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Rating: 
Summary: A Let-Down
Review: It's tempting to say that no biography of FDR can be boring, given his extraordinary life and the length of time he served as President. Ted Morgan's "FDR" has lots going for it: it's a single volume biography (admittedly long); and it's no hagiography in that FDR's failings, both as a politician and human being, are not glossed over.But, I found that "FDR" had significant faults which marred my enjoyment of it somewhat. It purported to be a serious biography and indeed for much of the time, that's how it read, but Morgan had too much of a prediliction for lapsing into anecdotes and folksy stories, thereby sending the book down unnecessary side alleys. In all, there was too much of that and too little serious analysis: it's almost extraordinary that no attempt was made to do an inquest on the New Deal. Space might have been a problem, but surely an evaluation of FDR's Presidency requires this? At times, Morgan is just clumsy. In 1925, FDR invited helped some fellow polio victims staying at Warm Springs. Morgan summed it up: "It felt good to be in command of something again, even if was only half a dozen cripples." Writing with all the subtlety of a train crash. Surely, by that analysis FDR himself was "only a cripple"? Not a horribly bad piece of work, but could have been far better. G Rodgers
Rating:
Summary: A Let-Down
Review: It's tempting to say that no biography of FDR can be boring, given his extraordinary life and the length of time he served as President. Ted Morgan's "FDR" has lots going for it: it's a single volume biography (admittedly long); and it's no hagiography in that FDR's failings, both as a politician and human being, are not glossed over. But, I found that "FDR" had significant faults which marred my enjoyment of it somewhat. It purported to be a serious biography and indeed for much of the time, that's how it read, but Morgan had too much of a prediliction for lapsing into anecdotes and folksy stories, thereby sending the book down unnecessary side alleys. In all, there was too much of that and too little serious analysis: it's almost extraordinary that no attempt was made to do an inquest on the New Deal. Space might have been a problem, but surely an evaluation of FDR's Presidency requires this? At times, Morgan is just clumsy. In 1925, FDR invited helped some fellow polio victims staying at Warm Springs. Morgan summed it up: "It felt good to be in command of something again, even if was only half a dozen cripples." Writing with all the subtlety of a train crash. Surely, by that analysis FDR himself was "only a cripple"? Not a horribly bad piece of work, but could have been far better. G Rodgers
Rating: 
Summary: A Superb Biography of our greatest 20th-Century President
Review: When historians are asked to rank our greatest Presidents, three men nearly always fill the top 3 positions: Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Although FDR, who served from 1933-1945, is by far the most recent of our truly "great" Presidents, he has become an oddly forgotten figure by many Americans, and lesser Presidents such as Harry Truman and John F Kennedy have captured the public's imagination. Yet Roosevelt accomplished far more than any of his successors, and he has the distinction of leading America through two of the worst crises in its' history: the Great Depression and World War Two. In some ways this may account for FDR's strange obscurity in today's politics and historical memory, for like Lincoln and Washington, FDR's achievements are so great that he doesn't seem as "human" as leaders such as Truman, nor as dramatic and tragic as a Kennedy. In this thoroughly engrossing biography, Ted Morgan brings us not the larger-than-life FDR of myth, but a fully human, "warts-and-all" look at our longest-serving Chief Executive. Morgan vividly brings to life the priviliged world that FDR grew up in, and offers marvelous anecdotes and portraits of FDR and the people in his life that brings the man and his era alive in a way that no other FDR biography even approaches. While other historians may offer a more fact-filled and event-oriented approach, many of their books (such as Frank Freidel's biography) are often dry and fail to grasp why FDR was so popular with the public or why he became such a dominant political figure. Morgan includes most of the great events of Roosevelt's life - his fight against polio, the years as Governor of New York, the New Deal, his leadership in World War Two - but he also mentions little details and stories that illustrate the impact he had on ordinary people's lives during the Depression, and shows how even his personal flaws (such as his endless capacity for telling people exactly what they wanted to hear, even if he had no intention of meeting their requests) were actually political strengths. Morgan doesn't shy away from the dark sides of FDR's life and career that many of his other biographers refuse to mention. Among these are his long love affair with Lucy Mercer, which nearly ended his marriage to his distant cousin Eleanor; his involvement in a sordid sex scandal involving using US Navy sailors to catch a homosexual Episcopalian priest, which FDR approved as Assistant Secretary of the Navy and then lied about his involvement when the scheme was discovered and came under criticism; his habit of lying, even to his closest friends and advisors; and his general lack of parenting skills with his children. But Morgan also includes the more positive aspects of FDR's personality - the sympathy for the underdog; the genuine concern to help the less-fortunate in our society; the ability to innovate, try out new ideas and programs, and the ability to radiate confidence and optimism to a nation that sorely needed both traits in the dark days of the Depression and World War, all these and more are described by Morgan. If you want a straightforward, chronological account of FDR's Presidency, then there are other books which will offer you the basics of FDR's political career. But if you want to understand FDR as a person and human being, as well as a great political leader, then this book is by far your best choice. For its' ability to offer a portrait of a President that literally gives you the feeling that you "knew" the man personally, Ted Morgan's "FDR" is without peer...an excellent read for any US history or political buff!
Rating: 
Summary: Great pre-war biography
Review: While this biography may lack sufficient depth in parts, it's an excellent examination of FDR's efforts to bring us into WWII. FDR knew we had to fight and, with extraordinary effort, prepared the US even though many: Father Coughlin (the Rush Limbaugh of his day); General Wood; Charles Lindberg; Henry Ford; and many others were fighting against it. It also puts to rest the idea that FDR knew about the Pearl Harbor attach in advance. For these reasons, I recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Great pre-war biography
Review: While this biography may lack sufficient depth in parts, it's an excellent examination of FDR's efforts to bring us into WWII. FDR knew we had to fight and, with extraordinary effort, prepared the US even though many: Father Coughlin (the Rush Limbaugh of his day); General Wood; Charles Lindberg; Henry Ford; and many others were fighting against it. It also puts to rest the idea that FDR knew about the Pearl Harbor attach in advance. For these reasons, I recommend it.
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