for political greatness. And he too provides a dramatic and moving understanding of how Roosevelt won the hearts of the American people. This is a riveting read, and most highly recommended. Bold action

Revisiting The Depression In 1933

There are countless books on the most influential president of the 20th century : Franklin D. Roosevelt who guided America through the Great Depression and World War II. Geoffrey Ward's two volume study (1985 & 1989) of the pre-presidential Roosevelt focus upon the man while Conrad Black's "FDR : Champion of Freedom" (2003) is a 1000+ page political biography. Now Mr. Alter does a more focus study of the famous first 100 Days of his presidency in 1933 (and from which all future presidents are measured). Mr. Alter assumes that the reader has no prior knowledge of FDR and the first half of the book re-visits familiar biographical territory of FDR's first 50 years. This is a prologue to his discussion of the 100 Days when FDR and his staff improvised legislation proposals on failing banks, failing farms, unemployment (hovering at 25%), etc. for passage by the Congress. The author is a skilled storyteller who will hold the reader's interest for a drama that unfolded over 70 years ago. "The Defining Moment" is an excellent introduction to the historical moment that FDR turned into legend.