THAT MAN: An Insider's Portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt

Robert H. Jackson was one of the ultimate FDR insiders. Nominated by Roosevelt to the Supreme Court as an associate justice in 1941, Jackson had previously served the president as attorney general, solicitor general and in other posts. More importantly from the standpoint of this book, FDR and Jackson were great personal friends: poker pals who had known and respected each other since their days as young Democrats exploring the possibilities of Albany politics. Thus Jackson's never-before-published memoir (unearthed only recently by St. John's University Law School professor Barrett) is a rare find. Written not long before Jackson's untimely death in 1954, these superbly eloquent chapters provide intimate glimpses of Roosevelt operating on many different levels. Through Jackson's informed lens, we are shown FDR as president, politician, lawyer, commander-in-chief, administrator, populist leader and companion. Jackson's account is not only of infinite value for the new light it sheds on "that man," but also for unique glimpses of Harold Ickes, Tommy "the cork" Corcoran, Harry Hopkins and other New Deal stalwarts. A foreword by noted historian Leuchtenburg does a thorough job of setting Jackson's prose in historical context. Of equal value are the contributions of Jackson biographer Barrett, who has artfully illuminated Jackson's text with necessary and unobtrusive notations. (Sept.)