The Definitive FDR Read online

  The Definitive FDR

  Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox (1882–1940) and Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom (1940–1945)

  James MacGregor Burns

  CONTENTS

  Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox (1882–1940)

  PREFACE

  PART ONE

  THE EDUCATION OF A POLITICIAN

  I A Beautiful Frame

  The Seed and the Soil

  Groton: Education for What?

  Harvard: The Gold Coast

  II Albany: The Young Lion

  Uncle Ted and Cousin Eleanor

  The Race for the Senate

  The College Kid and the Tammany Beast

  Farmer-Labor Representative

  III Washington: The Politician as Bureaucrat

  A Roosevelt on the Job

  Tammany Wins Again

  War Leader

  IV Crusade for the League

  Challenge and Response

  1920—The Solemn Referendum

  The Rising Politician

  PART TWO

  THE RISE TO POWER

  V Interlude: The Politician as Businessman

  Ordeal

  Dear Al and Dear Frank

  Summons to Action

  VI Apprenticeship in Albany

  The Politics of the Empire State

  The Anatomy of Stalemate

  The Power of Party

  VII Nomination by a Hairbreadth

  The Political Uses of Corruption

  Battle at the Grass Roots

  The Magic Two-Thirds

  VIII The Curious Campaign

  The Fox and the Elephant

  The Stage Is Set

  Roosevelt on the Eve

  PART THREE

  RENDEZVOUS WITH DESTINY

  IX A Leader in the White House

  “A Day of Consecration”

  “Action, and Action Now”

  “A Leadership of Frankness and Vigor”

  America First

  X President of All the People?

  An Artist in Government

  The Broker State at Work

  The Politics of Broker Leadership

  Rupture on the Right

  XI The Grapes of Wrath

  The Little Foxes

  Labor: New Millions and New Leaders

  Left! Right! Left!

  XII Thunder on the Right

  Thunderbolts from the Bench

  Roosevelt as a Conservative

  Roosevelt and the Radicals

  XIII Foreign Policy by Makeshift

  Good Neighbors and Good Fences

  Storm Clouds and Storm Cellars

  The Law of the Jungle

  The Politician as Foreign Policy Maker

  XIV 1936: The Grand Coalition

  The Politics of the Deed

  “I Accept the Commission”

  “We Have Only Just Begun to Fight”

  Roosevelt as a Political Tactician

  PART FOUR

  THE LION AT BAY

  XV Court Packing: The Miscalculated Risk

  Bombshell

  Guerrilla Warfare

  Breaches in the Grand Coalition

  Not with a Bang but a Whimper

  XVI The Roosevelt Recession

  Cloudburst

  Palace Struggle for a Program

  Roosevelt as an Economist

  XVII Deadlock on the Potomac

  Squalls on Capitol Hill

  The Broken Spell

  Too Little, Too Late

  XVIII Fissures in the Party

  The Donkey and the Stick

  The Struggle for Power

  Roosevelt as a Party Leader

  XIX Diplomacy: Pinpricks and Protest

  Munich: No Risks, No Commitments

  The Storm Breaks

  Roosevelt as a Political Leader

  PART FIVE

  THROUGH THE TRAPS

  XX The Soundless Struggle

  The Sphinx

  The Hurricane of Events

  “We Want Roosevelt!”

  XXI An Old Campaigner, a New Campaign

  The Hoarse and Strident Voice

  Lion versus Sea Lion

  The Two-Week Blitz

  The Future in Balance

  Epilogue The Culmination

  Roosevelt as War Lord

  Roosevelt as Peace Leader

  Democracy’s Aristocrat

  Warrior’s Home-Coming

  A NOTE ON THE STUDY OF POLITICAL LEADERSHIP

  IMAGE GALLERY

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

  CHAPTER BIBLIOGRAPHIES WITH BASIC BOOK LIST

  INDEX

  Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom (1940–1945)

  PREFACE

  PROLOGUE Fall 1940

  HYDE PARK

  LONDON

  BERLIN

  TOKYO

  WASHINGTON

  PART ONE THE MISCALCULATED WAR

  The Struggle to Intervene

  THE NEW COALITION AT HOME

  LEND-LEASE: THE GREAT DEBATE

  “SPEED—AND SPEED NOW”

  ROOSEVELT’S WHITE HOUSE

  The Crucibles of Grand Strategy

  HITLER: THE RAPTURE OF DECISION

  CHURCHILL: THE GIRDLE OF DEFEAT

  KONOYE: THE VIEW TOWARD CHUNGKING

  ROOSEVELT: THE CRISIS OF STRATEGY

  STALIN: THE TWIST OF REAL POLITIK

  Cold War in the Atlantic

  ATLANTIC FIRST

  RUSSIA SECOND

  GOVERNMENT AS USUAL

  RENDEZVOUS AT ARGENTIA

  Showdown in the Pacific

  THE WINDS AND WAVES OF STRIFE

  THE CALL TO BATTLE STATIONS

  A TIME FOR WAR

  RENDEZVOUS AT PEARL

  PART TWO DEFEAT

  “The Massed Forces of Humanity”

  A CHRISTMAS VISITOR

  SENIOR PARTNERS, AND JUNIOR

  THE SINEWS OF TOTAL VICTORY

  The Endless Battlefields

  DEFEAT IN THE PACIFIC

  THIS GENERATION OF AMERICANS

  THE WAR AGAINST THE WHITES

  The Cauldron of War

  REPRISE: RUSSIA SECOND

  ASIA THIRD

  THE LONG ARMS OF WAR

  THE ALCHEMISTS OF SCIENCE

  The State of the Nation

  THE ECONOMICS OF CHAOS

  THE PEOPLE AT WAR

  THE POLITICS OF NONPOLITICS

  The Flickering Torch

  THRUS ACROSS THE ATLANTIC

  WALK WITH THE DEVIL

  ROOSEVELT: A TURNING POINT?

  PART THREE STRATEGY

  Casablanca

  THE GAMING BOARD OF STRATEGY

  TOWARD THE UNDERBELLY

  THE FIRST KILL

  The Administration of Crisis

  EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

  THE TECHNOLOGY OF VIOLENCE

  ROOSEVELT AS CHIEF EXECUTIVE

  The Strategy of Freedom

  “A WORLD FORGED ANEW”

  THE BROKEN PLEDGE

  THE KING’S FIRST MINISTER

  ROOSEVELT AS PROPAGANDIST

  Coalition: Crisis and Renewal

  THE MILLS OF THE GODS

  CAIRO: THE GENERALISSIMO

  TEHERAN: THE MARSHALL

  PART FOUR BATTLE

  The Lords of the Hill

  A SECOND BILL OF RIGHTS

  THE REVOLT OF THE BARONS

  THE SUCTION PUMP

  The Dominion of Mars

  SECRECY AND “SEDITION”

  THE MOBILIZED SOCIETY

  THE CULTURE OF WAR

  The Fateful Lightning

  CRUSADE IN FRANCE

  PACIFIC THUNDERBOLTS
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  ROOSEVELT AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF

  The Grand Referendum

  AS A GOOD SOLDIER

  A NEW PARTY

  A GRAND DESIGN

  THE STRANGEST CAMPAIGN

  FOR YOU ARE THE MAN FOR US

  The Ordeal of Strategy

  EUROPE: THE DEEPENING FISSURES

  CHINA: THE EDGE OF THE ABYSS

  ROOSEVELT AS GRAND STRATEGIST

  CHRISTMAS 1944

  PART FIVE THE LAST HUNDRED DAYS

  The Supreme Test

  “THE ONLY WAY TO HAVE A FRIEND …”

  THE KING OF THE BEARS

  ASIA: THE SECOND SECOND FRONT

  With Strong and Active Faith

  EUROPE: THE PRICE OF INNOCENCE

  ASIA: NEVER, NEVER, NEVER

  “THE WORK, MY FRIENDS, IS PEACE”

  EPILOGUE Home-coming

  FREEDOM’S ONCE-BORN

  DEMOCRACY’S ARISTOCRAT

  VOYAGER’S RETURN

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

  CHAPTER BIBLIOGRAPHIES WITH BASIC BOOK LIST

  INDEX

  About the Author

  Roosevelt

  The Lion and the Fox (1882–1940)

  CONTENTS

  PREFACE

  PART ONE

  THE EDUCATION OF A POLITICIAN

  I A Beautiful Frame

  The Seed and the Soil

  Groton: Education for What?

  Harvard: The Gold Coast

  II Albany: The Young Lion

  Uncle Ted and Cousin Eleanor

  The Race for the Senate

  The College Kid and the Tammany Beast

  Farmer-Labor Representative

  III Washington: The Politician as Bureaucrat

  A Roosevelt on the Job

  Tammany Wins Again

  War Leader

  IV Crusade for the League

  Challenge and Response

  1920—The Solemn Referendum

  The Rising Politician

  PART TWO

  THE RISE TO POWER

  V Interlude: The Politician as Businessman

  Ordeal

  Dear Al and Dear Frank

  Summons to Action

  VI Apprenticeship in Albany

  The Politics of the Empire State

  The Anatomy of Stalemate

  The Power of Party

  VII Nomination by a Hairbreadth

  The Political Uses of Corruption

  Battle at the Grass Roots

  The Magic Two-Thirds

  VIII The Curious Campaign

  The Fox and the Elephant

  The Stage Is Set

  Roosevelt on the Eve

  PART THREE

  RENDEZVOUS WITH DESTINY

  IX A Leader in the White House

  “A Day of Consecration”

  “Action, and Action Now”

  “A Leadership of Frankness and Vigor”

  America First

  X President of All the People?

  An Artist in Government

  The Broker State at Work

  The Politics of Broker Leadership

  Rupture on the Right

  XI The Grapes of Wrath

  The Little Foxes

  Labor: New Millions and New Leaders

  Left! Right! Left!

  XII Thunder on the Right

  Thunderbolts from the Bench

  Roosevelt as a Conservative

  Roosevelt and the Radicals

  XIII Foreign Policy by Makeshift

  Good Neighbors and Good Fences

  Storm Clouds and Storm Cellars

  The Law of the Jungle

  The Politician as Foreign Policy Maker

  XIV 1936: The Grand Coalition

  The Politics of the Deed

  “I Accept the Commission”

  “We Have Only Just Begun to Fight”

  Roosevelt as a Political Tactician

  PART FOUR

  THE LION AT BAY

  XV Court Packing: The Miscalculated Risk

  Bombshell

  Guerrilla Warfare

  Breaches in the Grand Coalition

  Not with a Bang but a Whimper

  XVI The Roosevelt Recession

  Cloudburst

  Palace Struggle for a Program

  Roosevelt as an Economist

  XVII Deadlock on the Potomac

  Squalls on Capitol Hill

  The Broken Spell

  Too Little, Too Late

  XVIII Fissures in the Party

  The Donkey and the Stick

  The Struggle for Power

  Roosevelt as a Party Leader

  XIX Diplomacy: Pinpricks and Protest

  Munich: No Risks, No Commitments

  The Storm Breaks

  Roosevelt as a Political Leader

  PART FIVE

  THROUGH THE TRAPS

  XX The Soundless Struggle

  The Sphinx

  The Hurricane of Events

  “We Want Roosevelt!”

  XXI An Old Campaigner, a New Campaign

  The Hoarse and Strident Voice

  Lion versus Sea Lion

  The Two-Week Blitz

  The Future in Balance

  Epilogue The Culmination

  Roosevelt as War Lord

  Roosevelt as Peace Leader

  Democracy’s Aristocrat

  Warrior’s Home-Coming

  A NOTE ON THE STUDY OF POLITICAL LEADERSHIP

  IMAGE GALLERY

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

  CHAPTER BIBLIOGRAPHIES WITH BASIC BOOK LIST

  INDEX

  ILLUSTRATIONS

  (Cartoons depicting the Roosevelt era, interspersed throughout the book, are not listed here. All of the photographs are from the archives of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library at Hyde Park, N. Y.)

  ‘THE MOLD OF A HYDE PARK GENTLEMAN’

  Franklin D. Roosevelt and his father, 1883 Mother and son, 1893

  Young Franklin with his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, Newburgh, N.Y., July 13, 1890

  ‘A SECURE WORLD’

  Three-year-old Franklin and his dog preparing for a ride at Hyde Park

  Fourth-string football player at Groton, 1899

  A YOUNG LAWYER AND HIS COUSINS

  Cousin Eleanor (fifth cousin once removed) in 1906, one year after their marriage

  Cousin Jean Delano, sailing at Campobello, around 1910

  FAMILY AFFAIRS

  Franklin Roosevelt with his wife, his mother, and his daughter, Anna, on

  Daisy, the pony, 1911

  The family in Washington, 1916—Elliott, James, Franklin Jr., John, Anna

  Eleanor, with their mother and father

  A ROOSEVELT ON THE JOB

  His first political post, in the New York Senate, 1911

  Assistant Secretary of the Navy at the Navy Yard, New York, 1913

  ARMISTICE WITH TAMMANY

  Roosevelt with Charles F. Murphy, his old Tammany adversary, and John A. Voorhis at Tammany Hall, July 4, 1917

  ‘SOMETHING OF A LION, SOMETHING OF A FOX’

  The rising politician campaigning for Vice-President on the 1920 Democratic ticket—at Dayton, Ohio

  On crutches in 1924, with John W. Davis, who won the presidential nomination, and Al Smith, who lost it, after Roosevelt’s “happy warrior” speech

  ‘A NEW DEAL FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE’

  The Democratic nominee for President arriving by plane in Chicago with his family, July 2, 1932, to address the convention

  ‘NOTHING TO FEAR BUT FEAR ITSELF’

  At the Democratic convention, July 4, 1932, with Louis McHenry Howe and his campaign manager, James A. Farley

  The President and his First Lady after arrival in Washington, D. C, March,

  1933, before his first inauguration

  ’A MAN OF MANY ROLES’

  F.D.R. at a dinner for James A. Farley, Feb. 15, 1937, w
ith Henry A. Wallace,

  Cordell Hull, and Henry A. Morgenthau

  A dismal fishing cruise off Miami during the recession, with Robert H. Jackson,

  Harry Hopkins, and Harold Ickes, Nov. 29, 1937

  After hot dogs and a picnic at Hyde Park, President and Mrs. Roosevelt wave farewell to the King and Queen of England at the railroad station, June 11, 1939

  ‘THE INNER CIRCLE’

  The President and his secretaries: Marguerite Le Hand, Marvin H. McIntyre, and Grace Tully, Hyde Park, Nov. 4, 1938

  The President and his cabinet: Henry A. Morgenthau, Secretary of the Treasury; Homer S. Cummings, Attorney General; Claude Swanson, Secretary of the Navy; Henry A. Wallace, Secretary of Agriculture; Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor; Harry H. Woodring, Secretary of War; Cordell Hull, Secretary of State, Sept. 27, 1938

  ‘THE CHAMP’

  The campaign, 1932

  The press, aboard campaign train, Sept. 13, 1932

  The crowds, at Newburgh, N. Y., Nov. 4, 1940

  The polling booth, with his wife and mother at Hyde Park’s Town Hall, Nov. 8, 1938

  The inauguration, Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes administering the oath of office, Jan. 20, 1937

  THE ROOSEVELT SMILE

  A drought year—but when Roosevelt spoke, it rained—Charlotte, N. C, Sept.

  10, 1936

  Roosevelt laughing at his crippled legs to put others at ease, Hollywood Bowl, Sept. 24, 1932

  ‘NEVER … A MAN WHO WAS LOVED AS HE IS’

  At Warm Springs, Ga., Dec. 1, 1933

  COMMANDER IN CHIEF

  The President reviewing the fleet from the U.S.S. Houston at San Francisco, July 14, 1938

  A prince, wrote Machiavelli, must imitate the fox and the lion, for the lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves. Those that wish to be only lions do not understand this. Therefore, a prudent ruler ought not to keep faith when by so doing it would be against his interest, and when the reasons which made him bind himself no longer exist. If men were all good, this precept would not be a good one; but as they are bad, and would not observe their faith with you, so you are not bound to keep faith with them.

  For

  Jan

  David

  Timothy

  Deborah

  Antonia

  PREFACE

  THIS BOOK IS, FIRST of all, a political biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt. It treats much of his personal as well as his public life, because a great politician’s career remorselessly sucks everything into its vortex—including his family and even his dog. How did Roosevelt become what he was? Why was he so effective in winning power? How strong a leader was he in the long run? Where did he fail, and why? What meaning does his life hold for Americans and for American statecraft today?

  This book is also a study in political leadership in the American democracy. It focuses chiefly on the man, but it treats also the political context in which he acted, for my approach is based on the central findings of social scientists that leadership is not a matter of universal traits but is rooted in a specific culture. We can understand Roosevelt as a politician only in terms of his political, social, and ideological environment, the way he shaped his society and in turn was shaped by it.