Synopses & Reviews
When the stability of American life was threatened by the Great Depression, the decisive and visionary policy contained in FDR's New Deal offered America a way forward. In this groundbreaking work, William E. Leuchtenburg traces the evolution of what was both the most controversial and effective socioeconomic initiative ever undertaken in the United States—and explains how the social fabric of American life was forever altered. It offers illuminating lessons on the challenges of economic transformation—for our time and for all time.
Review
“The best one-volume study of Franklin D. Roosevelt.” Chicago Sun-Times
Review
“Any list of the New Deals premier historians must include Leuchtenburg.” Library Journal
Synopsis
What do Social Security, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the FDIC have in common? They are all products of the New Deal, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's visionary plan to help America bring itself out of the Great Depression. The New Deal focused on jobs for the unemployed, economic recovery, and an overhaul of the financial system to prevent any further fiscal meltdowns.
In this groundbreaking work, William E. Leuchtenburg traces the evolution of what was the most controversial yet effective socioeconomic initiative ever undertaken in the United States, and explains how the social fabric of American life was forever altered. Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal offers lessons on the challenges of economic transformation that remain relevant to this day.
William E. Leuchtenburg, a professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is a noted authority on twentieth-century American history. A winner of both the Bancroft and Parkman prizes, he is the author of numerous books on the New Deal. In 2008, he was chosen as the first recipient of the Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. Award for Distinguished Writing in American History of Enduring Public Significance.
"The best one-volume synthesis of the New Deal that has yet appeared in print. I for one doubt there will ever be a better one. The combination of intensive scholarship, level-headed interpretation, and lively writing make this an invaluable book. -- Frank Freidel
--Chicago Sun-Times