The Washington War: FDR’s Inner Circle and the Politics of Power That Won World War II

Historian Lacey (The First Clash) delves deeply into the bureaucracy of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration, examining in minute detail the accomplishments of the U.S. military and the successes and limits of American diplomacy before and during WWII. Drawing plentiful information from archival sources and biographies, Lacey goes into exhaustive and sometimes extraneous detail to demonstrate how the numerous conflicts within the administration led to “grudging compromises” that resulted in better outcomes than one person working alone would have. But mostly “the petty took precedence over the crucial” as statesmen argued, backstabbed, cried, lied, leaked unflattering stories to the press, and threw temper tantrums to get their preferred plans across. FDR emerges as “the most Machiavellian of U.S. presidents,” a charmer who rarely meant a word of what he said and could ignore any trait in his underlings—ineptitude, anti-Semitism, sycophancy—as long as he had their loyalty. Moments of humanity or levity are few—Gen. George Marshall diverting Prime Minister Winston Churchill by asking him to speak extemporaneously on British history being a welcome exception—and Lacey’s repetitive prose more often telegraphs than evokes. This volume will likely appeal less to readers of military history than to those who relish tales of Beltway squabbles and bureaucracy gone awry. (May)