Winner of a Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction in 1994, this history of the Roosevelts and the home front from 1939 until FDR’s death in 1945 is a meticulously researched and engaging look at both the inner workings of the White House and the changing landscape of the US economy and society during World War II. Both the Roosevelts and the American public showed themselves to be extraordinarily brilliant and sometimes terribly flawed at a critical moment in world history.
Goodwin did extensive research on her subjects. When it comes to the Roosevelts, interviews, archival materials, speeches and newspaper articles provide an enormous amount of information. It would be easy for Goodwin to overwhelm readers with the amount she knows about the family, but she manages to weave in information about Eleanor and Franklin’s backgrounds and family politics seamlessly throughout the book. No matter what one’s political persuasions might be, I think it’s fair to say that Eleanor and Franklin were two vastly talented and intelligent individuals who had to deal with quite a bit of pain and adversity from early on in life and who knew how to create pain for each other, too. Eleanor’s childhood was rather sad, with an alcoholic father whom she adored and a mother who seemed aloof. Both parents died young. Franklin, an only child whose father died when FDR was young, was the center of his formidable mother’s universe. Eleanor and Franklin often seem to be an odd couple. Franklin comes across as an extrovert who thrived on working with diverse people and enjoyed being out and about. Eleanor seems more introverted and prone to depression although very much an activist on behalf of those who suffered. Franklin’s affair with Lucy Mercer was very hard on her, but she stayed by Franklin through that and his struggle with polio. They seemed to be intellectual matches for each other, and while the passionate love of early marriage may have faded, their mutual devotion, respect and need for one another did not diminish. Goodwin does a really wonderful job showing how flawed and exasperating these two could be, even as they accomplished amazing feats on the domestic and world stages.
When it comes to politics and the home front during the war, Goodwin provides a detailed and riveting picture of the deficits in the US economy, the state of the military, the status of women, and race relations prior to the outbreak of war. She then shows the dramatic transformations that occurred in each of these areas as the war progressed, linking these transformations to FDR’s White House and Eleanor, who became an outspoken activist for workers, soldiers, women and minorities. The details and facts Goodwin has about racial integration of the military and labor, women’s movement into the work force, and the refugee situation are impressive. Perhaps things are different today, but back when I was studying history in school, WWII focused on battles and diplomacy. I hope teachers are using this great information about the home front in their classrooms. For example, 1941 was a huge year from strikes in the US, and the civil rights movement, with Eleanor as an ally, was pressing the government to end discrimination in factories and the military. Negro skilled workers were routinely passed over for jobs in the booming weapons industries and they were not allowed to serve alongside whites in the military. The navy was especially bigoted, allowing Negroes who enlisted to serve only as kitchen and clean up help. Military top brass and southerners adamantly opposed desegregation and it was only after the war had been on for over a year that change began to occur.
Eleanor was a polarizing figure, to be sure. Members of the civil rights movement found her to be a steady ally. They knew that through her, they could reach FDR. In June of 1941, civil rights leaders were planning a 25,000 man march on Washington against discrimination. Eleanor managed to act as a sort of go between for them and the president, and instead of a march in June, the president issued Executive Order 8802 against discrimination by employers and labor unions on the basis of race, creed, color or national origin. Eleanor’s affiliation with the civil rights movement earned her the hatred of many. She petitioned the War Department to end the public transit discrimination against Negro soldiers, and in response, the department did require that government operated transit services end discrimination. As a result, rumors abounded of “Eleanor Tuesdays,” wherein “…Negro women supposedly went out into the streets en masse with the goal of knocking Southern white women to the ground.” It was completely false, of course, but it shows how Eleanor was linked to improved rights for people of color and the resentment that engendered in the South.
One of Eleanor’s first wartime projects involved the refugee movement. She tried desperately to get refugee children into the US with “visitors” visas, meaning that once the war was over, they would go home again and not be permanent citizens. She knew from her contact with others in the refugee movement that Jews were trying to get out of Germany but were not welcomed anywhere, including the US. The anti-semitism and xenophobia in the state department (and among the general population) prevented success for Eleanor’s plan for getting children here. Eleanor also supported and spoke forcefully for women workers, highlighting the important role they could and should play in industry during the war and after. Eleanor promoted the creation of day care facilities for working mothers, and during the war, some industries complied. Interestingly, the production rates for women workers often outstripped those of men, but once the war was over, women were among the first to be fired.
I feel that I am just touching the tip of the iceberg with this review. Goodwin provides a truly comprehensive look at domestic politics, including the elections; she includes military actions, foreign relations and their impact on FDR and policy; and she introduces the reader to the soap opera that was the White House during the FDR years: family, friends, possible lovers, staffers and others. As I read, it occurred to me more than once that many of the political and social issues that our country faced during the war years are still problems for us today — refugee children, women’s rights, civil rights…. FDR’s optimism and Eleanor’s activism sort of cheer me up. This book is a must read for those who are interested in WWII, 20th century America, and the dynamic duo — Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.
For the 2014 Cannonball Read, 50 of my 52 reviews will be of books written by women. I am doing this as part of the #ReadWomen2014 campaign and as a way to mark my upcoming 50th birthday. Among the books to be reviewed, I have decided to include a book written by a woman in the year I was born (1964), as well as for each subsequent 10 year anniversary of my birth. This is the fourth installment: 1994