Synopses & Reviews
In this bold reevaluation of a decisive moment in American history, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Hiltzik dispels decades of accumulated myths and misconceptions to capture its origins, its legacy, and its genius.Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal began as a program of short-term emergency relief measures and evolved into a truly transformative concept of the federal government’s role in Americans’ lives. More than an economic recovery plan, it was a reordering of the political system that continues to define America to this day. Hiltzik offers an intimate look at the alchemy that allowed FDR to mold his multifaceted and contentious inner circle into a formidable political team, showing how he commanded the loyalty of the rock-ribbed fiscal conservative Lewis Douglas and the radical agrarian Rexford Tugwell alike; of Harold Ickes and Harry Hopkins, one a curmudgeonly miser, the other a spendthrift idealist; of Henry Morgenthau, gentleman farmer of upstate New York; and of Frances Perkins, a prim social activist with her roots in Brahmin New England. Yet the same character traits that made him so supple and self-confident a leader would sow the seeds of the New Deal’s end.
Understanding the New Deal may be more important today than at any time in the last eight decades. Conceived in response to a devastating financial crisis very similar to America’s most recent downturn, the New Deal remade the country’s economic and political environment in six years of intensive experimentation. FDR had no effective model for fighting the worst economic downturn in his generation’s experience; but the New Deal has provided a model for subsequent presidents who faced challenging economic conditions, right up to the present.
Review
and#8220;Makes fascinating reading for a nation facing many of the same problems it confronted, and conquered, 80 years ago.and#8221; and#8211;andlt;Iandgt;Philadelphia Inquirerandlt;/Iandgt;
Review
andlt;Iandgt;and#8220;andlt;/Iandgt;Mr. Hiltzik presents the New Deal as an adventure made all the more thrilling by the uncertainty of its outcomeand#8212;and#8216;a work in progress from its beginning to endand#8217;and#8212;and one that sustained democracy by keeping America from social and economic collapse.and#8221;and#8212;andlt;Iandgt;The Wall Street Journalandlt;/Iandgt;
Review
andlt;Iandgt;and#8220;andlt;/Iandgt;Hiltzik gives a thrilling sense of the sweaty, seamy personal side of politicsand#8230;the extent to which the various provisions of the New Deal were a non-ideological improvisation, hectic, driven, often fizzling and failing. Yet the big picture effects were swift and direct: 11.5 million people were unemployed in 1932; 6.2 million at the end of 1938. Pertinent, timelyandlt;Iandgt;.andlt;/Iandgt;and#8221; and#8212;andlt;Iandgt;Los Angeles Timesandlt;/Iandgt;
Review
and#8220;A sweeping, lively surveyand#8230; [written] with panache and skilland#8230;A timely, well-executed overview of the program that laid the foundation for the modern progressive state.and#8221;and#8212;andlt;Iandgt;Kirkus Reviewsandlt;/Iandgt;
Review
and#8220;Terrific, energetically written and eminently readableand#8230;.narrated with vigorous prose, a clear-sighted appreciation of just what motivated FDR and his allies, and a modern understanding of what they actually accomplished. And unlike the doorstop histories, you'll finish it quickly enough to be left wishing for more.and#8221; and#8212;andlt;Iandgt;Mother Jonesandlt;/Iandgt;
Synopsis
In this bold reevaluation of a decisive moment in American history, Michael Hiltzik dispels decades of accumulated myths and misconceptions about the New Deal to capture with clarity and immediacy its origins, its legacy, and its genius.
About the Author
Michael Hiltzik is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author who has covered business, technology, and public policy forandnbsp;the andlt;iandgt;Los Angeles Timesandlt;/iandgt; for twenty years. In that time he has served as a financial and political writer, an investigative reporter, and as a foreign correspondent in Africa and Russia. He currently serves as the andlt;iandgt;Times andlt;/iandgt;business columnist. His other books include andlt;iandgt;The Plot Against Social Securityandlt;/iandgt; (2005), andlt;iandgt;Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age andlt;/iandgt;(1999),andnbsp;and andlt;iandgt;A Death in Kenyaandlt;/iandgt; (1995). Mr. Hiltzik received the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for articles exposing corruption in the entertainment industry. Among his other awards for excellence in reporting are the 2004 Gerald Loeb Award for outstanding business commentary and the Silver Gavel from the American Bar Association for outstanding legal reporting. A graduate of Colgate University, Mr. Hiltzik received a master of science degree in journalism from the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University in 1974. He lives in Southern California with his wife and two children.