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

The Defining Moment

FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope

by Jonathan Alter
(based on 42 customer reviews)

The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope (Paperback)
Author: Jonathan Alter
Publisher: Simon & Schuster


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Most useful review as voted by customers:
50 out of 54 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 5/8/06


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.


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46 out of 57 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 5/7/06


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.

19 out of 24 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 5/27/06


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 Hotel Restaurant. Yes, how different our lives would be if only the government - all three branches, knew what it was like living in America and not in their aerie lofts.


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