
Franklin D. Roosevelt
A Political Life
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Narrated by:
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Rick Adamson
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By:
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Robert Dallek
About this listen
A one-volume biography of Roosevelt by the number one New York Times best-selling biographer of JFK, focusing on his career as an incomparable politician, uniter, and deal maker
In an era of such great national divisiveness, there could be no more timely biography of one of our greatest presidents than one that focuses on his unparalleled political ability as a uniter and consensus maker. Robert Dallek's Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Political Life takes a fresh look at the many compelling questions that have attracted all his biographers: How did a man who came from so privileged a background become the greatest presidential champion of the country's needy? How did someone who never won recognition for his intellect foster revolutionary changes in the country's economic and social institutions? How did Roosevelt work such a profound change in the country's foreign relations?
For FDR, politics was a far more interesting and fulfilling pursuit than the management of family fortunes or the indulgence of personal pleasure, and by the time he became president, he had commanded the love and affection of millions of people. While all Roosevelt's biographers agree that the onset of polio at the age of 39 endowed him with a much greater sense of humanity, Dallek sees the affliction as an insufficient explanation for his transformation into a masterful politician who would win an unprecedented four presidential terms, initiate landmark reforms that changed the American industrial system, and transform an isolationist country into an international superpower.
Dallek attributes FDR's success to two remarkable political insights. First, unlike any other president, he understood that effectiveness in the American political system depended on building a national consensus and commanding stable long-term popular support. Second, he made the presidency the central, most influential institution in modern America's political system. In addressing the country's international and domestic problems, Roosevelt recognized the vital importance of remaining closely attentive to the full range of public sentiment around policy-making decisions - perhaps FDR's most enduring lesson in effective leadership.
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Critic reviews
“Meticulously researched and authoritative.... Adequate single-volume biographies about FDR abound. But none are as heroically objective and wide-angled as this fine Dallek effort.... By tapping into the vast correspondence between Churchill and Roosevelt, Dallek discerns a more strained relationship between the leaders than presupposed.... Luckily for us, Roosevelt is with us again in Dallek’s outstanding cradle-to-grave study.” (Douglas Brinkley, The Washington Post)
“[Dallek] believes that FDR was a born politician of ferocious and very nearly infallible instincts, and through a combination of extensive research and first-rate storyteller’s gifts, he makes the reader believe it, too. His Roosevelt is a man of great but always complicated drives, a worrier and second-guesser who nonetheless often believed the intensely stirring things he so often said and wrote.... Dallek relates in fine and compelling detail all the thorniest scandals of the FDR years.... But far more prominent than scandal in these pages - and far more welcome - are Dallek’s frequent examinations of the now-forgotten political opposition FDR faced at every stage of his long tenure as president.... We see FDR afresh, which is an amazing feat in its own right.” (Steve Donoghue, Christian Science Monitor)
“An insightful, incisive and intelligent one-volume work of biography and history - and a pointed primer on how things in Washington get done. In a period defined by division, gridlock and tweet storms, Dallek crafts a pointillist portrait of the four-term president, who knew almost intuitively how to use the power of his office and how to reach consensus.” (Peter M. Gianotti, Newsday)
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Story
In How Did We Get Here?, Robert Dallek considers a century of modern administrations, from Teddy Roosevelt to today, shining a light on the personalities behind the politics and the voters who elected each. His cautionary tale reminds us that the only constant in history is change, but whether for good or ill the choice is Americans’ to make.
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Great historical review, but…
- By Alan on 09-28-24
By: Robert Dallek
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America First
- Roosevelt vs. Lindbergh in the Shadow of War
- By: H. W. Brands
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 14 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Bestselling historian and Pulitzer Prize finalist H. W. Brands narrates the fierce debate over America's role in the world in the runup to World War II through its two most important figures: President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who advocated intervention, and his isolationist nemesis, aviator and popular hero Charles Lindbergh.
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Throw back in time
- By jimmie l brown on 04-24-25
By: H. W. Brands
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Lost Peace
- Leadership in a Time of Horror and Hope: 1945-1953
- By: Robert Dallek
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 15 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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In a striking reinterpretation of the postwar years, Robert Dallek examines what drove the leaders of the most powerful and populous nations around the globe - Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, Mao, de Gaulle, and Truman - to rely on traditional power politics despite the catastrophic violence their nations had endured. The decisions of these men, for better and often for worse, had profound consequences for decades to come.
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A Solid Overview and Summary, Clearly Read
- By Frank Donnelly on 04-19-20
By: Robert Dallek
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Franklin D. Roosevelt: Road to the New Deal, 1882-1939
- By: Roger Daniels
- Narrated by: James Romick
- Length: 22 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Franklin D. Roosevelt led the American people through the two major crises of modern times. The first volume of an epic two-part biography, Franklin D. Roosevelt: Road to the New Deal, 1882-1939 presents FDR from a privileged Hyde Park childhood through his leadership in the Great Depression to the ominous buildup to global war. Roger Daniels revisits the sources and closely examines Roosevelt's own words and deeds to create a 21st century analysis of how Roosevelt forged the modern presidency.
By: Roger Daniels
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Franklin and Winston
- An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship
- By: Jon Meacham
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill were the greatest leaders of “the Greatest Generation.” In Franklin and Winston, Jon Meacham explores the fascinating relationship between the two men who piloted the free world to victory in World War II.
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Franklin and Winston Review
- By Ronald Hull on 01-29-04
By: Jon Meacham
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Grover Cleveland
- By: Henry F. Graff
- Narrated by: Ira Claffey
- Length: 4 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Though often overlooked, Grover Cleveland was a significant figure in American presidential history. Having run for President three times and gaining the popular vote majority each time, Cleveland was unique in the line of nineteenth-century Chief Executives. Presidential historian Henry F. Graff revives Cleveland's fame, explaining how he fought to restore stature to the office in the wake of several weak administrations.
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Unexceptional Book about unexceptional President
- By jake_gibbs on 07-06-22
By: Henry F. Graff
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Camelot's Court
- Inside the Kennedy White House
- By: Robert Dallek
- Narrated by: James Lurie
- Length: 16 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Fifty years after John F. Kennedy's assassination, presidential historian Robert Dallek, whom The New York Times calls "Kennedy's leading biographer", delivers a riveting new portrait of this president and his inner circle of advisors, their rivalries, personality clashes, and political battles. In Camelot's Court, Dallek analyzes the brain trust whose contributions to the successes and failures of Kennedy's administration - including the Bay of Pigs, civil rights, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Vietnam - were indelible.
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Well Researched but Critically Flawed
- By brent lloyd on 02-08-22
By: Robert Dallek
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The Age of Eisenhower
- America and the World in the 1950s
- By: William I. Hitchcock
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 25 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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In a 2017 survey, presidential historians ranked Dwight D. Eisenhower fifth on the list of great presidents, behind the perennial top four: Lincoln, Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Teddy Roosevelt. Historian William Hitchcock shows that this high ranking is justified. Eisenhower's accomplishments were enormous and loom ever larger from the vantage point of our own tumultuous times.
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A Very Thorough and Balanced Biography
- By John on 05-28-18
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Destiny and Power
- The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush
- By: Jon Meacham
- Narrated by: Paul Michael
- Length: 25 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Drawing on President Bush’s personal diaries, on the diaries of his wife, Barbara, and on extraordinary access to the 41st president and his family, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham paints an intimate and surprising portrait of an intensely private man who led the nation through tumultuous times.
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Fair and insightful
- By Jean on 12-02-15
By: Jon Meacham
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The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt
- By: Edmund Morris
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 26 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time. Described by the Chicago Tribune as "a classic", The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt stands as one of the greatest biographies of our time. The publication of The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt on September 14th, 2001 marks the 100th anniversary of Theodore Roosevelt becoming president.
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Very, very good, but very, very long.
- By Mike From Mesa on 03-29-13
By: Edmund Morris
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The Supreme Commander
- The War Years of Dwight D. Eisenhower
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 32 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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In this classic portrait of Dwight D. Eisenhower the soldier, best-selling historian Stephen E. Ambrose examines the Allied commander's leadership during World War II. Ambrose brings Eisenhower's experience of the Second World War to life, showing in vivid detail how the general's skill as a diplomat and a military strategist contributed to Allied successes in North Africa and in Europe and established him as one of the greatest military leaders in the world.
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Very Interesting of the politics of war
- By Timothy on 06-28-17
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An Empire of Wealth
- The Epic History of American Economic Power
- By: John Steele Gordon
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 14 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Throughout time, from ancient Rome to modern Britain, the great empires built and maintained their domination through force of arms and political power. But not the United States. America has dominated the world in a new, peaceful, and pervasive way - through the continued creation of staggering wealth. In this authoritative, engrossing history, John Steele Gordon captures as never before the true source of our nation's global influence: wealth and the capacity to create more of it.
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KNOW YOUR HISTORY!
- By CP Guy on 12-22-20
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The Roosevelts
- By: Peter Collier
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 19 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Filled with drama and anecdote, presenting familiar characters in a penetrating new light, The Roosevelts is a soaring tale of triumph over heartbreak and frailty. But it is also a daunting story of the vanity of human wishes.
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Excellent content with disappointing delivery
- By WendyWoman on 10-09-08
By: Peter Collier
much more about Roosevelt than i ever knew
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A good view of FDR as a political person
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hagiographical account of FDR is peace and in war
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Amazing President!!
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Written by a Roosevelt admirer lacking insight
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Most likely a research assistant errors not caught by the author.
Example: Authors states Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic in 1925, it was 1927.
Authors says that all the Doolittle raiders shot down in China died in captivity. 4 survived at POW's thru the war.
These only 2 of 5 caught reading the book. These are "side" story that don't impact the FDR story line, But I would expect an author of this caliber not to make these errors.
Not bad but,
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