The People and the President: America's Extraordinary Conversation with FDR

Lawrence and Cornelia Levine take on the task of compiling letters of response to FDR's Fireside Chats and do an outstanding job. FDR gave each of these thirty radio addresses as a response to one of the issues plaguing the United States during his tenure. The American people in turn replied in a way never before seen. With the chance to see just how people reacted to FDR and their different forms of address for him -everything from "Respected Sir" to letters with no salutation other than "I disapprove." The editors allow the reader the chance to see what FDR and his staff saw and in turn responded to in various ways. While the book does not allow the reader to read the full text of the speech (most likely for the sake of brevity), excellent summaries are provided. The letters are not all positive, in fact some are not very nice at all, and the Levines' should be commended for including more than one opinion in this overview.

For someone who was only vaguely familiar with FDR and his New Deal/War policies, this book was a treat. Out of all the FDR books available to purchase, I started with this one because what better way to discover a man and his administration's agenda than through the voice of the people who put him there? I found myself admiring FDR and his New Deal policies that recognized and built up the "Forgotten Man" of the 1930s- often at the expense of Big Business- many of whom are heard from here with hundreds of adoring letters(many letters claim FDR to be a "God" or "right next to God."). The book documents each Fireside Chat FDR gave from 1933 until close to his death in April 1945. Each chat is given five to seven pages of review and then anywhere from ten to fifteen pages of reactionary letters for each Chat. Even though I agreed with most of FDR's New Deal policies, I enjoyed reading the negative letters he would receive challenging his policies as there are SO MANY adoring, deifying letters from his followers that one tends to wonder if anyone ever disagreed with FDR. The disagreeable letters most often refer to him as an aspiring Dictator and the really harsh letters label him a cripple.I enjoyed reading this book a great deal and tended to agree with FDR on almost everything he presented in his Fireside Chats except that towards the end of the war, he became infatuated with a National Service Law that would require every US citizen to take part in the war rather than have a choice to fight (thus giving his dissenters some material to back their Dictator claims) and then, not more than a year later when it became evident that the Allies would win the war, he wanted every US citizen to take part in "Keeping the Peace" training- required military training that would help the country promote democracy in the post-war world. The book also presents the dilemma FDR had with free-thinking Southern Democrats and his aspirations to start a new political party had it not been for his death after just having been elected to a fourth term, in addition to his battles with the Supreme Court in the late 1930s and his wish to "modernize" the court by getting some newer, younger blood on the bench.If you are a collector or admirerer of US history books, I would think this book belongs on your shelf. It harkens back to a time when our government had a real conversation with the people during a time in our history when we needed it the most. FDR did so many wonderful things for our country that are still prevalent today. As a young, twenty-something, I appreciated FDR's creativity with his programs as well as his ability to care for the Forgotten Man despite his aristocratic upbringing. The black mark, however, on FDR and his New Deal programs, at least in my eyes, is that they did next to nothing for African-Americans. A lot of things were said during the Fireside Chats about equality for African-Americans, but little was done. The book presents this paradox as

"There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations much is given. Of other generations much is expected. This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny." -- FDR, in his (Democratic party renomination) acceptance speech of 1936.The generation of Americans who lived through the Great Depression and World War II bore witness to -- and helped fashion -- momentous changes in the world around them.We know a lot about the rise of fascism in Europe; of militarism in Japan; the battles and trials of the Great Depression and World War II; the ultimate Allied victory and the postwar boom. But have we listened to the voice of the common American of the time? What was it that allowed American democracy to prevail, while in Europe it was swept away in a tide of fascism?This book goes a long way toward answering those questions.Seeing formerly democratic societies fall to fascism in Europe, Roosevelt came to believe that these democracies failed because they were too weak. He felt that a government that could not provide an economic framework which held jobs for the unemployed, food for the hungry, and shelter for the homeless, would eventually fall to some sort of strongman system. In coping with the many challenges he faced, Roosevelt reinvented the American presidency into what is termed the "modern presidency" -- a much more dynamic leadership role than it had been prior, in both the American political system and the American psyche. He accomplished this feat largely through his use of radio addresses, called "Fireside Chats." This book deals in the stuff of these historic radio addresses, and documents the effects of the two-way communication -- for his listeners responded in droves, and their letters were read and considered by Whitehouse staff, and even Roosevelt himself.Fascinating and revealing, the many letters from common people of the day do much to illuminate our understanding of the 1930's and '40's. Do not miss this wonderful book!