1940 : FDR, Willkie, Lindbergh, Hitler--the election amid the storm

by Susan Dunn

Paper Book, 2013

Status

Available

Call number

973.917

Genres

History

Politics, Government, Law and Public Policy

Publication

New Haven : Yale University Press, 2013.

Description

"In 1940, against the explosive backdrop of the Nazi onslaught in Europe, two farsighted candidates for the U.S. presidency--Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt, running for an unprecedented third term, and talented Republican businessman Wendell Willkie--found themselves on the defensive against American isolationists and their charismatic spokesman Charles Lindbergh, who called for surrender to Hitler's demands. In this dramatic account of that turbulent and consequential election, historian Susan Dunn brings to life the debates, the high-powered players, and the dawning awareness of the Nazi threat as the presidential candidates engaged in their own battle for supremacy. 1940 not only explores the contest between FDR and Willkie but also examines the key preparations for war that went forward, even in the midst of that divisive election season. The book tells an inspiring story of the triumph of American democracy in a world reeling from fascist barbarism, and it offers a compelling alternative scenario to today's hyperpartisan political arena, where common ground seems unattainable"--… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member rivkat

History repeats itself, first as tragedy and then as farce—well, not quite. We might have managed both tragedy and farce this time. In 1940, the presidential election was between a Democratic candidate asking for Americans to vote for something unprecedented and a Republican who had, until a few

years back, been a Democrat; a businessman who had never held elected office; who was strongly disliked among the Republican heirarchy and whose claim to popularity was his populism, but who was promoted heavily by New York media barons. FDR was asking for a third term and Wendell Wilkie was an intellectual and an internationalist, not a isolationist/extortionist and a man incapable of holding a complete thought in his head, so the parallels aren’t exact. Also, Wilkie lost. Reading this book makes our current situation feel even more tragic and out of whack.

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LibraryThing member twp77

Dunn's book covers not just a pivotal year in the political career of Franklin Delano Roosevelt but also a vital time in the history of the United States. In a time of incredible turmoil Dunn shows how the cool headed FDR prevailed against incredible odds to become the first President to be elected

to a third term. Dunn does an excellent job to highlight the tension of the times which might otherwise be lost in the historical mists. Famed aviator Charles Lindbergh openly sympathizes with the Nazis and leads a section of the isolationists opposed to the US's entry into the upcoming war. As isolationists and interventionists battle it out in Congress, Paris is captured by Hitler and the people of the UK face increasingly destructive bombing raids of The BLitz.

FDR manages through political cunning and an uncanny ability to remain calm in the most stressful of situations to steer Congress towards allowing limited aid to the UK while at the same time maneuvering to discredit his potential opponents for the presidency in both the Democratic and Republican Party. And yes he does all of this while paralyzed from the waist down. One can't help coming away from this book recognizing the political genius and courage of Roosevelt in a single year in which the US, and the world, faced tremendous danger.

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