FDR and His Enemies

Starting from the premise that the legacy of a public figure is largely defined by the quality and number of his enemies, Fried (Communism in America, etc.) views the successes of Franklin Delano Roosevelt through the lens of his triumphs over five prominent foes: Al Smith, New York governor and Democratic presidential candidate; Huey Long, Louisiana governor and U.S. senator; hate-filled radio demagogue Father Charles E. Coughlin; United Mine Workers labor leader John L. Lewis; and aviator and political isolationist Charles A. Lindbergh. There is little new about Roosevelt in this book, and little new about his antagonists. Fried's thesis, though, is fresh and yields an interesting way of viewing the political battles Roosevelt had to wage to boost the Depression economy as well as to mobilize the nation's citizenry for a world war. Fried believes Roosevelt prevailed over impressive opposition because he understood the needs of the American populace better than his opponents did. Among the hundreds of books about Roosevelt and his presidency and the numerous books about Smith, Long, Coughlin, Lewis and Lindbergh as individuals, none treats the five men as agroup in quite the way Fried does. His book is a valuable addition to understanding how Roosevelt maintained confidence in the federal government while winning re-election three times. (Sept.)