FDR

The Civilian Conservation Corps became one of the New Deal’s most popular programs. By the time the United States entered World War II, the CCC had put more than 3 million young men to work for $30 a month ($25 of which they were required to send home to their families) planting trees, thinning saplings, cutting firebreaks, building bridges, diggin

With the possible exception of the establishment of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, no single action by the New Deal had a greater impact on daily life in the American countryside than rural electrification.102

FDR’s attitude toward law school was similar to Ulysses S. Grant’s view of West Point: it was a hurdle but should not be taken too seriously. At West Point, Grant—who also had enormous confidence in himself—read novels instead of field manuals and spent his free time painting in the studio of his art professor. At Columbia, FDR led an exhausting so

The Roosevelt children, Anna and Elliott, believed that Eleanor “set out to win Father more than he tried to woo her.… She was stunned by the thought that here was a handsome man who would not only look at her but seek her companionship. She poured her heart out to him, undoubtedly the best listener she had ever met.”

appealing to the governors were the instinctive acts of a consummate politician. FDR needed no focus groups or opinion polls; he did not require staff direction or an array of political consultants. He was the quarterback calling the plays, and the people responded by giving him their confidence.†

The size of FDR’s victories in New Hampshire and North Dakota reflected not only his attractiveness as a candidate but the finely crafted campaign organization Howe and Farley had put together. They did not miss filing deadlines, they worked closely with Democratic leaders in states that were friendly, and they did not forget the precinct workers i

But it was not just the Democratic avalanche that propelled FDR into office. He outspent Schlosser five to one; he outcampaigned and outorganized him by an even greater margin; and he led the entire Democratic ticket.

In the spring of 1941 Lucy and Franklin began to see each another again. She was given the code name “Mrs. Johnson” by the Secret Service, and her name appears frequently on the White House register.

Monday afternoon, Senate Democrats took the unprecedented step of agreeing to bind themselves to support the president whenever a majority of the caucus voted to do so.9 Since the Democrats controlled the Senate 60–35, that ensured quick passage of whatever emergency measures Roosevelt chose to send up.*