The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America

High school history teacher Gorham debuts with an eye-opening biography of presidential adviser Anna Rosenberg (1899–1983). Born in Budapest, Rosenberg immigrated with her family to New York City in 1912. After high school, she joined the suffragist and labor movements and became the protégé of Tammany Hall boss James Hagan after confronting him over his opposition to women’s suffrage. Eventually, Rosenberg opened her own business as a labor mediator and drew the attention of Eleanor Roosevelt and her husband, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who hired her as an adviser for first his gubernatorial, then presidential campaigns. Installed by Roosevelt as the “Labor Czar of Buffalo” in 1942, Rosenberg developed an influential plan to mobilize women workers to make up for labor shortages that were compromising the war effort. Following D-Day, Roosevelt sent Rosenberg to Europe to interview U.S. servicemen to help them “find places in the civilian economy upon their return,” a mission that led to the creation of the G.I. Bill. In later administrations, Rosenberg helped remobilize the military for the Korean War and counseled President Johnson on creating a more equitable draft during the Vietnam War. Gorham also delves into Rosenberg’s tangles with anticommunist senator Joseph McCarthy and suggests that “sexism and ethnic prejudice” have diminished her place in the historical record. This is a fitting tribute to a trailblazer. (Feb.)

Correction: The author's name was misspelled in an earlier version of this review.